Scotsman Letters: Union flag may as well be white after Starmer betrayal

The UK will give up much of the fishing grounds we fought to keep exclusively for the British fishing fleet. Soon, Willem, Jean-Pierre and Carlos will be in there, stripping out the reserves we have been building up for years. This isn't for a year, or three years. Not even five years. It's for 12 years! Breathtaking.

Our Army is being shoehorned into a “European Army”, which may well cause conflicts within Nato and the UK will once more be subject to European regulations, but without any say in the rules being imposed upon us.

The new UK flag is all-white and is in keeping with the new National Anthem (courtesy of Rainbow) which is now, “I Surrender”!

In fact, the only good thing that will come out of this is that the Labour Party will probably never again form a UK government.

Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh

Land rethink

You may find it strange that as a landowner I find myself in agreement with much of what Councillor Gordon Murray says in his letter (19 May), not least that “Land is not a commodity but the foundation of our collective existence” and that therefore “the bill must strengthen accountability”. Where I differ is in the principle of the bill, in his words to “diversify ownership”.

I was brought up by my father that, whilst I might own Innes, I held it in trust for the local community, and I agree that it is critical that land should be used to enhance the local economy, but to do so it must be a well-capitalised business. Whilst in no way against community ownership, I am not sure where the money comes from in a community-owned Highland estate to finance the never-ending stream of requirements to invest in improvements, whether to cottages, historic buildings, forestry or peat restoration to name but a few. If you are a proud owner of 5,000 acres in Panmure, one of the few areas of Grade 1 farmland in Scotland, your capital investment is probably highly cash generative, but if you own 100,000 acres in northwest Sutherland you own a cash drain unless you are lucky enough to have a wind farm.

The way in which land is managed needs regular reform, as does any market, but the aim of any reform should not be to use scarce taxpayers’ money to seek social justice through changing the ownership pattern, it should be to ensure that all landowners, big and small, manage their land in a way which not only turns a profit but benefits the community. The size of the ownership is irrelevant in this respect. In fact, the larger the landowner, the more they can benefit the community. You only need to examine the Duke of Buccleuch’s record to see that this is the case. Supermarkets are also a key part of any community, but to provide cheap food, they need to be big.

I think it is fair to say that both sides of the debate agree that the bill as it currently stands achieves neither the objectives the land reformers would like nor provides sensible reforms which could enhance our rural communities. It needs a complete rethink.

Mark Tennant, Innes House, Elgin, Moray

World of statistics

The press, especially The Scotsman, have been excellent at covering the conflicting views on a changing climate in articles and letters. However, one thing that the media fails to do is publish two very important statistics.

It should be highlighting, say every month, the greenhouse gases caused by wars and the manufacture of weapons and the rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructure. Then there is Mother Nature creating greenhouse gases with her earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, typhoons and more.

This might then encourage readers, viewers and listeners to buy an expensive EV and heat pump and cut down on meat and stop flying and all the hundreds of other things politicians and the climate experts have told us we must do to “save the planet”. Let's get started.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Locals ignored

The Scottish Government has approved the Loch Lomond mega resort scheme, in spite of massive local opposition, and this does not seem to be a one-off, with many examples of Holyrood approving housing plans after local council rejection. This shows how little the SNP esteems local democracy, and comes after many years of cuts to local government.

William Ballantine, Bo'ness, West Lothian

Conflict of interest?

The Scotsman reports that land on which it is proposed to build a new Flamingo Land is owned by the Scottish Government’s commercial wing Scottish Enterprise (16 May).

Lomond Banks development director Jim Paterson said: “We are delighted by the decision made by the Scottish Government reporter today.”

How the situation of a party benefiting from the decision of a reporter appointed by an arm of that party cannot be construed as a potential and perceived “conflict of interest” beggars belief. This should justify application for Judicial Review.

For the future – why has no one thought of this in the past? – Scotland needs an alternative to the Scottish Office Planning and Environmental Appeals Division where a party to the matter in dispute is an arm of government. Such will have to be funded by expense being loaded onto the unsuccessful party and requiring to be pre-paid before issue of the decision.

Alasdair HM Adam, Dollar, Clackmannanshire

Blind eye

Last Saturday I attended the match at Celtic Park and for the last 15 minutes had to listen to constant chanting of “IRA” and “Irish Republican Army” by the 1,000 plus (self-styled) Green Brigade. This Saturday I attended the match at Easter Road and was treated to 90 minutes of sectarian singing/chanting including “F*** the Pope”. This in addition to substantial objects being thrown at Under-18 footballers parading their League trophy.

In neither case did I see any action taken by the police. Nor has there been any comment, by the clubs, football authorities or media.

Sadly, that is not a surprise.

Dave Watson, Edinburgh

Weekend bullies

Greater Glasgow Chief Superintendent Emma Croft's hot take of Saturday's annual chaos at Glasgow's Trongate was: “Officers took decisive action to clear the area and prevent further disorder when it was safe to do so.”

Translated: “Officers stood by and let a drunken, drugged rabble run amok, leaving a huge bill for the taxpayers and local businesses, and only bothered getting tough once there were only a few bams left, but silver linings, they were on weekend time and a half!” She also claimed to be working with others to create “safer, less disruptive way for fans to celebrate safely”. How about at the football ground in question so they can foot the clean-up bill instead?

Glasgow on Saturday encapsulated everything rotten about 21st-century Britain: the Green Goblins preceded by the Bitter Orange Rangers Enthusiasts Sinfonietta (or BORES for short) – just happening to stop to play “The Sash” and bang their drums extra loudly outside an Irish theme pub on Union Street (because leprechaun kitsch is almost as pathetic as their own), while the Gazaristas two blocks down intimidated people using businesses that just happened to be once owned by Jews (a hundred years ago). Come summer, the “Rainbow Rights” rabble and whatever Eco Death Cult is hip with “the kids” and pseudo-intellectuals will make their own public bids for that coveted title of “Pain In The Backside Of The Year”. Whoopee!

For far too long, every urban centre's weekend is routinely ruined by risibly self-righteous recreational bullies in full confidence those in authority couldn't give a monkey's, and if the latter wonder why people now back any shyster promising to reverse it, they are long past seeing how “the other 99 per cent” live.

Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire

Get moving

Much is being said about just transition, green jobs by the thousand and more.

Politicians are talking up these ideas, but I do wonder about the honesty of some of these pronouncements. Wind farms do create jobs during construction, but once commissioned and built very few jobs are maintained – check on the number of full-time equivalent positions in evidence for the Aberdeen offshore wind farm.

Onshore the wind farms create few, if any, local jobs as the farms are operated by telemetry from miles away. The much-vaunted carbon capture is unproven and likely to be frighteningly expensive and power hungry. Why the delay on mini-nukes? Other countries are going ahead, Denmark and Sweden have committed to go ahead. Are our politicians too scared to make decisions?

Might I suggest they shut up and get on with the business of sourcing energy and jobs

MJ Salter, Banchory, Aberdeen

Boom and bust

Is it any wonder that What the Hell Just Happened?, the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, received no points from international viewers? It was so bad it wouldn't make the playlist in my local Co-op, and that's saying something.

The whole show is so bad Keith Richards sitting on stage smoking a Benson and Hedges would probably have won it.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

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