Readers' Letters: Why should public purse pay for police chief's second home?

When a highly paid appointee takes up a position, with a generous relocation allowance, why does that person then expect the taxpayer to pay towards a second home and the accompanying Land and Buildings Transfer Tax (LBTT)?

Surely with a reported annual salary of £270,000, the incumbent can afford to pay the LBTT without drawing on the hard-pressed public purse, especially having already received a relocation allowance of £69,901.

I just don’t get it. But they obviously do.

Fiona Garwood, Edinburgh

In a hole

The whole BBC fiasco kicked off with the editing of Donald Trump's incendiary speech of January 6 2021, urging his followers to “fight like hell” to overturn the election result. With typical Trump doublespeak, he pleads for them to act peacefully, even as they fight like hell.

That's the part that was edited out, perhaps unwisely. However, his hour-long rant, which culminated in a riot in the Capitol with nine deaths, certainly needed deep editing, given the length of BBC's Panorama.

That the BBC erred is surely debatable, but even if they had, an apology would have sufficed, before moving on. Unbelievably, but not surprisingly, Trump is suing the BBC for $1 billion, adding to other writs, not least against the New York Times. He is attempting to silence the press and bend it to become his mouthpiece.

The mystery lies in the resignations of director general Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness. Rumour has it that they were forced out as scapegoats.

The fingerprints of the far right are all over this story, threatening the BBC's cherished independence as, arguably, the most respected news channel in the world.

This story has a long way to run, writ or no writ.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Wrong to resign

If there were any illusions remaining about a “special relationship” between the UK and the USA, Donald Trump's threat to sue Britain's state broadcaster for $1 billion over a mistake – albeit a serious one, made by one programme – then those have now been dispelled. President Trump will bully us as he bullies everyone else – Israel excepted.

Furthermore, Trump's attack on the BBC will give succour to those on the far right of British politics who want to see the BBC privatised, or completely shut down. They gloat over its failures but ignore its triumphs.

Mr Trump should remember that during the Second World War, while General Motors and Ford-owned factories were producing armaments across occupied Europe for the Third Reich, French civilians and those of the other occupied powers risked imprisonment if the Gestapo caught them listening to the BBC. They did so because they trusted the broadcaster to tell the truth.

Panorama has been a valuable programme over the years, but has failed on several occasions. It ran a broadcast which portrayed Jeremy Corbyn as anti-semitic, omitting email evidence which proved the contrary. Panorama's programme on Lucy Letby was biased against any possibility that Letby could be innocent – Professor of Statistics Jane Hutton of Warwick University later stated that it had broadcast “seriously erroneous” information. Several Panorama programmes on climate change have been heavily biased in favour of a supposed imminent “climate crisis”.

Deborah Turness and Tim Davie shouldn't have resigned; they should have ordered an investigation into how safely Panorama was being edited and produced, and its sources and facts carefully checked.

William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire

Whose BBC?

Most of the things complained of about the BBC are really only symptoms of the fundamental problem that the BBC is totally unrepresentative of the British population. For example, while 52 per cent voted to leave the EU, nobody at the BBC did. Similarly, while opinion polls put Reform UK’s support at about a third of the electorate, nobody at the BBC is sympathetic.

The reason for this is that the BBC has long been run by left-wing university arts graduates, who consistently recruit like-minded people, while filtering out any applicant who thinks differently.

The BBC has long made strenuous efforts to ensure that ethnic minorities and members of the LGBT community are well represented among its employees. Indeed, certain minorities appear to be heavily overrepresented in relation to their share of the population.

The people who are consistently cheated by this set up are the white working class, social conservatives and anyone else who the Left consider to be their opponents.

It would be impossible to replace sufficient BBC employees so that it became representative of the British people.

Really, the only way forward is to phase out the TV licence fee and let those who actually like it pay for it, same as with newspapers and streaming services.

Otto Inglis, Crossgates, Fife

Spotless image

Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC for reporting that he encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol Building is just another of many media lawsuits launched by an increasingly ridiculous and narcissistic figure who seems more intent on vengeance against any media organisation who dare to demur from the Trump agenda.

As someone who vowed to Make America Great Again he spends a great deal of time conducting his own business interests abroad, as well as protecting his spotless personal image all over the globe.

Anyone might think that his home country, the one he was elected to govern selflessly, was running like clockwork and benefiting from his political largesse. Ask anyone suffering due to the weeks of US shutdown if they agree.

The more cynical amongst us, including even some of his more deluded supporters, might even believe that this is a diversionary tactic from other issues currently resonating from his past.

However, the first recommendation in the dictatorship playbook is “go for the media,” which he has done throughout his time since announcing his last candidacy for President, with 32 lawsuits against media companies so far.

Compare this to previous Republican presidents Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and George Bush Sr, who filed no lawsuits against any media corporation during all their years as POTUS.

Trump is nothing if not predictable, but maybe he has more to defend?

D Mitchell, Doune, Perthshire

On a loser

I couldn’t agree more with Brian Monteith (“Swinney must go over trans prisoners and grooming gangs”, Perspective, 11 November).

What possible reason can John Swinney have for believing he will win a court battle on holding men who claim to be women in the female prison estate?

The Supreme Court could not have been clearer when they determined that the Equality Act meant biological sex. Just as women will always be women, men are born men and stay men in the eyes of the law, regardless of any operations, clothing or make-up.

The number of men in women’s prisons must be miniscule. Why would the First Minister hang his hat on this peg? I can’t see what possible political gain he can envision, especially as it led to Nicola Sturgeon falling on her sword.

When the NHS is failing before our eyes and he is apologising weekly for delays in emergency care, Scottish schools are dealing with rising levels of violence towards staff and fellow pupils, and when the Auditor General is warning of a £5 billion black hole by 2029/30, why would the First Minister believe this is good use of taxpayers’ money and the Scottish Government’s time?

Unlike Sturgeon, who admitted she took her eye off the ball, Swinney isn’t even on the correct playing field. He has to go!

Jane Lax, Aberlour, Moray

Budget cuts

An interesting article from Tom Wood (Perspective, 11 November) who shows that at the Holyrood police committee last week, it comes out that over the last ten years the police budget has been cut by a billion pounds, that police numbers are down from 13 years ago, and that numbers are projected to fall further.

Yet it was only a week or so ago that John Swinney was telling us the crime figures are low, and that basically all was well in the land of law and order. Sorry John, your figures do not add up!

William Ballantine, Bo'ness, West Lothian

Stop moaning

Why is it that nearly all published letters from Scotsman readers complain about the Government, the economy and taxation?

We should be rejoicing in the glorious natural colours of the best autumn for years. The symphony of reds and golds which cover our trees and bushes are glory to behold and something to wonder at.

Last week I woke at 7am, and when looking out, found the entire eastern half of the sky a vivid shade of red, a colour which was reflected in the leaves of the trees. What a sight!

Let us forget our trouble for a time and enjoy the free beauties of nature.

TAS Macpherson, Edinburgh

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