Sir, – For quite some considerable period First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been constantly reminding all of us that coronavirus is a danger to the whole country and lockdown precautions have applied throughout Scotland, as they have in all parts of the UK.
Lockdown rules have applied to all Scots, and even yet there is limited movement permitted between one region of Scotland and another.
Surely until there is an agreement that all risks from the coronavirus pandemic have been eliminated, full freedom of movement of people has to be restricted.
Why then, one must ask, are the Scottish Parliamentary elections still being held on May 6 2021?
Will all aspects of the pandemic have disappeared by then?
Or is it just the fact that the SNP is so determined to have an election at Holyrood that caution is ‘thrown to the wind’?
Most folks would have assumed that Parliamentary Elections would be the last things to emerge from what can only be described as a national emergency for not only Scotland, the UK, and Worldwide, but alas it does seem to include the SNP.
May we enquire therefore why it is that Sturgeon et al believe that under the continuing circumstances of the pandemic there is still justification for holding elections in May of this year?
Robert I G Scott.
Northfield, Ceres.
Green party should reflect on its role
Sir, – The British monarchy has never been a major factor in my life but I always believed it is a vital underpinning of our democracy.
Like many, Prince Phillip was rarely uppermost in my mind but I have read so many good things about him in the last few days, that Joni Mitchell’s immortal line “don’t always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” is especially relevant given his groundbreaking work on conservation.
If faux environmentalist Patrick Harvie wasn’t such a prig he might have used these lines in his contribution to Monday’s Holyrood session.
And he may have reflected on his own perversion of democracy, whereby his party won six list seats in 2012 with only 13,174 votes which enabled him to sustain that other seditious entity, the SNP in their can-kicking Indyref2 agenda and trashing of all that is good in Scotland.
Let’s just hope that true “green” voters examine his woeful record on anti-pollution and green job creation and decide their vote is safer with, say, the LibDems, who got 150,000 votes in 2016 but only five seats.
Allan Sutherland.
Willow Row, Stonehaven.
Duke’s sacrifices were considerable
Sir, – With regards to the passing of Prince Philip. I am no monarchist and indeed would say I am sympathetic to the republican cause and its values.
However I would like to say that I regarded the Duke as one of World War Two’s dwindling band of heroes.
His bravery under fire, mentioned in dispatches, and other wartime sacrifices means that people like myself can write freely in this newspaper and indeed others can criticise him with the freedom to do so.
Steve Kerr.
Ardler, Dundee.
Bronze Greta statue is an own goal
Sir, – The University of Winchester commissioned a bronze statue of Greta Thunberg in recognition of her fight against climate change and saving the environment.
In doing so, they scored a spectacular own goal.
Did their chemistry department not warn them that the smelting process to create bronze is environmentally harmful?
It creates toxic wastewater, slag, releases toxic metals from copper, silver, iron, cobalt and selenium into the atmosphere.
Smelters release gaseous sulphur dioxide which contributes to acid rain which acidifies soil and water.
It is to be hoped that Greta will demand that her statue is thrown into the nearest river/sea.
Clark Cross .
Springfield Road, Linlithgow .
