Sir, The Rev Dr John Cameron of St Andrews described what he called “the starving masses campaign” as being cynical and misleading (Letters, December 31).
He takes exception to the suggestion that the campaign group’s figure of 3.5 million British children living in poverty is being used to mislead the population into accepting something that in his view is untrue.
Not so long ago the Government’s own Social and Mobility and Child Poverty Commission warned that the target of ending child poverty by 2020 would be missed by some considerable margin leaving two million children still in poverty.
Given that the Government is claiming that things are improving, it is quite possible that the current figure of those in child poverty could well be near enough the number quoted by the campaigners, irrespective of whatever is regarded as the definition of poverty, by government committees or anyone else.
In a wealthy country like Britain one child living in poverty is one too many, let alone two million and it is indeed deplorable that that figure will only be achieved by 2020.
The creation of sustainable jobs paying a “living” as opposed to a “minimum” wage is urgently required along with a fairer redistribution of wealth, and the sooner we get on with it the better.
Allan A MacDougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.
Downside of this allowance
Sir, Regarding recent coverage about carer’s allowance I cannot speak for my fellow carers in Fife, but I can tell you why I “lose out” on this allowance, even though I care for my wife, including feeding, washing, toileting, dressing etc, several hours a day, like many others in Fife and Tayside.
Yes, I qualify for the allowance and I could have it and welcome, with one small proviso I lose my old age pension, on the grounds that if I get carer’s allowance I don’t need a pension.
Quite remarkable how the payment of this allowance takes more than eleven years off my life and I am under 65 again (would that it did!).
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.
Frequent visits to Dundee
Sir, I noted with sadness the death of Geoffrey Wheeler last week. Now a forgotten name, I suspect, in 1967 Geoffrey Wheeler was a frequent visitor to Dundee, and became a weel-kent face on TV as he compered Kirkton High School a young school with little academic history through round after round of TV’s Top of the Form competition.
His pleasure when Kirkton High School were the eventual winners in the final was genuine.
He was a man of great charm and urbanity and I hope Gordon Cobban, Morag Smith, Michael O’Rourke and Fiona Anderson (the team) remember his many acts of kindness and encouragement to them, wherever they are.
A W A’Hara. 21 Rockfield Street, Dundee.
Nightmare to drive through
Sir, I refer to Ian Wheeler’s letter on December 30 and totally agree with his comments on man-made obstructions on our roads.
Here in Blairgowrie we have just come to the end of yet another series of “improvements” in the town. The chaos was unbelieveable while the work was being done and I don’t know if the traffic lights are meant to be as they are,or are still to be finely tuned but traffic seemed to flow more smoothly before. We certainly didn’t have the long queues that we are experiencing now.
Together with previous “improvements” when the main road through the town was made narrower, resulting in delays caused by large vehicles uplifting rubbish etc, Blairgowrie is now a nightmare for driving through.
Perhaps the authorities should seek some expert advice in traffic flow management?
William Low. Rowan Bank, Golf Course Road, Blairgowrie.
Scotland will be left behind
Sir, Twenty-two countries across Europe are either exploiting or exploring for shale oil and shale gas. Three others have refused to allow fracking. Shale gas revolutionised the US economy by slashing energy bills and creating jobs.
The UK has sufficient shale gas basins for 141 years and the Government has agreed that exploration can go ahead in England.
Argentina, China, Algeria, Russia and the Middle East also have huge untapped deposits.
The green zealots constantly warn that the world is running out of fossil fuels. This is blatant scaremongering since there is no shortage of oil, gas, coal and now shale gas. If the US-Iran relationship thaws then oil will again flow out of Iran and Iraq.
Scotland refuses to harvest shale gas and instead opts for unreliable and mega-expensive wind energy. Alex Salmond’s fixation with renewables and his silence on shale gas will leave Scotland behind in a shale gas led economic recovery.
Clark Cross. 138 Springfield Road, Linlithgow.
Grey first-foot
Sir, Having reached a ripe old age, we are finding it hard to get a dark-haired first-foot. They’ve all gone grey!
Irene Thomson. 72 Glasgow Road, Perth.