Sir, Re Jack McKeown’s article, “A matter of social justice” (Friday, March 13), I thought all this nonsense had been put to rest.
Now another petition has been presented to the Scottish Parliament by Mark Beaumont, no less, to try to get the centuries old law of natural justice ie a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty abolished where accidents involve motorists and cyclists.
The campaign, is headed by personal injury lawyer Brenda Mitchell.
It beggars belief that any lawyer would be involved in overturning natural justice for any reason.
The figure of 55% of trips being made by bike by cities in Europe, against some 30% achieved in Edinburgh, doesn’t highlight the fact that on the continent dedicated walking/cycling lanes are used by cyclists.
In this country the local authorities and Scottish Government have jointly created hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of dedicated cycling/walking routes but the majority of cyclists seem to prefer to clog up the roads instead.
They spread themselves across the full width of the carriageways as if they were on some stage of the Tour de France and God help any motorist who attempts to overtake them.
They spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds on fancy bikes but are too miserable to buy a warning bell, or proper lights. They ride on pavements with impunity and shout at pedestrians to get out of the way.
No. The last thing we need now is for anyone to be classed as guilty until proven innocent.
Ian Allan. 5 Marchside Court, Sauchie.
Good news for Chancellor
Sir, The ever falling price of crude oil appears to be causing many problems to the oil industry. This, however, is not reflected in the prices at service stations.
There was an initial reduction in prices when the oil crisis arose, but we are back to a penny increase per litre, daily.
The time will shortly be arriving when prices at the pumps will be the same if not more expensive than prior to the oil crisis occurring.
I am surprised that the AA and other motoring organisations have not picked up on this “rip-off”.
The government on the other hand, will be rejoicing, as their share of the prices rising will be good news for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Allan Murray. 44 Napier Road, Glenrothes.
Little Christian tolerance
Sir, Unlike David Robertson (March 11), I have never met “humanists” who were anti-religious. Nor do I see any reason to believe that the Scottish Secular Society (with which I have no connection) does not tolerate ideas contrary to its own, as he claims.
Secular means freedom of religion from state control. It is about tolerance of different beliefs.
The constitutions of the USA and India, where most people are religious, prohibit their governments from interfering in religion.
Mr Robertson says “the Christian view” is that opposing opinions should be tolerated.
“Christians” have a huge variety of views and many don’t agree with him. He has no right to speak for all, or even most, of them. Many opposed the abolition of section 28, allowing women to vote or to become ministers or priests.
In several states where “Christians” predominate homosexual people are persecuted and even imprisoned.
Tolerance has never been a feature of Christianity. Anti-semitism dates back to the gospels and is on the increase now. Denominations have even been intolerant of each other and the actions of some of their own members.
Alan Mathieson. 98 West Graham Street, Glasgow.
Humanists not anti-religion
Sir, Recent letters by Rev Robertson and Andrew Lawson raise various issues. The Rev Robertson’s claim that Humanist freedom of thought and toleration are meaningless (Letters, March 12), is out of touch with current thinking. Because Humanists do not accept the Bible does not mean they are anti-religion in their actions.
I would ask readers to view www.humanism-scotland.com which recognises that Humanists in a secular modern society “share many core values of religion” but believe that “no system (religious or not) should have, nor expect, privilege in the Democratic process”.
It aims towards a fairer balance of representation within society. That does not deny Christians their place in society but does question the imposed and dominant place in society claimed as a right by the church.
Andrew Lawson (Letters, March 14), rightly warns of the dangers from Islamist radical militants. In that description, I exclude the worldwide millions of worshippers of Allah who wish for peace and reject the cruel interpretations of Islam used by IS.
My personal view is that the western nations should drop all references to Christianity versus Islam which only inflames the war and leaves IS with advantages based on the historic reliving of the Crusades and invasions by the “Christian unbelievers”.
The days of war based on a “Our God is better than your God” theory are long past but still bolster this essential danger to the West. The combined anti-IS armies formed from many nations could fight as The Democratic Freedom Alliance or a similar title.
I would suggest, however, that the attraction to a Western way of life (albeit with some faults), that is based on true democracy guaranteeing freedom of thought, peaceful action within common law, freedom for all religious beliefs also non-believers and good education (free of religious or political dominance) would attract most Islamic countries to our ideals of peace.
Angus Brown. Longforgan.
No concrete evidence
Sir, Mr Hinnrichs (Letters, Friday March 13), says I know nothing about climate change. This is true. Climate science is still at a primitive stage thousands of factors are imperfectly understood and many not understood at all.
I know nothing about climate change but neither does Mr Hinnrichs. Nevertheless alarmist theories are still being produced backed only by rubbish in/rubbish out computer models and no concrete evidence at all.
From 1995 to 2013 the IPCC based their doom-laden theories on the “hockey stick” a proposition that Earth’s climate had been static for thousands of years and had only recently started to soar away.
Although this proposition has long been shown to be totally wrong, it was ferociously defended, mainly by abuse of the peer review, whereby all articles criticising the hockey stick were referred to the hockey stick authors, who not surprisingly squashed them.
In the 2013 IPCC report the hockey stick has magically disappeared without explanation or apology. Current theories are likely to go the same way.
Actual climate and geological records indicate that we are currently in a cyclical warming period. Records also show that mankind has prospered in warm periods. A cyclical cold period, however, lies beyond, which will drastically reduce the world’s agricultural production for an ever increasing world population.
That is the scenario we should really be alarmed about.
Bill McKenzie. 48 Fintry Place, Broughty Ferry.
A quick U-turn by Mr Murphy
Sir, On Sunday, apparently, Jim Murphy refused to rule out a coalition with SNP after the election in May.
On Monday, Ed Miliband ruled out a coalition with SNP.
On Monday night, Jim Murphy, on Newsnight, ruled out a coalition with SNP.
This is the man who, on being elected leader of Scottish Labour, said that he would now be in charge of deciding policy in Scotland, and that they would no longer be subject to London diktat. That didn’t last long.
Les Mackay. 5 Carmichael Gardens, Dundee.
Bitter cycle continues
Sir, In 1990, after 15 years of bitter wrangling between residents, the local authority and travellers, the local council agreed to create a permanent site at Heatherywood to the north of Kirkcaldy.
It was not an immediate success. There followed another four years of argument about design and finance.
Businessman Stuart Dunn’s recent concerns about the chance of a seasonal camp at Southfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes (Courier, March 11) shows that very little progress has been made in terms of improving liaison among the various parties in the last 20 years.
Why? The simple answer is lack of trust.
It goes beyond that, however. Committees set up to look at links between the travellers and communities are still regarded as the poor relation of council work.
Councillors hope and pray that any proposal for a site will be in somebody else’s ward and will avoid their own.
Some do not have confidence that the site will be managed effectively; some don’t believe they will get the necessary backing from either central or local government; some don’t trust any commitments given by the travelling community.
The result is that hardly any progress is made.
Each year unofficial encampments are set up, and the vicious cycle of bitterness, delay and myopia goes on.
It will go on year in year out until the council and the travellers agree to talk at the very highest level in Fife Council.
Bob Taylor. 24 Shiel Court, Glenrothes.
Prefer to be best of neighbours
Sir, In several newspapers recently it has been reported that, according to a major academic study, 70% of Scots believe it is inevitable that Scotland will become an independent country.
Prior to Czechoslovakia becoming two independent countries, the same figure of 70% was accepted as the view of the people.
Now the Czech Republic and Slovakia have gone their separate ways and have both thrived greatly by the split.
They prefer being the best of neighbours rather than being in an unhappy relationship that disadvantaged both sides.
Harry Key. 20 Mid Street, Largoward.
Mindless waste of police time
Sir, Britain is unique in Europe in having no statute of limitations for sex offences.
The average limitation period across the EU is about 12 years from the date of the alleged offence with a maximum of 20 years if the alleged victim was under age at the time.
The fact is, juries convict 95% of all cases where alleged child victims are concerned so it is impossible to mount an effective defence which is why most countries have the statute.
Instead we have had a witch hunt worthy of the Thomas Macaulay tart observation: “We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodic fits of morality.”
The immense effort has left four very elderly men in jail and the resulting cost-benefit analysis shows the exercise to have been the most mindless waste of police time in British history.
Britain’s top policeman Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says officers need to concentrate on current threats and rightly calls for a halt to our national obsession with ancient celebrity sex offences.
Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
Delusions of grandeur
Sir, Nicola Sturgeon, in a recent speech at the London School Of Economics, claimed that the SNP would be a constructive force at Westminster after the general election.
Personally, I can’t think of a more destructive force at Westminster.
Determined to break up the union and refusing to listen to 55% of the electorate who voted no, she is demanding full fiscal control and proposing to get rid of the Barnett formula that has been successful for years, and to rely on tax income from oil which recently has shown just how volatile this is for the future of Scotland.
I don’t think there has been a more destructive force at Westminster since Guy Fawkes! I only hope the electorate will see through her delusions of grandeur.
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.