Readers' Letters: Let's make sure Brexit is on agenda during General Election campaign

He had put the same idea few days beforehand on another TV platform. Many pro-EU people may see Morgan as an unlikely political hero, but his tabloid instincts are well honed. He has registered that across the UK the public has become wholly disillusioned about Brexit. It has damaged them financially, stolen opportunities from their children, reduced our trade with our nearest neighbours, made us less globally competitive and hurt higher education, hospitality, agriculture and the professional music sector.

Morgan has opened up the debate that the Tories and Labour want ignored. Across the UK, but especially in Scotland where 62 per cent voted Remain, it is surely incumbent on TV, radio and print journalists to ensure Brexit is raised as a General Election issue at every opportunity. The media must not be unintentionally complicit in aiding the omerta of silence on Brexit that Labour and the Conservatives wish to maintain.

Martin Roche, Glasgow

Democratic deficit

One of the tenets of democracy is respect for democratic votes. In the case of the SNP, John Swinney has stated that he supports his “friend” Michael Matheson and that the latter merely made a “mistake” when he denied being aware his parliamentary iPad had been used by his sons to watch football. This is despite the fact that he would have had to set the device up at his hotel and also give the boys the password to gain access to it. The latter point seems never to have been mentioned in the debate and is, surely, crucial?

Mr Mathieson lost a vote of no confidence in the Scottish parliament, but he chooses to ignore it as it was only the majority of MSPs who voted against him, so nothing of any importance. Mr Swinney clearly agrees.

Now, in Wales, we see the Welsh First Minister facing a vote of no confidence as well. However, in true devolved fashion, Vaughan Gething has also said that he will not resign if he loses. It must be a fine thing to be a person of so much importance that votes of no confidence can simply be shrugged off as matters of no consequence. Anyone would think that Scotland and Wales were part of that irritating thing we have in the UK, which we call “democracy”. Then again, the SNP spend their time and our money pushing for independence when the people of Scotland have told them unequivocally that we don't want it. That is because the SNP disdain democracy.

It is clear that both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments are unfit for purpose.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Tunnel vision

Rosie Heptonstall (Letters, 5 June) is entitled to her opinion, but reckons that those who disagree with her are not entitled to theirs. Further, she has tunnel vision. Anyone who does not share her priorities cannot be a “good writer”. She dismisses those, like Susan Dalgety (Perspective, 31 May), who campaign to protect women from male violence by publicly segregating biological women from biological men for intimate purposes as indulging in “a bogeyman fantasy” and being in “a moral panic”.

In what way are “transgender rights” being infringed? By preventing biological males from using women’s loos? By excluding them from women’s sports? Including biological males in these infringes women’s rights. Ms Heptonstall is unfazed by that.

More than that, her proscriptive attitude to writers demands a critique of “capitalism and white supremacy”. Everything, including literary festivals, is in her mind “political” and should be a campaign against “capitalist injustice”. The "good writer” must act in favour of Palestine and against rising temperatures. But it seems that “she” must do so only in open societies which lazily tolerate self-righteous disrupters.

I suggest Ms Heptonstall take her climate campaign to China to try to close down their manifold coal-fired power stations, and ask herself why Palestinians are so much worthier of defence than Uyghurs.

Ms Heptonstall castigates those, like Susan Dalgety (and me) who criticise “those who dared to challenge Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship of the Book Festival”. No one (except Ms Heptonstall) criticises people for expressing a different point of view. We do, however, criticise those who use threats and disruption against cultural events for those going about their lawful business.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Unjust criticism

Rosie Heptonstall portrays Susan Dalgety as someone who is more interested in “the finer points of the Oxford comma” than social activism. This is almost laughably the reverse of the truth.

As a young single mother in an Edinburgh housing scheme she wrote for the local community newspaper, pursuing the needs of one of the city’s most deprived areas. She later became a city councillor with a clear vision of the need for greater social equality in a community with deep divisions between rich and poor.

Working for the then Scottish Executive she travelled to Malawi as part of their aid programme and formed close links with communities and individuals in that country, the least developed in Africa.

After retirement she continued to visit Malawi and raised funds to benefit people and aid organisations. Her commitment to help the poorest of the poor is firm and persistent.

Rosie Heptonstall is perfectly free to disagree with Susan’s view on Baillie Gifford, but should not denigrate someone whose whole writing career has been devoted to exposing social injustices and doing something about them.

Robert Cairns, Ceres, Cupar

In a rut

How odd to see two fighting kangaroos on the cover of the brochure for the book festival. It should be two rutting stags to represent Scotland.

Elizabeth Hands, Armadale, West Lothian

Slow down!

The idea of all-day bus lanes in Edinburgh is akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut (your report, 5 June). The system works perfectly well at the moment and all this will do is create more empty lanes during the day. Peak time bus lanes are necessary and effective but are absolutely not needed outwith these periods. We already have hugely expensive, mostly empty cycle lanes, and all this will do is create vastly more congestion throughout the day. Businesses will go to the wall as shops fail to get deliveries and customers can't get to the shops.

We tried the all-day experiment once and it was a total failure. If we add to this idea the utterly ludicrous plans to stop north-south journeys next year, the whole city will grind to a halt.

This is yet another example in Scotland of a tiny clique making huge decisions contrary to either sense, logic or what most people want. Please think again, or to be frank, just think!

Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh

Stats ridiculous

E-scooters are illegal in Scotland other than on private land with the owner's permission so why are they regularly being seen on Scotland's roads, pavements and public spaces? They have been responsible for numerous deaths and injuries in the UK. I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland asking 1) How many e-scooters have been confiscated?; 2) How many e-scooter riders have been fined?; 3) How many e-scooter riders have been taken to court?; 4) How many e-scooter riders have been given a police warning?

Police Scotland refused my request saying the cost would be well in excess of the current FOI threshold of £600. The unbelievable excuse was that there are no computer crime classifications specifically for e-scooters.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Independent mind

SNP supporter Barbara McPake provides us with an amusing glimpse into the “independent mind” (Letters, 5 June). A poll in Scotland on Sunday found that 39 per cent believe the case for independence is weaker than in 2014, 35 per cent that it is stronger and 20 per cent that it is neither weaker nor stronger. Ms McPake's conclusion is that “55 per cent think the case is as strong or stronger”! Presumably 6 per cent had no opinion. Why not lump them in on your side of the count as well? On the SNP style of calculation that would mean that 65 per cent think the case is just as weak or weaker!

But the real punchline comes in her complaint that the SNP “has not done enough to make the case for independence” because it has been "preoccupied with running the country”! What a dereliction of duty! Instead of banging the drum full time for separation they are being distracted by trying to deal with all of these pesky government issues such as trying to get A&E target times up to only 30 per cent short of the target or to arrest the decline in education standards or build a couple of ferries or upgrade a major road. Mind you, given the botch they are making of these and countless other issues it might be better for the country if they devoted all of their attention to independence. That way support would be sure to rapidly decline.

Colin Hamilton, Edinburgh

Going south?

Christine Jardine refers to South Queensferry (Perspective, 3 June). I have always understood the Royal Burgh is called Queensferry, despite the City of Edinburgh road signs. Can anyone enlighten me?

Allan R Woods, Edinburgh

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