Sir, – I write to you in dismay as to the apparent shape of things to come.
I note that Fife Council have cut their management fee to Fife Sport and Leisure Trust from £6m to a jaw dropping £2m.
The inevitable consequences are that this has impacted upon a vital facility, namely Bowhill swimming pool and gym facility.
Bowhill will see a reduction in hours, which apply to the morning sessions, which denies access by senior citizens, and mothers and toddlers in particular, learning how to, swim at a suitable time when it does not impinge on their other children returning from school .
This in an age when keeping fit and active is reputedly a priority of all councils, and publically extolled and verbally encouraged.
There is little use in telling us to keep fit and active on the one hand when facilities such as this are restricted.
The old Indian saying “he who speaks with forked tongue” readily springs to mind. Such draconian cuts will inevitably have their consequences, especially at a time when it is widely agreed that people are drifting into unhealthy lifestyles, resulting in obesity and ennui with a negatively consequent knock-on effect on the NHS.
How we address the present will inevitably impact on the future. The pool itself has a legacy in that it was constructed largely from the donations from local miners, contributing from their weekly wages and surely in this there is an added responsibility to the latter, who perhaps had a greater vision and sacrifice than that of our present council.
Agreed there is a need for savings but these should surely go hand in hand with needs and planned priorities of our local communities which in this case those responsible failed miserably to even consult with local citizens and instead issued a curt notice of intent.
David L Thomson.
24 Laurence Park,
Kinglassie.
Defence of an indy Scotland
Sir, – In response to Mr Peter F Toms’ ex-Chief M.E.M. Royal Navy (Courier Letters, November 29) where he states no naval vessels would be built or maintained on the Clyde in an independent Scotland, it is my understanding that should Scottish citizens decide to become independent then 8% of military hardware would for all intents and purposes belong to them.
Obviously that would include naval hardware which of course would have to be maintained.
It would be safe to assume that as a country with a large coastal area such as Scotland ships would have to built and maintained to protect these coasts.
There has been much written on the subject of a Scottish defence force prior to and after (the independence referendum in) 2014 by many different people so the information is out there if you care to look.
Would a Scottish defence force be as large as the Royal Navy? Obviously not but it would I am sure aspire to be as effective and professional as there is plenty of talent in Scotland to do this.
With the latest poll showing support for independence at 50% this discussion may well feature in the short to medium term and, no doubt, the issues that Mr Tom has raised will be up for objective debate.
Bryan Auchterlonie.
Bluebell Cottage,
Perth.
Scots’ ‘funny money’ gamble
Sir, – In 2016, Sturgeon appointed a ‘Sustainable Growth Commission’ to come up with a new independence plan.
Its currency option is one that Salmond ruled out in 2014 – Sterlingisation.
He did this because Sterlingisation would effectively leave monetary policy in the hands of the UK Government.
The Bank of England would also be the sole provider of bank notes.
The SGC also proposed moving to a new Scottish currency but not in “the short or medium term”.
The SNP conference this year rejected that advice and resolved “to authorise the preparation of a Scottish currency as soon as practicable after a vote for independence.”
All currencies must be backed by a central bank with sufficient reserves to support the banking system in a crisis.
The reserves also have to be large enough to deter international speculators betting against the currency.
Scotland has no reserves and no way of creating any while it has fiscal and balance of payment deficits.
We would be entitled to about £13 billion from the UK’s £164 billion reserves but that would be far short of an adequate amount. Denmark, which the SNP holds up as a model of what we could be, has around £70 billion.
Without comparable reserves, the new currency (the Alex, the Nicola or the Bawbee ?) would be at the mercy of international capital markets and there would be no way of defending its value.
Faced with such a perilous gamble, it makes no sense to vote for the SNP unless you would be happy for your wages, pension and savings to be in any currency other than the pound sterling, backed by the Bank of England.”
Denis Munro.
St John’s Place,
Perth.
Green ‘rest home’ for Left
Sir, – I have been relieved to see that in this election campaign all the main parties have now embraced the need for massive reforestry in Scotland and, indeed, in the UK in general.
How ironic it is, then, that the Scottish Green Party manifesto does not include the words “tree” or “forest”.
So too Scottish Greens have nothing specific to say about biodiversity – the need to stem the mass extinction of fauna and flora which is worldwide but is particularly acute in overpopulated countries like ours where too much land has been tarmacked and concreted over already.
I conclude that the Scottish Greens are not really committed to fixing the environment, but rather continue as a rest-home for distressed and aging members of the Far Left – refugees from old New Labour – who have never understood the real green agenda.
Adrian Grant.
Alturlie,
Freuchie.
Tory vote essential for UK
Sir, – I’ve just read, with some amazement, a plea from “an independence supporter” to traditional Conservative voters asking them not to vote “for Boris” (Courier Letters, November 28).
His main reason for this is that the Conservative Party, if elected, “will change the UK beyond redemption”.
Am I missing something?
Is this not exactly what the SNP want to achieve?
It seems to me that a vote for the Conservative Party in Scotland is our only chance of keeping Scotland in the UK, and healing the “desperately damaging divisions”, which I would attribute to the SNP, and not the Scottish Conservatives.
Winifred Hall.
48 Gallowhill Road,
Kinross.
FM ‘out of depth’ in TV interview
Sir, – Anyone who watched Nicola Sturgeon in her televised interview with Andrew Neil can surely not consider voting SNP.
Firstly her nervous laughter was a total giveaway, she was out of her depth and her answers regarding health, currency and conditions to join the EC in the unlikely event of independence were bizarre to say the least.
Mev Braid.
Kinkell Avenue,
Glenrothes.