Sir, – Fife Council’s mismanagement of the introduction of an IT system is unlikely to be the only large-scale project where taxpayers’ money has been squandered.
Alex Rowley’s pet scheme to erect scores of wind turbines and save the council tens of millions of pounds seems to have been so much hot air.
The money spent in consultants’ fees, screening applications, public consultations and officer time have been quietly written off.
More disturbing still is the aversion of council leaders to addressing issues of accountability and responsibility.
There is evidence of a culture of fear and intimidation within the council that prevents employees from taking action to stop mis-spending another example that springs to mind is the Kelty Community Centre, which is behind schedule and over budget.
Senior Labour councillor Mark Hood dismissed attempts to apportion blame for the mismanagement of the IT system as “a witchhunt”.
But who is to blame if it isn’t the very Labour councillors who took over Fife Council in 2012, signed the IT deal in 2013 and have overseen the project’s costs and vanishing savings since then?
When Mark Hood and his colleagues are promising the moon, they expect the electorate to reward them at the ballot box.
When they spectacularly fail to deliver, they cry foul and attempt to portray themselves as the victims.
We are asked to believe the cuts to jobs and services Labour council leader David Ross has imposed are not Labour’s fault.
At some point the voters will ask why on earth Messrs Rowley, Ross and Hood didn’t put their own house in order instead of asking the people of Fife to shoulder more pain.
Linda Holt. Dreel House, Pittenweem.
The truth of Irish independence
Sir, – Is the Easter Rising in Dublin a century ago a cause for celebration or commemoration? I thought Alex Salmond attempted some balance in his article (March 28), but he was mistaken on two counts.
Firstly, in the seven years after the Rising, Ireland’s experience was hellish.
He mentioned the execution of the organisers and some of their supporters and the guerrilla war that led up to the peace treaty of 1921.
He did not mention the murderous civil war that followed, in which more Irish men and women were killed than in the entire conflict up to then.
He also mentioned “England” had failed to respond to Irish aspirations for more independence in the 19th Century, as if the problem rested with those south of the border alone.
Anyone who knows anything about the history of the Emerald Isle knows Scottish influence, particularly in the north, has been significant.
For decades after Ireland gained a semblance of independence, it was beset by a host of problems, including low growth, mass emigration, Church interference in civic policy, oppressive censorship and partition.
Things changed after accession to Europe, as more liberal values emerged as the authorities responded to the needs of a more youthful population.
That change is a cause for celebration. The violence that was at the centre of the Rising should be commemorated, but thankfully it seems to be a pointer to the past rather than the future.
Bob Taylor. 24 Shiel Court, Glenrothes.
Smartphones are the threat
Sirs, – With the appalling attacks on Paris and Brussels recently, the police have asked the general public to be more vigilant of their surroundings and of potentially suspicious packages.
I really doubt that this is going to happen, particularly in Britain.
It seems people are surgically attached to their smartphones with their headphones on and many people go around looking constantly at a screen.
In these difficult and threatening times is it not possible for people to occasionally look up and around at their surroundings, particularly when travelling or in a crowded place for the security of themselves and others around?
While I am not disputing the usefulness of these devices in an emergency to gain information or let people know that they are safe, I am concerned that for too many it may be a dangerous distraction.
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.
Give us the truth First Minister
Sir, – News that nearly two-thirds of parents in Scotland are unhappy with the named person scheme, according to a new poll, should come as no surprise.
In this clumsy attempt by the government to apply their controlling instincts to families, they have again listened only to those who agree with them.
But will the First Minister retract her attempt to assuage opponents of the named person scheme by incorrectly implying that it is not mandatory?
Her odd phrasing in describing it as “an entitlement, not an obligation” flies in the face of her own government’s QC, saying in court there is no opt-out allowed.
The legislation contains no provision for people choosing for their child not to have a named person.
So was the First Minister being knowingly disingenuous or has she misunderstood what has been enacted?
Keith Howell. White Moss, West Linton.
Were Travellers told to move on?
Sir, – I refer to your article about the South Links caravan park, Montrose, and residents getting “move on” notices from the council (March 28).
Did the Travellers across the road get the same letter?
That ground is not a caravan park for short, long or residential residence.
Bob Pert. 15 Tayock Avenue, Montrose.
Standing against oppression
Sir, – In reply to David Robertson (Letters, March 26), in Ghana male homosexual relationships can result in up to three years’ imprisonment.
Perhaps Mr Robertson thinks this perfectly reasonable, but I would hope, like Ruth Davidson, he regards it as an unjust oppression.
If so, it is absurd for him to accuse Ms Davidson of racism and cultural imperialism for protesting against the ill-treatment of a group of people who are mostly black, regardless of whether her protest is likely to help.
If jailing people for consensual adult gay sex is wrong, then Scottish law is more enlightened in this respect than Ghanaian law, and it is not arrogant to say so.
If Ms Davidson had refused to show respect for a visiting Chinese politician to protest China’s persecution of Christians, would Mr Robertson have called her attitude racist or imperialistic?
Robert Canning. Secular Scotland, 58a Broughton Street, Edinburgh.
No opposition is a dictatorship
Sir, – It is a political truism that it is impossible to have a democratic government without an effective opposition.
What we have in Edinburgh, and to a lesser extent in Westminster, is basically a dictatorship where we have here in charge a young lady who is currently learning to run a household for the first time albeit using our tax money trying to convince us she is qualified in any way to run Scotland. I think not.
The reason the SNP got so many votes was not because anyone thought their campaign was any use.
To my mind it was because George Osborne came to Glasgow and issued threats about our currency.
Someone should have told him that we use the United Kingdom pound sterling, and it is not his to interfere with.
The Daily Telegraph has stated that 100% of MSPs are cheating on expenses.
At the next Scottish elections vote them out, and at the European referendum let us have our country back.
I do not consider it to be a good deal to have paid income tax and National Insurance contributions constantly since 1960 to be bailing out European countries whose national sport is not paying taxes.
T Fowler. 1 Jubilee Court, Letham.