Today’s letters discuss Freemasonry, the unions, public toilets, educating about the Holocaust, and Britain’s defence.
Freemasons would declare interest in court
Sir,-I really must take Tom Minogue to task over his assertion (March 1) that Freemasonry is a secret society, the members of which take oaths with “blood-curdling penalties” to prefer their brethren over non-brethren.
Freemasonry is not a secret society and I would ask any reasonable thinker to consider this: if it is so secret, how do non-Freemasons and people such as Mr Minogue get to know so readily of its secrets?
Freemasonry is allegory and mystery and does not purport to be a secret society. There are no demands placed on Freemasons.
Mr Minogue should consider the name itself, the first part of the word is ‘free’. You don’t make demands of free people.
Freemasons take obligations to be good citizens and obey the laws of the land under a penalty no more blood-curdling than being suspended sine die.
If a member of the judiciary, or other decision maker was to reveal himself as a Freemason, it should not be a signal to debar him from doing his duty but should be considered as an additional qualification, he having proven himself to be a good citizen and worthy of that trust being placed in him.
Like the sheriff at Cupar who stood down in what he perceived as a possible conflict, it would be expected that a Freemason would do the same in that situation.
Brian Lawrence.Balgowan Avenue,Dundee.
Union members’ interests ignored
Sir,-It is revealing that a proposed deal between the Scottish Government, COSLA and the unions to rule out compulsory redundancies was sunk because the unions rejected a deal on a party-political basis.
That decision beggars belief. It seems that unions like Unite, UNISON, GMB and the EIS who are either affiliated to, or openly support, the Labour Party do not want to be seen making any deals with the SNP this close to the elections.
That stance is a betrayal of those who provide critical services and the people who depend on them.
It is astonishing that the same unions are prepared to sacrifice the jobs of their members in order to bang the drum for Labour. Union leaders in Scotland are ignoring the real concerns of their own members.
Malcolm McCandless.40 Muirfield Crescent,Dundee.
Inconvenient truth on toilets
Sir,-With reference to your article (February 28) about public toilets in Perth and Kinross, it is necessary to make some observations.
Policy on toilet provision is the product of a member/officer working group.
Cross-party councillors and officials discuss issues and how to progress them.
Thereafter, the matter is reported to committee. Councillor Ian Campbell, quoted in your article, would do well to consider that his party was represented on that working group and their member agreed to the policy which includes the eventual withdrawal from conventional public toilet provision.
No counter proposal was moved and, since then, no member of the council has asked for the policy to be reviewed or changed. Nor was there a plan to close all the public toilets, as Councillor Campbell suggests, rather, this was a savings option.
As to there having been an attended public toilet in Aberfeldy, the Burnside facility was unattended.
There is no statutory duty on councils to provide public toilets. The working group considered that the increasing expenditure was unsustainable, at £200,000 annually and rising, with no funding allocation from government.
One of the outcomes of that process was the comfort scheme partnership where the council pays businesses to make their toilets publicly available. There are five comfort scheme partnerships in Aberfeldy in addition to the new toilet adjacent to the entrance of Victoria Park.
(Cllr) Alan Grant.Environment Convener,Perth and Kinross Council.
Holocaust visits a start, but not the answer
Sir,-Even at a time of cuts in education spending, we must welcome the Scottish Government’s decision to continue to help fund the Holocaust Educational Trust.
The only reservation I have about Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance’s decision is not based on the near quarter of a million pounds cost of the schoolchildren’s visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau: it is simply that the visits themselves can never properly explain the scale of the genocide.
The school curriculum would be stretched if we went into the true causes of the carnage.
Those causes go beyond intolerance, racism, thuggery and indifference to human suffering. We have to at least highlight what went on. But can our school system properly explain why it went on?
Auschwitz can provoke questions. How far our schoolchildren should be encouraged to get at the answer is a real cause for debate. The visits are a start but let us never fall into the trap of thinking they are in themselves the answer.
Bob Taylor.24 Shiel Court,Glenrothes.
Britain lets its guard down
Sir,-Am I alone in feeling insecure because of the coalition’s defence policies?
Russian Bears test our airspace as the coalition prepares to axe airbases.
A wave of insurrection breaks out across North Africa just as we scrap our aircraft carriers. We can no longer protect our interests.
Bob Ferguson.North Muirton,Perth.
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