Sir, – I hear complaints every day about the lack of local authority housing, especially in my local area.
But I have to beg to differ to some extent.
When a house is empty and needs some refitting to turn it around, the pace of this could give encouragement to a snail.
To give an example, in my area, over a year ago, a house was smoke damaged due to a chip pan blaze.
There appears to have been no serious structural problems as the occupants in the flat above are still in residence.
But it has remained empty. Even in a third world country this would have been rectified more speedily.
This is not the only example of delay and dilly dallying.
Given that there is a lengthy housing waiting list, surely such matters could be addressed easily and timeously and some needy family might be accommodated.
David L Thomson.
Laurence Park,
Kinglassie.
Let government help rather than ruin
Sir, – The danger of the present Covid regime is that people will eventually have had enough of it.
This is not just about people indoors, or not able to go on holiday or to the pub.
This is about people losing their jobs and the work of a lifetime, and about banks calling in business overdrafts and realising their security, which in many cases will be the family home.
It is about children being taken away from fee-paying schools. It is about divorce and suicide and permanent economic and social damage.
People properly warned and advised would surely make better decisions for themselves than remote government, and the economy might carry on with the benefit of very specific personal action.
So allow people to make their own decisions, and let government help them instead of ruining them.
Some extra deaths among 65 million people is surely survivable, whereas the ruination inflicted by blanket state control is not.
Malcolm Parkin.
Gamekeepers Road,
Kinnesswood.
Sorry that Sturgeon is unaccountable
Sir, – Who holds Jenny Hjul to account asks L Harvie (Beware the festive unlucky dip, Jenny, Courier, November 27) as they go on to extoll the virtues of the first minister.
L Harvie must be totally isolating if they are not aware that Nicola Sturgeon and her administration have now been held to account on three different occasions at Holyrood, regarding the Alex Salmond debacle and the care homes inquiry. Where is the accountability here?
Oh, I forget accountability is only for those whose gift it is!
I too am glad Jenny Hjul is a journalist, but sorry that Nicola Sturgeon is an unaccountable politician!
Brian A Falconer.
Market Court,
Perth.
More UK Wind Weak than UK Wind Week
Sir, – As the BiFab tragedy unfolds, jobs continue to be handed to foreign multinationals at our bill-payers’ expense.
With impeccable timing, some bright spark declared it to be “UK Wind Week”.
There was a slight hitch in that coal outperformed wind power in UK Wind Week!
Sitting under a Europe-wide, winter anticyclone, Britain’s contribution from wind power to the national grid last week was hovering at around 1%.
For the third time in recent weeks the national grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) warned that energy supplies are under pressure.
As ever, fossil fuels had to come to the rescue, with gas supplying about 60% of the nation’s power.
In fact, three coal power stations had to be rapidly fired up to supply around 7%.
Because we are effectively paying for two systems running in parallel, prices reached a staggering £313 per megawatt hour when they are normally about £40 per MWh.
Thirteen years ago, the then Labour government promised us that by 2020 wind power could be powering every home by this year. I wonder where we have heard that lately!
Despite this, what do our ever-gullible politicians want to do? Build more.
Wind Weak indeed!
George Herraghty.
Lothlorien Lhanbryde,
Elgin.
