Sir, Your leader column, February 28, Welcome vow of transparency, highlights the comments of the Association of Scottish Superintendents who mount a vigorous defence of Scottish policing.
I congratulate The Courier for printing the letter in full which excoriates the comments made by Mr Vic Emery the chairman of the Scottish Police Authority.
I do not intend to rake over those particular coals but wish to point out strongly that in my experience, police officers in Scotland are supported by the vast majority of Scots and rightly so.
As the Chairman of Fife’s Police Committee I have found officers of all ranks to be absolutely honest and transparent in their dealings with my committee and they actually value tough questioning and when necessary a robust exchange of views.
It is vital for the success of a single police force that the relationships between the new authority, the force and vitally the officers and staff are based upon mutual respect.
This has not been anauspicious start and I hope that those who wish to oversee policing in Scotland at the SPA realise that they have more than 17,000 officers and almost 7000 police staff they need to take with them on the journey based in a landscape of severe financial pressures and cuts.
Wiping the slate clean and starting again might well have some benefits for all sides.
Gavin Yates. Convener, Fife Police Transition Committee, Fife House, Glenrothes.
Hoping for a big “no” vote
Sir, While standing outside my home recently a lady drove down the lane, stopped at my door and asked for directions. I politely gave them then she said she had something for me but having heard my English accent said perhaps I wouldn’t want it. She said it was regarding the “Yes” vote.
I said I wouldn’t take offence and she replied that was fine and I could stay. I laughed it off but when a comment like that is made I am always so surprised it takes me a while to process the information.
My mother is Scottish and my father is English. Both decent people. I live in Scotland, have a Scottish husband and a beautiful, innocent Scottish daughter, yet over the years I have been assaulted, spat on and sworn at because of my English accent.
But what I find most surprising about this latest incident is that this stranger felt she had the right to not only make assumptions about me but also felt it was acceptable to do it on my own doorstep!
I sincerely hope that the “Yes” vote gets a very substantial “No”.
Jasmyn Quigley. 2 Bloomfield House, East Muirlands Road, Arbroath.
Time to phase them out
Sir, Well done to Helen Brown and Jenny Hjul for standing up for Hilary Mantel in the face of the tirade of abuse for her comments about a “plastic princess”.
As a man who was lucky enough to have a lovely wife, who was also a very caring human being, I am and always have been pro-female emancipation and given to deploring the maltreatment of women anywhere and everywhere in the world.
I am also blessed with four attractive and intelligent daughters who all inherited their mother’s caring approach to the needs of others. It was a belief of mine that if women became leading politicians they would create a better world for all of us until Margaret Thatcher came along and blew that notion out of the water.
Hilary Mantel was also criticising the way the establishment used the “royal” ladies to sustain the public interest in the outdated office of monarchy. She also questioned whether such an office is still relevant in a grown up society, and as we still have one it would seem that we have yet to attain adulthood.
She suggested the royals should be left in peace to get on with their lives but how can this possibly happen when these ordinary people have been given artificial titles and thrust into the public eye by way of a privileged lifestyle which attracts interest from the readership of countless national and international glossy magazines?
There are no complaints from the establishment when feedback is cosy and favourable but all hell breaks loose when some member of the paparazzi captures and sells on an image of which it does not approve.
If we are really serious about the royals being allowed to live in peace we should be adult enough to take them out of the public eye altogether by phasing out the office of monarch and all the artificial titles that go with it.
Allan A MacDougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.
Need to clean up own act
Sir, I fully endorse the comments of Ercell Carruthers in the letter Mad mad world, February 20.
Is it any wonder people cheat our benefits system? What about the MPs’ expenses scandals? Is it any wonder that businesses large and small use accountants, or cash only terms, to help avoid/evade taxes due?
Until governments, whether EU, national or local, start cleaning their own acts up, introducing sensible, affordable remuneration packages for the public services, insist on, and achieve, good, competent management, and well-trained, conscientious personnel, we are consigned to a world of suspect behaviour and tax dodging.
A T Geddie. 68 Carleton Avenue, Glenrothes.