Sir, Your recent alarming report (Depressing reality of Fife poverty) on the depth and scale of poverty in Levenmouth comes as no surprise.
Like other post-industrial urban communities in the central belt, lack of employment opportunities after the closure of mining has fostered attendant social, educational and community decline.
Although designated as a Regeneration Area for at least the past 15 years, efforts to reverse this by statutory agencies have often been tokenistic and, by successive Scottish Governments, as mere lip-service.
There is a strong suspicion that, with the possible exception of social service spend, more public investment has gone into areas with much less need.
Two examples Levenmouth is the largest urban concentration in Scotland (37,000) without a direct functioning rail link despite having a high-standard track in place; and quality of and access to greenspace (vital for health and well-being) is among the poorest in the country.
Public finances may be tight but it’s time finally to get serious about addressing the complex challenge of such lagging areas.
(Dr) A Armstrong. 28 Viewforth, Buckhaven.
EU directiveis crazy
Sir, Dr John Cameron in the letters page, Thursday, raises a very serious point regarding an EU directive proscribing hydrogen fluoride as the refrigerant gas in motor vehicle Air Con systems.
This material is basically hydrofluoric acid, which is used offshore in the oil and gas industry, with extremely stringent precautions.
It is used for oil and gas well clean-up after drilling operations, or to assist in the stimulation of flow by eating its way through well debris and the well perforations.
It has to be transported in special containers and if it comes into contact with human tissue, will eat its way through until there is nothing else to destroy and will destroy internal organs if ingested.
Why the EU have decided to take such a lunatic approach is beyond belief, since the refrigerant used for the last 15 to 20 years, is more friendly towards ozone, than the previously used freon derivatives. I would certainly not wish to have this material present in a car, as the resulting injuries could be far worse than the result of an accident. Just look up hydrogen fluoride on the internet to see what I mean.
Geoff Bray. Heather Croft, Letham, by Forfar.
A “yes” votewill sort it out
Sir, There has been a lot of talk recently about changes to the welfare state by the UK Government that will see 100,000 Scots in social housing lose up to a quarter of the money they need to pay their rent. Westminster will take £500 million out of the pockets of some of our country’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens just when they need it the most.
Many people have rightly remarked upon the callous, unjust nature of this Tory policy and the adverse impact it will have upon families struggling to make ends meet in the face of Westminster’s unrelenting austerity and triple-dip recession. One in five Scottish children already lives in poverty and it’s set to get worse.
But we can choose a different path. An independent Scotland could stop the destruction of our welfare state. A “yes” vote in 2014 will empower the Scottish Parliament to build a welfare system that is just, democratic and sustainable.
Leading businessmen like Jim McColl, George Mathewson and Brian Souter, and Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, support independence because they believe it is the only way we can build a socially just and economically prosperous Scotland.
Independence isn’t an end in itself it is the means to realising all our dreams of what Scotland can and should be. Our poor cannot afford to pay the price of a “no” vote.
David Kelly. 17 Highfields, Dunblane.
Abuse of the benefits system
Sir, Your correspondents, Gordon Kennedy and Allan MacDougall, miss the point in their recent attacks on Iain Duncan Smith. Benefits abuse is a huge problem and must be solved. The young people allocated a work placement are not working for nothing. The money they receive in benefits certainly does not come from their employers, but from the government, but they are still being paid.
Work placement provides them with the opportunity to earn their money by working for it, thus gaining independence and self-respect, instead of just receiving handouts.
It also gets them accustomed to working for a living in a genuine workplace where they could well gain skills useful in the future or even with the firm training them.
The scheme could perhaps be made more acceptable to those who regard it as working for nothing if the firms concerned paid the young trainees the usual rate for the job, then received reimbursement from the state.
Meanwhile, there is no doubt that there is substantial abuse of the benefits system in general. It would probably have been wiser for the coalition Government simply to have tightened up controls and investigation of criminal fraudsters instead of making changes to the benefits system, thus bringing the wrath of the left-wing down on their heads!
George K McMillan. 5 Mount Tabor Avenue, Perth.