Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – I know it isn’t April Fool’s Day yet, but nobody seems to have told my local branch of those consummate chameleons, the Liberal Democrats.
The other day they delivered a leaflet to my home headlined ‘NE Fife Lib Dems fight to protect local services’, which in its contents boasts of their success in winning more council house building in the area.
This, we are told, involves 22 new homes in Ladybank and eight in Crail with the Lib Dems apparently claiming this as a major success.
However according to figures from Shelter there are over 10,000 households on Fife waiting lists, which rather put this “success” into context.
Of course the truth is that far from the anti-cuts party they pretend to be the Lib Dems are partners in crime with the London coalition with the Tories who are making the cuts.
And here in Fife they are in coalition with the SNP whose Edinburgh government wring their hands about London cuts and then make them.
Meanwhile New Labour huff and puff but admit they too would make service and job cuts.
Perhaps they should all drop the spin and try telling voters the truth for a change.
No wonder voters think them, as Burns said, “A parcel of rogues in a nation”.
Ken Ferguson.High Street,Newburgh.
A defeat, not a miracle
Sir, – According to Margaret Borland the miracle of Dunkirk was most definitely down to the men of 51st Highland Division. If that were so, what were the rest of the British Army divisions doing?
The 51st Highland Division only consisted of about 20,000 or 25,000 men. One would need to be very nave to believe that the 51st Highland Division held back the German armed forces in France for any length of time with such a small force.
The French army itself could not hold back the German army, which is why France surrendered.
It is ludicrous, therefore, to claim that the 51st Highland Division held back the German armed forces on its own to save the British Army at Dunkirk.
Dunkirk was a defeat, not a miracle. Churchill himself knew that.
Ron Smith.14 Reid Street,Dundee.
Figment of the imagination
Sir, – G M Lindsay of Kinross is right to be sceptical about the existence of experimental evidence backing up minimum pricing of alcohol (On what basis?, March 16).
Like the actual units of alcohol themselves there seems to be no evidence to sustain the claims made for minimum pricing.
I have repeatedly asked medical professionals to point me in the direction of the experimental evidence backing up the claims made for alcohol unit limits and have signally failed.
Similarly, nobody has been able to show me what basis the units of alcohol themselves were derived from.
It seems the units themselves and the recommended limits were figures just plucked from the air by some “expert”.
Thus, I suspect that, as with minimum pricing, recommended units of alcohol are a figment of the imagination, and nothing more than a fashionable politically correct stunt.
(Capt) Ian F. McRae.17 Broomwell Gardens,Monikie.
Annoying adverts
Sir, – There are adverts on the TV that are amusing and enjoyable even when viewed for the umpteenth time. Then there are those which were great when seen for the first time but very soon pall and become irritating.
There is one, which encourages me to compare insurance companies, that has become the main reason for the fast-forward button on my remote wearing out prematurely.
But the ads that make me apoplectic are those that proclaim the fantastic broadband speeds coming our way.
Over 20MB will soon be commonplace, we’re told, allowing a complete movie to be downloaded in just a few minutes. I live out of town and pay over £20 per month to BT for which I get half of one megabyte!
A two-minute news video clip takes over six minutes to stutter its way through. There are tens of thousands of us who have no chance of cable or fibre optic connections and feel totally neglected by BT, Virgin et al.
I just wish their adverts would go away and stop rubbing it in. Anyway, they are only highlighting their own rural neglect.
Ken Greenaway.Culross House,Torr of Kedlock,Cupar.
Largest pension increase ever
Sir, – John Thomson’s letter in Wednesday’s Courier saying the Conservative budget had cut OAPs’ pensions could not have been more wrong.
This week the pension rises by £5.30 a week. This is the largest ever increase in the history of the state pension.
Perhaps he was meaning the so-called ‘granny tax’. This was a reduction in tax free allowances for retired people with annual earnings over £10,800.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies said that from 2014, on average, pensioners will lose one quarter of 1% of projected earnings hardly highway robbery.
Stewart Whyte.25 Crombie Acres,Westhill, Aberdeenshire.
Make a note, Mr Cameron
Sir, – The French President Sarkozy was trailing the opposition in his quest to be re-elected for another term. He then transformed his chances with a rousing speech on immigration and immediately shot ahead in the opinion polls.
He declared: “We do not want immigration that is driven by the desire to come here for our welfare benefits”.
All David Cameron needs to add to that is: “…and our NHS, education, social housing and unlimited child benefits”. He could then call a snap election, ditch the un-cooperative Liberals, and have a clear majority in Parliament.
Clark Cross.Linlithgow.
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. Letters should be accompanied by an address and a daytime telephone number.