Sir, I read the St Andrews University’s ludicrous criticism of some template letters submitted by objectors to their unpopular windfarm proposal, some of which, they shrilly complain, even came from people living outside St Andrews.
Pot, kettle and black come to mind. During the planning process a message to students on Facebook stated: “Our Rector, Kevin Dunion, is opening this event, followed by a presentation from Roddy Yarr, the university’s environment and energy manager, on the Kenly Wind Farm proposal. We will then be leading a letter writing session to garner support for this project.”
Another message lobbying support from students and academics said: “You don’t have to live in the area or close to Kenly to register your views.”
If you read the names of those writing in support, it is clear that many are from people from distant lands.
On this issue the reputation of the university is in tatters.
John Kilgour. Kenlygreen House, Boarhills, St Andrews.
A crazy wage demand
Sir, I see from news reports that our MPs are demanding a rise in their salaries to £86,000 a year, a rise which equates to somewhere in the region of 32%, and which would take them to more than double the national average wage.
Doubtless, they would also require full expenses with no receipts on top of this.
I have always felt that MPs were not living in the same world as the rest of us, but this demand shows they are not even in the same universe!
That they have some sort of say in what they pay themselves makes this doubly galling.
I feel it is high time these ivory tower dwellers came down to Earth beside the rest of us and be paid strictly on results.
A good way to ensure this would be to pay MPs the national median wage. That way, should the economy do badly, MPs’ wages would go down just as do everyone else’s.
If on the other hand they manage the economy such that it does well and workers’ wages go up, then MPs will get a rise too as the median wage rises.
This seems to me to be the most equitable way of rewarding MPs’ efforts and provides a stimulus to actually make the economy work.
In my days at university, the anarchists used to write graffiti stating: “Don’t vote. . . it only encourages them.”
With this current crazy wage demand from MPs, I am beginning to see the sense of this.
Captain Ian F. McRae. 17 Broomwell Gardens, Monikie.
Weather not an attraction
Sir, Official figures have revealed a catastrophic decline in Scottish tourism last year with tourist spending down by £50 million. VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay has blamed the poor weather. Since when do tourists come to Scotland for the weather?
This is the same tourism chief who claimed a few weeks ago that giant industrial wind turbines which now scar some of our most beautiful hills and glens are not a deterrent to tourists. He said there was even anecdotal evidence that wind turbines might attract visitors to Scotland. Well, now we have the answer.
Scotland’s unique selling points are its world-renowned landscapes and seascapes, which the SNP government are determined to “industrialise”. Already, more than 1,700 giant industrial wind turbines have been erected across 142 operational wind farms in Scotland. With 37 more wind farms currently under construction, 123 consented and a massive 165 further developments submitted for planning, thousands more will be built.
Wind turbines are costly, useless and force us to rely on back-up supplies of coal and gas to produce power when the wind isn’t blowing. They don’t make any significant impact on CO2 emissions, but they do make a massive impact on energy bills. Already over a third of all households in Scotland have been driven into fuel poverty.
Now Scotland’s tourist sector is paying the price for this misguided and ruinous energy policy and the best VisitScotland can come up with is to blame the weather.
Struan Stevenson, MEP. The European Parliament.
Important as volunteers
Sir, Finance Secretary John Swinney has been speaking of the elderly and their “optimistic” impact on organisations, committees, charities and community groups. Indeed, figures from Volunteer Development Scotland suggest that 30% of those aged 65-74 do some form of volunteering. Without the role of the elderly in these organisations, many would cease to exist.
It is all too easy to speak of the cost of an ageing population on public finances such as social care and health, but formal volunteering contributed an estimated £2.5 billion to the Scottish economy in 2009-10 and recent figures say that one in four people aged between 65 and 74 are still working.
So, well done to Mr Swinney for recognising the diverse role older people play and I welcome his call for a broad perspective to be taken when discussing our ageing population.
Alan Innes. Head of LaterYears, Pagan Osborne, Queen Street, Edinburgh.