Sir, – I was lucky enough to recently attend not one but two of the current productions by Dundee Schools Music Theatre; Barnum at the Dundee Rep and Starlight Express at the Gardyne Theatre.
Both shows were performed with such skill and enthusiasm by the young people involved, 70 in all in Starlight Express and a cast of 50 in Barnum and both had me enthralled from beginning to end.
I was amazed to see the highly professional performances of the young people which required them to learn many new skills including juggling and tightrope walking in Barnum and roller skating in Starlight Express, not to mention the wonderful singing and synchronised dance movements.
Above all, the joy experienced by the whole cast was communicated to the audience with standing ovations at the end of both performances.
What a wonderful opportunity for these young people to participate in these productions, to experience the annual residential week at St Andrew’s University during the last week of the summer and to achieve a performance of which they probably never believed themselves capable.
Dundee and Angus should be truly grateful to Dundee Schools Music Theatre, supported by Dundee City Council, the Leng Trust and Dundee and Angus College, for all they have achieved in the last 17 years and hopefully Lina Waghorn and her production team will be able to continue this dedicated commitment to the development of young people for many years to come.
Georgiana Osborne.
Lord-Lieutenant of Angus.
Enforce existing camping laws
Sir, – With reference to your article on wild camping (August 29), the perpetrators of this mess are not wild camping.
They are littering, causing criminal damage, indulging in anti-social behaviour and more.
All of these are existing criminal offences. The biggest problem is that none of these laws are enforced, so what is achieved by creating yet another law, that similarly will not be enforced?
While the people involved are in their tents overnight they are not generally doing anything wrong, it is when they go away and leave their detritus behind that the problem appears.
What these idiots are not doing is thinking things through, at the very least how they would like to find their chosen fishing spot for a pleasant weekend left like a rubbish dump?
Perhaps underpinning these actions is the belief that the role of local councils is to clear up everyone’s mess.
If the existing laws were enforced then the problem would disappear.
It is very tempting to create a new law to try to ban something that offends someone else. It is a simple soundbite beloved of politicians, civil servants and the media but the lack of enforcement resources is what has caused the problem not the lack of any laws.
Nick Cole.
Balmacron Farmhouse,
Meigle.
Yes could have spared us Brexit
Sir, – Mr Richmond (August 27) seems intent on continuing project fear many months after the independence referendum.
In turn he slates our manufacturing, our economy, our roads, our First Minister and our industries and describes anyone who feels aggrieved at being dragged out of the European Union by the votes of our neighbouring countries as “cerebrally challenged”.
Having taken time to argue the unviability of Scotland should we decide to rid ourselves of Westminster rule, he then attacks our First Minister for obsessing about the independence issue. That is rich indeed, Mr Richmond.
I understand why Mr Richmond appears to be embittered. His anti-European views and his hostility to the prospects of this country are at odds with the rest of us who voted 2:1 in favour of remaining in Europe.
During the independence referendum, Scotland was told many lies.
Some were quite laughable, such as banks moving their headquarters to England if we voted yes when their HQs were already in the City of London.
Then there was the promise of supermarkets doubling the price of our groceries if we dared to break free from Tory rule.
Other lies were more serious. The most serious one was the repeated lie that only by remaining in the UK could Scotland be guaranteed to remain in the EU.
This whopper repeated endlessly by the London elite and Tory sympathisers has been shown so clearly to have been a con.
If this had not been repeated so often maybe we would now be independent and working with our European friends instead of suffering the consequences economically from Brexit.
K Heath.
Cortachy,
Kirriemuir.
Referendum talk premature
Sir, – Surely I cannot be the only one who thinks all this talk of another independence referendum is somewhat premature until we see how the enhanced powers resulting from the Calman and Smith commissions are working?
Jane Ann Liston.
5 Whitehill Terrace,
Largo Road,
St Andrews.
Brexit Britain is booming
Sir, – It would appear Nicola Sturgeon has started her own project fear by claiming Brexit will make Scotland poorer.
The SNP’s economic predictions in the 2014 white paper hardly inspire confidence. Why should we believe their predictions now?
After the EU referendum, unemployment is down, the stock market up, car sales booming, retail sales increasing, and the IMF now predicts that the UK’s growth next year will outstrip Germany.
William Loneskie.
Amulree,
9 Justice Park,
Oxton,
Lauder.
UK now needs shale gas power
Sir, – Power stations operating under normal market conditions this winter will produce barely enough electricity to meet peak demand.
The spare margin has fallen to just 0.1%.
This is the result of the Climate Change Act 2008 which the Government imposed without regard to the consequences and led to the closure of coal-fired plants, leading to the lack of reliable back-up for when the wind does not blow, or blows too strongly. Now the National Grid has been forced to intervene.
It will now pay 10 fossil-fuelled power plants £123 million to stay open but idle.
The UK Government should repeal the Climate Change Act and build gas-fired power plants fired by UK shale gas.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
Symbols of oppression
Sir, – While the French court’s decision to suspend the burkini ban is heartening, the underlying issues are far more serious.
Whether other forms of Islamic women’s dress are compatible with our values is, however, more open to question. The burka, the hijab and the niqab all have their origins in the pre-Islamic ancient Middle East of misogyny, violence and slaving.
We take it for granted that other cultural manifestations with unsavoury associations are unacceptable, for example, black and white minstrel shows, actors blacking up, the stars and bars flag and anything associated with the Third Reich are all considered beyond the pale.
Otto Inglis.
6 Inveralmond Grove,
Edinburgh.