Sir, Jenny Hjul (January 21) appears to have misunderstood the true function of the Civil Service within the UK.
Sir Peter Housden was serving the Scottish Government at Holyrood, a government which was elected democratically by the Scottish people.
The political party in power had an absolute majority of MSPs and specific policies, including seeking independence for Scotland.
Civil servants in Edinburgh are duty bound to further the political aims of the Scottish Government ministers and any attempt by them to inhibit the move towards independence would quite justifiably be seen as interference in the democratic process.
Sir Peter would not be fulfilling his responsibilities if he had not been seen to support Scottish Government policy.
If anyone’s reputation for impartiality has been discredited it is in Whitehall where there is clear evidence that civil servants at the Treasury briefed the press and other bodies in favour of a “no” vote.
Sir Peter may have been a too enthusiastic supporter of Scottish Government policy for Jenny Hjul’s liking but patronising comments about his “going native” do little to give us confidence in Whitehall’s understanding of Scottish politics.
Iain Brown. 5 Brownhills Gardens, St Andrews.
Ditch useless costers . . .
Sir, Graham Huband’s piece (January 21) spectacularly misses the point.
The expected artistic beauty of the new V&A was never in dispute. That was why we chose the design.
But public projects must be to a stated cost because we, the taxpayers, local and national, will have to pay the final bill. The V&A overrun to almost twice the original estimate is a scandal and, of course, all those responsible for the useless (careless?) figures should be publicly investigated.
Scotland used to be famous for her engineers and accountants. She is fast becoming an international joke in project management circles.
The cost of the Parliament (helped by good old Babs the Builder), then the Edinburgh trams and now this.
Clearly every enterprising business course leader in our universities and colleges will want to set up new courses in costing and estimating. They are sorely needed.
It might be that Mr Huband would be happy to have the estimate for his new house double in outturn providing the edifice was sufficiently handsome but I doubt if many the rest of us would be financially able to agree.
Keep the V&A, ditch the useless costers and learn how to count henceforth for all our sakes!
Bill Dewar. 16 Dalrymple Street, Dundee.
Dundee simply can’t afford this
Sir, All the carry on re the V&A spiralling costs got me thinking.
Unless something is done to sort out Dundee’s infrastructure, it will become increasingly difficult to get to the waterfront at all!
In addition to the bridge, three other road blocks come to mind: traffic from Forfar and beyond, via the Kings- way roundabout; traffic from the south via Riverside Drive and Kingsway and traffic from Arbroath via Claypots.
In each case, major traffic disruption is an everyday event . . . without all the extra visitors the V&A will attract.
What about all the additional parking that will be needed at the waterfront? That will just add to the problem as well.
All in all, it’s a massive headache for the planners and when you add in all these additional costs of sorting out the traffic problems, the total bill to bring in the V&A will be colossal. Can Dundee afford it? That would be a huge “no”, I would say.
Bob Smart. 55 Bellevue Gardens, Arbroath.
Twice a weekis too much
Sir, I have to confess I am not Alex Salmond’s greatest admirer. However, when The Courier announced that he was to be given a weekly column, I was not unhappy, in view of the fact that Mr Salmond at least shows genuine humour and a hinterland outside politics.
I further consoled myself with the thought that the arrival of Mr Salmond would at least mean we would no longer have to endure the turgid prose of Jennifer Dempsie, who shows neither of the above qualities.
Imagine my disappointment to find this Thursday the same old slavish propaganda from Ms Dempsie, expressed with the same lack of finesse or wit.
The Courier shows a commendable balance in the platform it allows to commentators of different political persuasions, but two doses of SNP fundamentalism per week, surely that’s too much?
Robert Cairns. Eastergate Cottage, Harrietfield, Perth.
The eagle owl will survive
Sir, I wish the reporter had not used such colourful language regarding the escaped eagle owl which, hopefully, is still flying around Blair Atholl.
Eagle owls have been breeding in the UK for some years especially in Yorkshire, I believe. They are thought to have been either released by people who, perhaps, realised it was cruel to keep them caged, or escaped from falconry centres.
There have been no reports, to my knowledge, of them taking dogs or cats in the areas where they have surfaced. There is a variety of other prey such as rabbits and birds to help them survive.
To say the Blair Atholl owl would be unable to do so because it was a captive bird is nonsense.
David W Fenwick. The Granary, Perth.