Readers' Letters: Poodle UK must bark back at bully Trump

Perhaps it’s time for the poodle to break from its leash and for the UK to deploy whichever of our multibillion-pound aircraft carriers is operational to Greenland capital Nuuk, along with supporting resources independent of US control. Life and history teaches us that bowing to bullies and appeasing dictators only ends in more grief.

Although the US public was suckered into voting for an irresponsible narcissistic President the US public will not back attacking British forces over a remote European territory of the Danish realm.

Either the UK supports the democratic rights of nations to democratically determine their own futures or it supports “might is right” – there is no middle ground.

Stan Grodynski, Longnidry, East Lothian

Island gift

Celebrated “mystic” and spoon bender Uri Geller has offered FIFA Peace Prize recipient Donald Trump his 100x50 metre Lamb Island in the Firth of Forth as a US military base to be used in the event of a war with China.

Given that Donald Trump famously never turns down a grovelling gift from any acolyte desperate to curry favour, and Lamb Island is only a spit away from the coast, the good denizens of North Berwick may be feeling a tad twitchy today.

D Mitchell, Doune, Perthshire

Norway power

Ian Johnston’s article “Lessons to be learned from world’s ‘greenest’ petrostate” (Perspective, 7 January) claiming Norway is the world’s greenest petroleum state does not highlight the fact that, unlike under British law, drilling firms in Norway do not have to factor in the down-stream emissions from oil sold abroad, thus giving Norway the opportunity to grow rich from the sale of their carbon products.

In addition, there was no reference to the fact that Norway has a vast output of inexpensive hydro power, making it less than half the price of wind output as Scotland needs 100 per cent stand-by generators to maintain supply even when the wind fails to blow!

Consumers should note that the AR7 strike price of £271 per MWhour (a fourfold increase over the current price) will add about 20p to the unit cost ie a bill of 46p per unit. Can Scots afford a Green Transition at such costs?

Ian Moir, Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway

Nuclear win

Ian Johnston writes to bring attention to the green lessons we could learn from Norway. Unfortunately, the article’s lessons seem to halt at the practical lessons of how to grow green energy; however, a Google search will demonstrate that the majority of electricity generation in Norway is Hydro, with Thermal running second at a much lower level.

This, of course, should be of interest in Scotland given the vast glens and rainfall that could be available to generate electricity by Hydro – yet another win for Scotland?

However, are we willing to forego hills covered with wind turbines and swap that for our glens swamped with water? Or, would we rather have small or medium nuclear reactors located close to the locations that require energy and reduce the need for additional pylons, totally eliminate battery and solar farms, eliminate down time payments and reach net zero.

Yes, there would be a question of cost, price of energy produced, but we face that every day at present, and quite frankly these important points, it seems, are hardly thought about during contract discussions at present, so if we can prolong the timescale and control costs nuclear has to be a win win for the country.

A Lewis, Coylton, Ayrshire

Power is all

I know there are some principled and decent people who support the SNP. Why, oh why can they not stand up and be counted when scandals like the Michael Matheson, Neil Gray and now Angela Constance affairs occur? We are left with the impression that just clinging on to power, at any cost, is the only important thing in the SNP. Truth and principle and bettering our country simply do not count.

Thus we have a political environment where Alba MSP Ash Regan can be suspended from Holyrood for two days for announcing her plans to challenge a Green MSP who called Supreme Court judges “bigots”.

I am at a total loss as to understand how any principled Scot could vote for the SNP.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Real net zero

Has the Scottish government changed its focus upon net zero (“Constance won't resign despite code breaches”, 7 January)? It appears that for both SNP and Green ministers at Holyrood “net zero” applies to the chances of a resignation if the Ministerial Code is breached, even more than once. Holyrood is making a mockery out of a parliament.

What kind of example is set by this? Its new motto ought to be “with great power comes no responsibility”. Shameful.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Not fuddy duddy

I worked a couple of times with Frank Dunlop when he was director of the Edinburgh International Festival and found him very personable and an interesting stage director. However, The Scotsman’s Martyn McLaughlin seems to be suggesting that he transformed the International Festival during his time (7 January). He did that, but at what cost?

Your report says “at a time when the event was dominated by music and opera”, suggesting this was some fuddy duddy elitist Festival. Well, yes it was dominated by music and opera, as it had been since its foundation in the late 1940s, and it was recognised as one of the great music festivals of the world, on a par with Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence. John Drummond continued that position until he left in 1984.

I would suggest the Frank Dunlop era, sadly, dropped Edinburgh into an also-ran capacity with his “fresh ideas”, diluting that world-dominating prestige. Nicola Benedetti is attempting to return the Festival to its former position, but it's a difficult task.

Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh

Bus beats tram

Jackie Kemp (Letters, 7 January) suggests that tram investment pays over the longer term but offers no evidence other than from on a trip on the tram to the airport “it’s clear to see the economic benefit the tram corridor has brought”. Any substantial new housing developments are on average at least a mile away, with poor pedestrian access to the trams. There’s no significant examples of new development along the route other than the St James Quarter, and that would have likely happened anyway.

Buses do not take “much longer” than trams. To get the 17 bus from Ocean Terminal to the airport takes 50 minutes while the tram takes 55 minutes at the same time of day according to the timetables. My colleagues get the tram to work and stand every morning. I get the bus into the city and can always get a seat, plus, the tram is much less accessible while most pedestrians are within ten minutes of a bus stop.

Edinburgh Trams made a seventh loss in a row, losing the taxpayer nearly £10 million in 2024 with accumulated losses of £64m (Scotsman Online, 16 July). Dubious assumptions can be made to get the tram business case to stack up, but without objective evidence there are better ways to spend £3 billion during a period of severe public service cuts, including investing in the more flexible, award-winning bus service.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Bricht idea

One of the tests of proving you were a Scotsman in the Armed Forces used to be to show that you could say, “It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht the nicht”, I believe.

In the same way, suspected German agents were asked to say the word, “squirrel” – however British they might have sounded during the last war. Germans, allegedly cannot say “squirrel”!

In the same way, the Normans couldn't say words with the letters “S” and “N” in that order. For that reason, the well-known English town of Snottingham has a rather more pleasant name nowadays. It was named after an Anglo-Saxon called Snot (seriously).

Now, Brian Bannatyne-Scott extols the virtues of “Flower of Scotland”, the dirge which has depressed every Scottish team before any competition in which it is sung (Letters, 8th January). It is never sung “with pleasure and gusto by vast numbers of Scots” anywhere, let alone “all over the world”. Moreover, I find fewer and fewer Scots, especially younger ones, can say “bricht”, let alone, “nicht” nowadays, I am sad to say.

So, I would recommend, as I have previously, that Lord Rockingham’s XI’s “Hoots Mon!”, which uses “Och, aye!” and “It’s a braw, bricht moonlicht nicht” in its lyrics, should be used to teach young Scots how to use some actual Scots words. The words are few and easy and it’s got a damn good beat, too. Just the ticket for geeing up our fitba’ team in the World Cup.

Andrew H N Gray, Edinburgh

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