Sir, One of the most famous posters of the 20th century showed a long line of the unemployed in 1930s Germany with the caption Hitler unsere letzte Hoffnung (Hitler our last hope).
Tories adopted the idea in the 1979 election with the caption “Britain Isn’t Working” and now the charity Church Action on Poverty’s poster asserts: “Britain Isn’t Eating.”
The group claims one in four of British children (3.5 million) live in poverty which, even allowing for the UK’s vague and controversial definition of poverty, is utter nonsense.
Only in the most pejorative and obtuse sense can children whose parents cannot afford “foreign holidays, designer trainers or satellite TV” be classed as “living in poverty’.
Those in desperate need in Africa or war-torn Syria deserve our help but this cynically misleading campaign about Britain’s starving masses is deplorable.
Rev Dr John Cameron, 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
Regeneration efforts being undermined
Sir, Residents in Methil, Buckhaven and the Wemyss villages have recently suffered from the withdrawal of direct express bus services to and from Glasgow.
As a result of reorganising of routes from November, the X26 and X27 services are now rerouted via the Standing Stane road bypassing the area.
Regular and occasional travellers who had relied on the convenient intercity services for work and social travel must now resort to connecting services to Kirkcaldy to catch the express bus there, adding additional journey time.
Already the largest urban area in Scotland unconnected by rail, this latest snub to southern Levenmouth seems to have passed by unnoticed.
Ironically, it arises mainly to serve the newly opened Halbeath Park & Ride, offering improved travel for commuters in the Dunfermline area.
Despite the significant population in the Levenmouth area, services continue to be withdrawn.
In January 2014 the voluntary sector support organisation, Fife Voluntary Action, closes it long-established Buckhaven base to relocate to Glenrothes despite major need across Levenmouth.
The decline of such services undermines economic regeneration efforts.
A Armstrong. Secretary, Community-LedEnvironmental Actionfor Regeneration, 28 Viewforth, Buckhaven.
We’re the ones to blame
Sir, Re Angus Whitson’s article on the dangers red squirrels face from buzzards (Thorny dilemma, December 28), I feel it is worth highlighting one part lest it leads to some misunderstanding.
Firstly, predator species are very, very rarely capable of hunting their prey into extinction while the natural balance is in play.
Red squirrels are in an unhealthy state only because of one species ourselves.
Secondly while predator control can have a role in habitat management, ultimately reducing predator numbers will not reverse the squirrels’ decline and will only impact on other species.
The best answer to saving the red squirrel is to reverse the loss of its natural pine forest habitat and control the invasive grey squirrel we introduced.
Sadly the most vocal proponents of predator control are those who have no interest in re-establishing the natural landscape for fear of harming estates’ income.
Alistair Wilson. 56 Seafield Road, Dundee.
Waiting for an explanation
Sir, It is encouraging to see that the new members of the board of Horsecross appear to have more business and financial experience than the previous incumbents. At least they have an accountant on board.
However, the public are still wating for an explanation of the fiasco surrounding the £500,000 black hole. It is, after all, our money.
Some previous board members resigned complaining that Perth and Kinross Council were trying to exert more authority. That is what the shareholders are supposed to do when faced with incompetence.
The board members were fortunate they were able to resign and were not sacked.
The message here for public bodies and quangos is very clear. Boards of directors should not be stuffed with retired councillors and local placemen with limited business and financial expertise.
William S Forbes. 2 Rowan Terrace, Perth.
Those who prosper by it…
Sir, The sad experience of Nigella Lawson tells us that those who prosper by the media also tend to perish by it.
Malcolm Parkin. 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.