Up for discussion today: the state of the labour market, alcohol pricing, and protecting our built heritage.
Lack of employment is cause of dependency
Sir,-I read Dr John Cameron’s opinions on “malingering on benefits” (November 16) with disbelief and shame.
Disbelief that he is unaware of the plight of the disabled and vulnerable jobseekers who cannot compete in interviews with more articulate, able-bodied candidates and shame that he can seek to justify his opinions by referring to the parish ministry of the Kirk.
Dr Cameron has enjoyed the protection and status of a minister of the Church of Scotland, yet he can write in terms so at variance with all the Kirk would seek to practise and teach.
Yes, it is “a national scandal that large sections of our society have descended into welfare dependency” but the fault lies with the unavailability of work for even the most willing and qualified of applicants.
Isobel Brown.10 School Wynd,Muirhead.
Regressive benefit plan
Sir,-Most fair-minded people will agree with Iain Duncan Smith that the hard-pressed taxpayer should not be expected to financially support the workshy.
On paper, this is a sensible and laudable notion but, in reality, does IDS imagine that when too many people are chasing too few jobs, an employer will choose a malingerer over someone desperate to return to paid employment?
Should the malingerer turn down all offers of employment, then all benefit payments will cease. Will he or she be tempted into a life of crime to fund their existence?
If caught by a sadly depleted police force, they may then be incarcerated at a much greater cost to the public purse than the original benefits paid.
This seems to me to be a downward spiral rather than a progressive step.
John R. Murdoch.4 Aldour Gardens,Pitlochry.
Drink pricing won’t halt yobs
Sir,-In reply to Alex Orr’s letter (November 15) decrying the parties who voted against the Scottish Government’s minimum pricing for alcohol policy, I would say there is no public mandate for this policy, as it was not in the SNP’s manifesto.
The people have not voted on this issue.
Secondly, it is discriminatory, as it punishes the innocent, modest drinker along with the problem drinker.
And thirdly, it discriminates against the poorer members of society who enjoy a modest dram or pint just as much as the rich.
The rich will not find it any burden to pay the SNP’s minimum price but it could mean the difference between a dram or no dram for a pensioner or someone else struggling to make ends meet in these hard times.
The same applies to the loss of supermarket promotions.
And does Mr Orr believe the hike in price will stop the troublemaking yobs or alcoholics from over-drinking?
Perhaps the yobs on the planet he is living on may respond in the way he thinks but, here in reality land, they will just find the money from somewhere to carry on as normal.
(Captain) Ian F. McRae.17 Broomwell Gardens,Monikie.
SNP right on alcohol proposal
Sir,-Alex Orr is right. Opposition to the minimum 45p per unit of alcohol proposal was childish. It has been supported by health professionals and the police and the price does not harm Scotland’s quality brands, where the price is beyond 45 pence.
If supermarkets make a larger profit out of it, I am sure that they can be surcharged in some way.
The Tories’ notion of the minimum price being illegal under European law, given their anti-European stance, seems laughable.
Rob Smith.Christian Peoples Alliance,Longleys,Blairgowrie.
Nation enslaved by addiction
Sir,-How many MSPs have to put up with drunks bawling and shouting in their leafy suburban streets?
How many have had their windows broken?
People wake up to find urine in their closes and sick on their paths. Scotland is awash with drink. It is even possible to get it delivered.
In Kirkcaldy, there were four off licences in 1960, now there is one on every corner. There is a need for government-controlled liquor stores. These should not be in the middle of housing schemes where the vulnerable can be targeted.
Restricted opening hours could control this scourge which is feeding crime and violence.
People who continually get into trouble should have an order preventing them from buying or consuming alcohol rather than facing jail. After all, these people are victims of the drink trade and its political friends.
John G. Phimister.63 St Clair Street,Kirkcaldy.
Restore our built heritage
Sir,-Since the frontage of Perth City Hall is attractive and distinguished looking, as well as a nostalgic link with the past, why not preserve this facade while perhaps constructing flats inside?
Glaswegians and visitors to that city will recall such a development on the site of the former Ascot Cinema in Anniesland, an appealing art-deco building from the 1930s, which was the subject of a successful preservation and conversion programme.
Destruction of our older and more handsome buildings is almost always followed by regrets, which need not happen in all cases.
We need to employ a little more imagination in dealing with our built heritage.
Forewarned is forearmed.
(Dr) Charles Wardrop.111 Viewlands Road West,Perth.
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.