Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, Will it soon be the Great Wall Street of China that serves as the centre of finance and commerce? Will it soon be that India and Brazil are the sole producers of steel? Outnumbered, and outsmarted by these vast populations, and overwhelmed by immigration, there is little we can do to stem this advance of shifting pre-eminence on the world stage.
Capitalism, without doubt, is preferable to Communism, but what of unfettered Capitalism? This has allowed both the disloyal dissemination of home grown industry to lands which furnish cheaper labour and the opening of our borders to the influx of that labour. The lords of the sweat shops, both at home and abroad, are on the ascension, and are ever more so aided by the money lenders now having absolute power.
Governments constrained and controlled by these money lenders can do little in the face of crushing debt. In these times we serve only as mandate fodder. We watch in helpless dismay at the dismantling of vital public services we can no longer afford. And these services, more than anything, make our way of life better than that of third world countries. We have taken them for granted and in the cold years ahead they will be sorely missed.
The dismantling of industry and the promotion of financial services as the mainstay of our economy lies at the Tory door, as does their disposal of our public assists and their eager erosion of our public services. Labour opened wide the doors that insulated our borders, and granted even more licence to the greedy bankers. In a British two-party system that’s what we are stuck with but not, thank goodness, in Scotland. For us there may be some hope.
Leslie Milligan.18b Myrtlehall Gardens,Dundee.
Won’t get the ‘right’ answer
Sir, George McMillan (Letters, January 2) asks why engineers and others responsible for power generation have not been consulted for their technical and professional opinions on the viability of windmills and other devices as the main source of our electricity supply.
The answer is that these people would undoubtedly give the ”wrong” answer, and reveal our politically motivated reliance on wind to be a serious mistake.
Politicians only ask questions of those who will provide the ”right” answer, hence the armies of pseudo-scientists now making their living from telling the government what it wants to hear.
Malcolm Parkin.15 Gamekeepers Road,Kinnesswood,Kinross.
Must separate fact from fiction
Sir, Alistair Harper in his letter (January 3) once again illustrates the jingoistic inability to separate fact from fiction when it comes to matters of national defence.
He fears that moves to co-ordinate EU defence spending may mean that Britain loses ”our power of national interest and defence”.
On an optimistic estimate this ”power” was probably already lost by about 1940, when we had to sell out parts of the empire to obtain American destroyers which we could not provide for ourselves.
But perhaps that moment had already come when a beleaguered Duke of Wellington looked with relief on the advancing Prussians at Waterloo in June 1815.
However, if his fears for the Falkland Islands are well founded then no doubt Britain will receive the same American logistical and technical support as it did in 1982 to allow her to once again defend her interests ‘alone’.
It seems that this fear of any EU defence initiatives represents nothing more than a fear that a national myth may have to be given up on.
Stephen Connor.Na Bucance,Praha.Ceska Republika.
Not allowed to use docks road
Sir, Like many others I cycle through the docks on a daily basis on my way to and from work. This is an excellent community resource which keeps traffic off the roads and provides a convenient way for many of us to take exercise on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, I have reached the same conclusion as Dr Smith with regard to the port authority’s lack of commitment to cyclists. This struck me very forcefully during the recent heavy winds when I was refused access to the path on the grounds that it was ‘dangerous’.
I accepted this and asked if I could therefore cycle on the road which runs parallel to the cycle path. This request was refused on the grounds that cyclists are not allowed to use that road. Instead I was told to cycle on the main Dundee to Monifieth road. I found this to be quite bizarre as the docks road is rarely used, while the main road, as your readers will know, is very busy.
Put simply I was advised to do something rather dangerous, instead of being allowed to do something very safe.
On that particular night it did feel dangerous to be cycling with heavy traffic and I walked for much of the journey. The net result of this is that my journey home was much more difficult and unnerving than it might have been had I been allowed to cycle on the docks road where traffic is very light and often non-existent.
While I appreciate that there may have been good reason to close the cycle path on this occasion, there appeared to be no good reason to deny access to the docks road. Moreover, I have had this experience before, as have others.
Surely, the harbour authority should reconsider its position and allow cyclists to use the docks road when the cycle path is closed?
Robin Ion.Broughty Ferry,Dundee.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.