Sir, – For several years, like many parents, I allowed my teenage kids to attend T in the Park.
I had a day-ticket one year and witnessed the highly effective admission system and majority of people out to enjoy themselves, albeit with a feeling of unease at the over exuberance.
Recently, one former reveller, now a policeman, told me about the hedonistic goings on, including hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of tents and camping equipment abandoned at the end of the event.
I am shocked but not surprised that this year there was a massive brawl and a cash machine was stolen, and two young people died.
There needs to be an inquiry into how the organisers can profit from this enclave of debauchery.
Why aren’t people searched for drugs on entry? Should there be more police on duty? Why did Fiona Hyslop subsidise it?
In a society plagued by over-protection of young children, are we seeing the tragic payback when they do get let loose and we parents refuse to acknowledge what is going on?
Allan Sutherland.
1 Willow Row,
Stonehaven.
Fees push up ticket prices
Sir, – I read that Geoff Ellis of T in the Park got his predictions wrong again for his festival at Strathallan. He is said to have predicted that last weekend was going to be a scorcher. Were his comments made to boost ticket sales?
I thought I would purchase day-tickets for the Sunday as Faithless were on stage in the evening. Online these were priced at £82 50, plus fees of £9.25. I do not mind paying a fair price for tickets but I do object to these add-on costs.
What are these rip-off costs that are applied for large events?
Ian Robertson.
Station Road,
Crook of Devon.
Taxpayer will pick up bill
Sir, – Sir Cliff Richard is to sue the BBC and the police over wrongful accusations.
I will not venture any opinion on the outcome, that is for the courts to decide.
What does interest me is, if Sir Cliff wins his case, who pays the damages?
In the case of the BBC is it the tax and licence payers who will be punished, or the individuals involved?
In the case of the police, again, is it the taxpayer who foots the bill or the ones who were in charge?
If I was the perpetrator of an action causing stress or damage to another individual, I would rightly have to pay. I wouldn’t expect any help from my fellow taxpayers. You can be certain that this will not happen if Sir Cliff wins his case.
Bill Duthie.
25 St Fillans Road,
Dundee.
Funding cuts to bus services
Sir, – I read with interest John Swinney’s johnnie-come-lately comments on reduction and cancellation of the Carse of Gowrie bus services.
This is already a common occurrence in Perth city.
Local Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have met with officials of Perth and Kinross Council and Stagecoach to no avail.
This is a commercial decision by the bus company partly due to the reduction of the Scottish Government’s subsidy to bus companies to cover bus travel for senior citizens. Perhaps now, with Mr Swinney’s involvement, this will be restored to the status quo.
Councillor John Flynn.
Perth City North,
Perth and Kinross Council.
Port can have bright future
Sir, – It was with great interest that I read Councillor Henry Anderson’s upbeat letter (July 9) on the subject of Perth Harbour.
It is refreshing to see a positive view of the port of Perth instead of the usual doom and gloom that has been so pervasive of that facility in recent times.
Perth Harbour’s problems are not new and have not come about overnight but have been festering away for some considerable time.
The disadvantages of the harbour are regularly reported but what of the advantages, and there are quite a few?
Having been interested and involved in the port since 1951, I have recorded the highs and lows ranging from the occasion when it was proposed the Lower Harbour become a landfill site to the relative boom times of the 1960s and 1970s and the post-miners’ strike period which created a resurgence of coastal and short-sea shipping.
A recent proposal to look at the possibility of attaining trust port status may well be the key to a more stable future.
Such a move would allow a much more flexible organisation to become more closely linked to the marketplace and allow direct negotiations to take place with shippers.
The secret here, of course, is the composition of such a commercial body. Local authority representation would continue but the appointment of board members from the business community would allow a contribution of commercial experience and expertise from a wide range of transport, agricultural, industrial and distribution-related sources, for example.
Recently on a journey down the Rhine from the Swiss inland port of Basel to the major port complex of Amsterdam, it was easy to observe the amount of freight moving over water in both directions, being transported by a wide range of barges and river/sea ships, thus reducing a massive total of equivalent lorry miles.
A board member of a trust port for 11 years, having sailed with the river pilots on cargo ships up and down the Tay on more than 50 occasions and currently writing on the subjects of ports and shipping, I see a positive future for the port of Perth.
In the meantime, all support should be given to Councillor Anderson and his like-minded colleagues in their efforts to keep the harbour on the active shipping map of the UK. It will be an uphill struggle but an objective well worth striving for.
John Aitken.
7 Graham Crescent,
Montrose.
Futility of our ‘democracy’
Sir, – Recent contributors to the letters page have suggested that some among us are refusing to accept the outcome of democratic decision taken by United Kingdom voters.
However, by definition, a democracy exists where people have either chosen to govern themselves or elected someone to do it for them, which means that Great Britain, with its hereditary monarch as head of state and an unelected second chamber, does not qualify as a true democracy, even though it does have an elected lower house.
This form of undemocratic government has been a feature of this country both before and after the birth of Great Britain and the ruling establishment has always taken the necessary steps to ensure the conservation of the status quo.
In political terms, the Conservative Party has always seen itself as the custodian of the status quo and sees the UK state as an entity having a monarchy at the top supported by a wealthy ruling class in charge of telling everybody else what to do.
The party has coined such phrases as “democratic monarchy” and “compassionate conservatism” both of which are meaningless dichotomies.
Allan A. MacDougall.
37 Forth Park,
Bridge of Allan.
Mr Corbyn should quit
Sir, – I was saddened to learn that Andrea Leadsom has decided to leave the race to become the next Prime Minister.
I think Ms Leadsom would have made an excellent leader for this country.
However, she has selflessly put the interests of the country first by saying that it was important for the stability of the UK to have a Prime Minister in place as soon as possible.
I salute her courage and humility.
I find it interesting that she could not continue as she had less than 30% support for her leadership bid from the Conservative Party.
It is such a shame that Jeremy Corbyn could not take a leaf out of her book and put the interests of the Labour Party first and resign.
If there is to be a general election in the near future, Labour is in turmoil and an ineffective opposition.
Gordon Kennedy.
117 Simpson Square,
Perth.