Sir, I was saddened to read about the recent death of Sir Nicholas Winton (July 2) and I have to say what a remarkable courageous man he was.
The word hero is branded about quite loosely these days but after reading what he did by rescuing 669 children from death in concentration camps and putting his own life at risk in the process it is clear he was a true hero whose knighthood was well deserved.
If I am allowed to get political for just a moment, we see in Britain an example of a system of immigration that truly worked where desperate people were allowed entry, unlike today where the system is grossly abused.
Where did it all go wrong? I pray that he rests in peace and his legacy will never be forgotten.
Gordon Kennedy Simpson Square Perth
One overruling the other 58
Sir, We can now see how one Scottish MP can overrule 58 Scottish MPs with the help of 500+ English MPs.
Democracy in action!
Who would PM Cameron have placed in the position of Scottish Secretary if the Tories had not won even one seat in Scotland?
Tom Black Lawside Road Dundee
Unprincipled Liberals at fault
Sir, Liberal councillor Anthony Garrettt (July 2) complains of Scotland being a one-party state now that the SNP are in power.
I would agree that a strong opposition is essential if we are to have a healthy democracy, but who does he think is responsible for the present state of affairs?
I have voted Liberal in the past, but when they abandoned their principles to join with the Tories and form a government that then attacked the poor and disabled in our society, I felt utterly betrayed.
If the Liberal grandees had made a principled stance against this coalition at the time then it would have been rejected.
That they did not do so was a huge mistake, and one I believe that destroyed his party.
Mr Garrett would do well to follow my mother’s advice, given when I was a wee boy and had a scab on my knee “it’ll no get better if ye keep picking at it”.
George White Cupar Road Auchtermuchty
Unjustified cost of translation
Sir, I was interested in and agree with the contents of Mike Higgins’ letter (June 30) regarding the NHS.
I recently received a newsletter from Fife Council titled “Down Your Street.”
I can understand the newsletter being available in large print, braille, audio CD and tape.
However, I would question the language phone lines that are also available, and at what cost, in Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Polish and Urdu.
It is surprising considering the obsession for Gaelic that it is not included on the list!
RHL Mulheron Cowgate Tayport
The contempt of government
Sir, The recent correspondence (July 1) making the case for the Leven rail link highlights the continuing indifference of the Scottish Government to Levenmouth.
Back in the 1960s, Dr Beeching’s report actually recommended the Thornton-Leven branch remain open.
In the 46 years since, successive campaigns to rectify the injustice and irrationality of its closure have failed, partly because the Government has ploughed transport investments into a series of expensive and poorly-justified vanity schemes (Queensferry Crossing, Edinburgh trams, Borders rail link and others).
We had a STAG (feasibility) study in 2008, but have had to jump through more hoops to repeat this in 2015, at considerable expense yet other schemes have either jumped the queue or bypassed the “required procedure” altogether.
The current Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Project (EGIP) was not even in the Network Rail Control Period 5 Plan, yet was rushed through on the nod.
This situation is both undemocratic and a continuing insult to the 50,000 souls in Levenmouth and the East Neuk who seem to lack political clout or voice.
The case for reinstatement of rail services is overwhelming.
We’ve had enough of this contemptuous treatment.
Whichever political party commits to reinstating rail services to Leven will get my vote to end this disgraceful charade once and for all.
Ken Maclagan Union Place Leven KY8 4NH
Need to rethink bombing policy
Sir, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has hinted at a wish to bomb Islamic militants in Syria, but will the latest chapter in the long history of RAF bombing of this group achieve anything positive?
We are approaching a centenary of bombing bad Islamic people, which started during the First World War when the native population of Waziristan, were on the receiving end.
This tactic proved so successful for us that it was continued in the 1920s and 1930s in Somaliland, where the natives, if they didn’t play ball according to our rules, were bombed.
With only a break for the Second World War, when we bombed Christian Germans, through the 1960s and into the 1970s we were bombing mainly Muslims in the Suez Canal zone, then another of our protectorates in Aden, which brought us to the recent bombing of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and now it would seem Syria.
From the Mad Mahdi through Nasser to Colonel Gadaffi to the present day, we have always had an Islamic threat to our Britishvalues, which is now personified by a deranged Tunisian, said to be inspired by IS.
Mr Fallon said in parliament on July 2 that we must show we are in this so-called war on terror for the long run.
That hardly needed saying, and while I don’t doubt his sincerity I am reminded of Oscar Wilde’s quote: “Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.”
Does anyone, other than arms manufacturers, really believe a century of bombing has brought us any nearer to peace with those whose lands we have harried?
Or is it not more likely that our past and present actions, with their inevitable collateral damage, will only lead to retaliation in equally barbarous ways?
Tom Minogue Victoria Terrace Dunfermline
Fine is a ploy to keep BP trading
Sir, BP has agreed to settle outstanding state and federal claims against it relating to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster for $18.7 billion.
The fines, to be paid over 18 years, are a fraction of the damages caused by the largest offshore oil spill in US history and minor in relation to the company’s profits.
In the five years since the explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the massive oil spill that followed, the Obama administration has sought to maintain BP as, in Obama’s words, a “strong and viable company”.
No fines have been levied that would impinge on BP’s profitability, and there were no criminal prosecutions of executives for the gross negligence leading to the disaster.
Spread out over the 18 years, the fines amount to just over $1 billion per year.
By comparison, BP made a $2.6 billion profit in the first quarter of 2015.
The deal secures BP’s financial ability to pay dividends to investors and opens the door to further drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Much like the financiers whose criminal activity precipitated the 2008 crisis, the BP executives who profited from the cost-cutting measures that led to the spill are free to enjoy the spoils flowing from the settlement.
With the active complicity of the Obama administration, BP has received slap-on-the-wrist fines, and the company is back
Alan Hinnrichs Gillespie Terrace Dundee