Sir, On Sunday my wife and I travelled 40 miles from Dundee to visit a glen in which we have seen black grouse every year since 2001.
We were horrified to find that the glen has been desecrated by civil engineering contractors establishing a base and access to the hills for, so we were told by a local man, the establishment of a wind farm.The buildings had been erected exactly within the area in which black grouse were most likely to be seen.How can the politicians rationalise their obsession with wind farms and their wish to attract visitors to Scotland (as recently advertised on television)?Jim Crumley (Courier, February 5) is quite right in pointing out that these two objectives are incompatible with each other, although his words “a sick joke” are perhaps too kind, more like an abomination than a joke. I would also question another apparent anomaly. The politicians currently in power boast that they wish Scotland to lead the world in green energy.However, should independence come to fruition and should Scotland become masters of the North Sea oil fields, they argue that great wealth would be earned for Scotland by the sale of the fossil fuel resources.How can Scotland be deemed green if it encourages other countries to buy oil and natural gas predominantly as an energy source?Scotland is not ring-fenced from Earth’s atmosphere and, therefore, a wish to be green should inhibit the encouragement of other countries not to be green.Professor Colin Rochester.18 Greystane Road,Invergowrie.Irritated by wrong callsSir, Having spent some of Tuesday carefully watching the debate in the Commons with regard to the redefinition of marriage, I was irritated by the blatant misrepresentation of the results of the Scottish Government’s “consultation”.Not only did a Scottish MP from a constituency in England misquote the results, Pete Wishart of the SNP made a sorry excuse for an intervention to suggest that what was being discussed did not affect Scotland, only to be told that if he did his homework he would discover that, in fact, it did. But even he did not take the opportunity to correct the error.It was stated that 64% of those who responded to the consultation were in favour of redefinition; in fact it was 64% AGAINST redefinition, unless, of course, one massages the results.The Scottish Government’s own report concludes that the majority of those who responded were not in favour.I have lost count now of the number of times MPs and MSPs have said “the majority of people in the country support this” when, in fact, they have not had the decency to ask. What evidence do they have? Who actually did they ask? Alex Salmond refused the people a vote on this because he knew fine he would lose. As for the “protections” in the proposed bill they are just fantasy.Rev Bruce Dempsey.Caddam Road,Coupar Angus.Best name for new crossingSir, With regard to the naming of the Forth replacement crossing, my choice would be the Queen Margaret Crossing. It seems only fitting and out of respect for a queen she married the King of Scotland, Malcolm III in 1070 who gave her all to Scotland and its people, particularly the sick and needy.She helped everyone she possibly could, asking for nothing in return. There were eight children who played a large part in Scotland’s history. In fact the three youngest sons, David, Alexander and Edgar were three of Scotland’s best kings.However, one major factor for my choice being Margaret is that she was the first to inaugurate crossing the Forth by ferry, hence the names South Queensferry and North Queensferry. She made the journey frequently from Edinburgh Castle to Dunfermline. Even her last journey after she died was by ferry, to her burial in Dunfermline Abbey.Marion Marr.11A Westgate,Friockheim.The very best of treatmentSir, Now I am home again with my family and recuperating after suffering a stroke, I would like to thank all those who cheered me on with their get well soon cards, visits, gifts, flowers and their encouragement and offers of assistance. I am truly very grateful.Most of all I wish to thank the emergency ambulance staff, medical and nursing staff of the Accident and Emergency unit, and wards 15, 33 and 12 of Ninewells Hospital. As a former nurse I know the care and attention I received from start to finish was superb. The opposite of recent critical press reports.Staff were polite, helpful and totally focused on my care and well-being. Thank you all for giving me back my life.Margaret Copland.1 Church Street,Monifieth.Was he jesting?Sir, Was the First Minister in jest when he claimed to be a better singer than Aled Jones and the greatest Celtic leader since Scotland’s last king who I believe was Idi Amin?Or, if the referendum goes his way, may we expect that the “Dear Leader” will assume the African icon’s titles and reign over us as Field Marshal Alex Salmond VC PhD?Dr John Cameron.10 Howard Place,St Andrews.