Sir, – Recently I was swimming at Wormit Bay and noticed a quiet man armed with a litter grabbing tool and a large bag that he was conscientiously filling up from the grass verges.
The environs of this attractive bay always look free from litter and this man may well be largely responsible for that.
Surprised at seeing this unselfish behaviour when I emerged from the water I gave him a round of applause.
He then told me that there are bins to use at Wormit Bay and that they are emptied sporadically.
He said he took a welcome break from his work to clean up the beach surrounds.
To my mind he is a real unsung hero.
His unselfishness is remarkable and certainly deserves to be acknowledged.
Meanwhile, to whoever throws down litter, perhaps you are not really a lout.
Perhaps you are a fastidious person who can’t bear mess on your important person or in your beautiful clean car so instead you hurl your rubbish away.
No doubt you are convinced some lesser person will always be there to clean up after you.
That gentleman at Wormit Bay lifting all your discarded cans and sweet wrappers really needed the bending exercise.
He needed the welcome break in the sunshine from his sedentary occupation.
In actual fact, you may think you are doing him a favour.
Or maybe you just do not think at all.
Iris Jarrett.
45 Naughton Road,
Wormit.
U-turn after independence
Sir, – So the SNP has said fracking ‘cannot and will not take place’ in Scotland. Really? Never?
This approach makes clear, as Labour’s renaissance grows, that right now Nicola Sturgeon seeks to retain popular support from the central belt and Fife – where fracking would happen – much more than she needs to talk up a new tax source to replace lost North Sea revenues.
But if Scotland were ever to become independent, surely we must expect a dramatic U-turn from the SNP leader.
Without a significant tax-stream to replace the generous Barnett Formula, Ms Sturgeon’s teenage separatist dreams are finished.
Rest assured: irrespective of what the SNP says today, with independence will come fracking.
Martin Redfern.
Woodcroft Road,
Edinburgh.
Pandering to the Green Party
Sir, – The decision to ban fracking, cynically taken days before their conference, displays how far the SNP are prepared to go in pandering to the Green Party on whose support they rely to maintain their Holyrood majority.
The decision puts party before country and means Scotland will miss out on a tremendous opportunity to create jobs and energy, both of which are desperately needed in the face of the severe and ongoing collapse of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The decision also puts at risk the future of the Grangemouth plant and thousands of associated jobs.
Donald Lewis.
Beech Hill,
Gifford.
Weddings being flouted
Sir, – We read in Monday’s Courier that the Kirk intends to attend wedding fairs in a bid to persuade couples to marry in church.
This is on the back of their concern regarding the number of humanist ceremonies being carried out.
Well, I am opposed to this.
I do not like the idea of a minister attempting to persuade couples to tie the knot in church rather than letting people decide for themselves.
I feel justified in saying this as getting married in a church is a serious commitment, as the relevant vows declare.
Sadly, at a time when we see such high rates of divorce and separation, I do not like the idea of weddings being flouted as part of a sales pitch.
Thomas Brown.
3 Church Place,
Bankfoot.
Argument has been won
Sir, – I read with some amusement those who attempted to justify the Spanish Government’s response to the Catalan independence vote.
I have to say that it matters not a jiff now whether the referendum was legal or illegal – the independence movement in Catalonia has won the argument.
The pictures that flashed round the world saw a police force using violence to stop people voting and that is how the vast majority of citizens around the world will view it.
You can spout all the mealy mouthed rhetoric you like about it being illegal but in the final analysis images speak much louder than words.
Constitutions are written to fit circumstances at the time but they have to be able to adapt to changing circumstances.
After all, they are written by men and not handed down from some God on tablets of stone.
Whatever happens now is very much in the hands of Catalonians and the Spanish Government need to adapt or risk looking like Franco.
Bryan Auchterlonie.
Bluebell Cottage,
Perth.
Ignore voters when it suits
Sir, – Nicola Sturgeon tells us that the votes of two million people cannot be ignored.
Ah, but that’s the votes of two million Catalan people.
Ms Sturgeon has had no difficulty at all in ignoring the votes of the two million Scots who voted to remain in the UK in 2014.
Jill Stephenson.
Glenlockhart Valley,
Edinburgh.
Bidding to stir up grievances
Sir, – Many have understandable concerns about the violence in Catalonia.
Clashes between police and those wanting to vote in the independence referendum should and could have been avoided if cooler heads had led the way.
Yet those simply laying the blame with the Spanish Government play to the preferred separatist narrative of events.
There are two sides to this argument and many commentators in the run up to the vote felt the leadership of the Catalan independence movement were knowingly seeking confrontation to try to win more support for their cause.
We should remember that the latest polls showed the clear majority in Catalonia want to remain as part of Spain.
To some extent the Scottish example shows what an invidious position the Spanish Government found itself in.
While our referendum was at times fractious it was thankfully peaceful, but nevertheless was not accepted by some independence supporters as having resolved anything.
Instead expression of a substantial but minority viewpoint is viewed by some as setting a precedent which can then be used to constantly agitate for further votes, seeking to stir grievance at every turn as they attempt to get their way.
Keith Howell.
White Moss,
West Linton.
A gaffe too far from BoJo
Sir, – I feel that perhaps Boris Johnson is fast approaching his use-by date as a representative for this country both as Foreign Secretary and Brexiteer.
His latest gaffe at the Tory party conference on clearing dead bodies out of Libya was crass and insensitive.
However, in itself it perhaps shouldn’t lead to his dismissal.
I feel the greatest misdemeanour by far was when he said that there should be no payments made to the EU after the two year transition period.
Does this mean that he would accept payments should be made during the two year period?
If so it really does not line up with his earlier heroic remarks that the EU could whistle for a divorce bill.
He has missed the whole point completely.
As a leave voter I and many others did not vote for a transition period and I feel badly let down.
I voted out and we should be out as quickly as possible.
However, I am rapidly beginning to lose hope that it will ever happen with the weak leadership of Theresa May, who was a remain supporter.
Meanwhile, the majority of Tories are too busy fighting each other.
The only person I feel that is fit to lead Brexit negotiations is Nigel Farage.
However, that will never happen as he would never fit in with the old private school boys’ elite club who are completely out of touch with the majority of Britain.
Gordon Kennedy.
117 Simpson Square,
Perth.
