Sir, The Courier editorial (February 4) rightly assesses faults on both sides of the row between the reactions of Peter Wishart MP and some of the Strathallan School senior pupils who rejected his views on independence.
However, some aspects of this storm must be examined.
It was the SNP who gave school pupils the right to vote in the referendum but then hurl abuse at free-thinking teenagers who reject their overtures.
For an experienced MP to react churlishly on social media was bad enough but the later twittering of his so-called “friends” was disgraceful.
Those messages show how any opposing view is treated by SNP supporters.
The taunts towards those teenagers were rude and excessive and contained threats to abolish private schools in Scotland.
The many private and independent schools of Scotland have a long and envied record of academic and social success.
Abolition would decimate the national standards of education and would also have an enormous effect on the Scottish economy and employment.
SNP opposition to public schools will be noted by thousands of parents, most of whom are not rich, but who work hard for the best possible education for their children.
If those alleged “brats” enter later life with the freedom of thought and the power to defend their beliefs, Scotland will be a better place.
Angus Brown. The Orchard, Station Road, Longforgan, Dundee.
Not everyone is a ‘yes man’
Sir, I hope Peter Wishart MP feels really proud of himself after visiting Strathallan School to take part in a debate with the students. He ended up degrading their school, which they are very proud of, and not only that he started degrading the students themselves just because they didn’t agree with what he believes in.
Well, Mr Wishart, noteveryone is a “yes man”, though that is perhaps what you are used to.
Well done to the students for apologising, even though you felt Mr Wishart insulted you and your school. That makes you the better and bigger people. You followed the schoolmasters’ wishes.
Norma Crawford. Bridgefauld Road, Milnathort.
Amused by the blameless SNP
Sir, I was amused to read that Peter Wishart MP “welcomed” an apology from Strathallan School for the part played by several pupils in an online spat with Scotland’s infamous cybernats.
The school clearly does not condone bad manners in its pupils but it is worth noting that the SNP chief whip does not believe any blame attaches to himself or his party’s terrifying twitter-mob.
As regards Sandra Gray’s gratuitous aside on “fee fixing”, the regular meetings between bursars across the UK were designed to share ideas on how fees could be kept down.
The private sector is intensely aware of the financial sacrifices made by parents and far from a uniform outcome, fee increases varied widely as each school sought its own remedy.
David Pighills. 3 John Coupar Court, Bridge Street, St Andrews.
Fantastic work by local council
Sir, Community councils are entirely volunteer-run, and shamefully starved of resources or other support from local authorities, who wash their hands of them as far as possible. In many areas they have packed up altogether, or limp on with few members and fewer attendees, dismissed by the local communities they are supposed to serve as ineffective and self-interested.
St Andrews Community Council, by contrast, is a beacon of civic engagement and responsibility.
It has done fantastic work in the last decades in protecting St Andrews from ill-considered development because it has not been afraid to stand up for the town’s interests against Fife Council and St Andrews University.
To make it a scapegoat for the disgraceful decade-long failure by the council and university to provide a new secondary school is shocking.
Surely an essential job of parents is to keep the bigger picture in mind, however insistent certain immediate desires might be.
Linda Holt. Dreel House, Pittenweem.
It’s well known
Sir, I was amused by the report on February 6, about blind people having heightened hearing sensitivity. This has been known for more than a hundred years. The best piano tuners were almost always blind.
A well-tuned piano was a “must” in many family homes in the late 19th century and the early decades of the 20th. Hence plenty of work for blind people!
A T Geddie. 68 Carleton Avenue, Glenrothes.
Why no ‘saint’?
Sir, As St Valentine’s day approaches I am wondering why the ‘saint’ has been dropped. Is this an effort not to upset atheists and other parties who do not believe in saints?
Saint Valentine did exist. He was a third century Roman saint and is the patron saint of lovers. Can anyone give me an explanation?
Isabel Wardrop. 111 Viewlands Road, Perth.