Sir, – Marcus Rashford has been the latest high profile person to be racially insulted by morons on social media.
I have over the years had many letters printed in various newspapers.
In doing so I have to give my name, address and telephone number. If social media were to be regarded as publishers rather than platforms perhaps the abuse would stop, or at least be greatly reduced.
If the social media sites were publishers they would then become responsible for the content on their sites.
They would quickly be forced to introduce measures to identify people who misuse their sites.
That would mean having to give details of identity and address, the same as newspapers already require.
By doing this people with something constructive to say would still have access to sites.
Why our elected politicians of all colours do not act on this baffles me.
Harry Key.
20 Mid Street,
Largoward,
Fife.
Covid vaccine ‘shambles’
Sir, – In light of the shambles surrounding European Commission Covid-vaccine planning, it would be interesting to hear from those who support Scotland leaving the UK and joining the EU.
Do they really still believe this is such a great idea?
The fact is, the EU in its present form is doomed. It has become a hopeless bureaucracy.
It has become too big to be prudentially managed, consisting as it does of 27 countries of substantially diverse economic and fiscal management performance.
In the coming years it will be no great surprise to see countries such as Poland and Hungary breaking away. There is already a growing dissatisfaction in Germany and France about the role of the EC, to say nothing of the lockdown riots being seen in major cities of the Netherlands.
The message should be, from the SNP, Better to Stick with the UK for the ongoing benefit to the people of Scotland.
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
UK has become ‘laughing stock’
Sir, – The UK has become a worldwide laughing stock due to Brexit, the only “country” on the planet that has fought to put trade barriers up when countries around the globe are fighting to take those barriers down.
Now the laughter gets louder as we’re being told if the people living in Scotland vote for political parties that have in their manifestos another referendum on independence, that vote won’t count and the UK Government will take the people, the parliament and the government in Scotland to court to prevent the democratic wish of the people.
Two countries – not three or four – just Scotland and England formed this union.
No matter what your views are, is this the type of UK you want to live in?
Rod Selbie.
Silver Birch Drive,
Dundee.
Boris Johnson should be ‘lauded’
Sir, – By the time she finished her six-month contract in November 2020 as head of the UK Covid vaccine taskforce, Kate Bingham had secured rock-solid contracts for 350 million doses of six leading vaccine candidates. She did so months ahead of other countries and millions of doses of Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca were starting to be injected all over the UK.
It’s only fair in praising the Oxford biochemist with a Harvard MBA to cast a kindly eye for once on Boris Johnson. For it was the PM who, in the face of fierce criticism, decided to steer clear of the EU vaccines program, appointing Bingham to report directly to him and providing her with the finances to order those she thought showed the most promise.
He should be lauded for his decisiveness. As the EU dithered, he sewed-up early contracts.
Of course the petulant SNP and Lib Dems accused him of playing “silly Brexit games”.
This was as opposed, presumably, to the public service “experts” who landed the EU in such a mess?
Dr John Cameron.
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews.
