Letters 2025 - underlining indicates deletion by editor; square brackets indicate insertion.
To The Scotsman (22 Mar 25)
You report that Prince William told Ukrainian refugees that they had 'a very good spirit. very good souls' (2nd leader yesterday). The Royal Family is not like its subjects; it floats above us in a superior plane, yet apparently a superstitious one. William's remarks confirm this. One would have expected the younger royals to have thrown off the reactionary views of their elders. It is disappointing to find that this is not the case.
To The Scotsman (4 Mar 25) not published
Why do so many people mispronounce ordinary English words. I have a list of 25 such words. Recently I noted 'respiratory', where the emphasis should be on the first syllable.
Most of these 'wrong' pronunciations appear to be due to reluctance to emphasise the first syllable of a word. But some are then caught out by words where the emphasis should be on the second syllable, e.g. 'resource' (mispronounced as 're-source'). Is it ignorance or laziness?
To The Scotsman (26 Feb 25) not published
Ash Sheikh of Muir Homes claims that 'New-build homes meet the needs of today's buyers' (Opinion, 25 February). Not at all; they meet what buyers seem to want: houses that look as if they were built decades, even centuries, ago. It seems that people perversely want the most modern cars but the most ancient houses. The house illustrated in Mr Sheikh's article is an example of nostalgic design. What they need are modern homes designed by architects in tune with the 21st century.
To The Scotsman (21 Feb 25) not published
Neil Anderson (Letter, 20 February) claimed that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity generation. However, it depends on the type of generation and its reliability. Hydro is cheap but it is unreliable. Offshore wind, costing over five times as much as hydro, is also unreliable. Gas generation is reliable, but is over three times as expensive as hydro. Compare that with reliable nuclear generation which is half the cost of offshore wind and even cheaper than gas.
To The Scotsman (14 Feb 25) not published
You explain that one reason for the SNP's reluctance to abandon council tax and replace it with (say) land value tax (LVT), is that, desirable as it is, such a step needs to offered as an inducement for independence (Leader, 12 February): any improvement now would undermine that inducement. Understandable but despicable ('we could improve things but only if we get independence'). I would rather vote for a unionist party that offered LVT. But there doesn't seem to be one (it used to be Green Party policy).
In fact, council tax is a minor (19%) component of local council funding; most (66%) comes from Scottish Government Grant.
To The Scotsman (8 Feb 2025) published 10 Feb 25
You note that the SNP is 'trapped in the 1970s' over nuclear opposition' (7 February) but I never hear an explanation for the SNP's stance on the matter. There must be a reason for their opposition, but what is it? Is it just unreasoned prejudice or Is it technical ignorance?
To The Scotsman (3 Feb 25) not published
Ian Petrie (Letters, 1 February) hopes that, somewhere in the universe there are beings more intelligent than us and that we can't be 'as good as it gets'. In fact we probably are the most advanced intelligence that has evolved in this universe. There are no signs of other intelligences anywhere else. Unfortunately 'intelligence' comes with knowledge, even how to destroy ourselves.
You report that Prince William told Ukrainian refugees that they had 'a very good spirit. very good souls' (2nd leader yesterday). The Royal Family is not like its subjects; it floats above us in a superior plane, yet apparently a superstitious one. William's remarks confirm this. One would have expected the younger royals to have thrown off the reactionary views of their elders. It is disappointing to find that this is not the case.
To The Scotsman (4 Mar 25) not published
Why do so many people mispronounce ordinary English words. I have a list of 25 such words. Recently I noted 'respiratory', where the emphasis should be on the first syllable.
Most of these 'wrong' pronunciations appear to be due to reluctance to emphasise the first syllable of a word. But some are then caught out by words where the emphasis should be on the second syllable, e.g. 'resource' (mispronounced as 're-source'). Is it ignorance or laziness?
To The Scotsman (26 Feb 25) not published
Ash Sheikh of Muir Homes claims that 'New-build homes meet the needs of today's buyers' (Opinion, 25 February). Not at all; they meet what buyers seem to want: houses that look as if they were built decades, even centuries, ago. It seems that people perversely want the most modern cars but the most ancient houses. The house illustrated in Mr Sheikh's article is an example of nostalgic design. What they need are modern homes designed by architects in tune with the 21st century.
To The Scotsman (21 Feb 25) not published
Neil Anderson (Letter, 20 February) claimed that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity generation. However, it depends on the type of generation and its reliability. Hydro is cheap but it is unreliable. Offshore wind, costing over five times as much as hydro, is also unreliable. Gas generation is reliable, but is over three times as expensive as hydro. Compare that with reliable nuclear generation which is half the cost of offshore wind and even cheaper than gas.
To The Scotsman (14 Feb 25) not published
You explain that one reason for the SNP's reluctance to abandon council tax and replace it with (say) land value tax (LVT), is that, desirable as it is, such a step needs to offered as an inducement for independence (Leader, 12 February): any improvement now would undermine that inducement. Understandable but despicable ('we could improve things but only if we get independence'). I would rather vote for a unionist party that offered LVT. But there doesn't seem to be one (it used to be Green Party policy).
In fact, council tax is a minor (19%) component of local council funding; most (66%) comes from Scottish Government Grant.
To The Scotsman (8 Feb 2025) published 10 Feb 25
You note that the SNP is 'trapped in the 1970s' over nuclear opposition' (7 February) but I never hear an explanation for the SNP's stance on the matter. There must be a reason for their opposition, but what is it? Is it just unreasoned prejudice or Is it technical ignorance?
To The Scotsman (3 Feb 25) not published
Ian Petrie (Letters, 1 February) hopes that, somewhere in the universe there are beings more intelligent than us and that we can't be 'as good as it gets'. In fact we probably are the most advanced intelligence that has evolved in this universe. There are no signs of other intelligences anywhere else. Unfortunately 'intelligence' comes with knowledge, even how to destroy ourselves.
To The Scotsman (30 Jan 25) not published
Your note that 'Migrants [are] projected to fuel Scotland's population increase over [the] next 20 years' (29 January) needs an explanation as to why that should be so. The reason is that the indigenous population is failing in its reproductive duty: the birth rate per woman has fallen to an average of 1.30. For a population to reproduce itself this rate needs to be about 2.1.
What are people thinking? That children are a luxury? That they don't want descendants? I don't understand it. My father was one of a large Victorian family but he himself had only two children. I have only two children and I have only two grandchildren. The Government is not helping: it introduced a two-child policy to limit subsidies.
Perhaps we just don't care about reproduction and are content to accept immigration to keep up the population. However, It will do more than 'keep it up'; it's going to fuel an increase. Just as well I suppose or Scots would all die out.
Your note that 'Migrants [are] projected to fuel Scotland's population increase over [the] next 20 years' (29 January) needs an explanation as to why that should be so. The reason is that the indigenous population is failing in its reproductive duty: the birth rate per woman has fallen to an average of 1.30. For a population to reproduce itself this rate needs to be about 2.1.
What are people thinking? That children are a luxury? That they don't want descendants? I don't understand it. My father was one of a large Victorian family but he himself had only two children. I have only two children and I have only two grandchildren. The Government is not helping: it introduced a two-child policy to limit subsidies.
Perhaps we just don't care about reproduction and are content to accept immigration to keep up the population. However, It will do more than 'keep it up'; it's going to fuel an increase. Just as well I suppose or Scots would all die out.
To The Scotsman (17 Jan 25) not published
The cause of the Lockerbie bombing on 21 December 1988 lies in the earlier shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai. On 3 July 1988 the United States warship Vincennes fired two surface-to -air missiles which hit the Iran Air aircraft, an Airbus A300, while it was flying its usual route over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. All 290 people on board were killed, making it one of the deadliest airliner shootdowns of all time. The shootdown occurred during the Iran-Iraq War, which had been ongoing for nearly eight years. Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.
The reason for the downing has been disputed between the governments of the two countries. According to the United States, Vincennes's crew misidentified the aircraft as an F-14 Tomcat, a US-made fighter jet part of the Iranian inventory, despite it transmitting civilian identification codes. They assert that Vincennes and other warships repeatedly contacted the aircraft on both civilian and military air distress frequencies, but received no response. The flight had departed behind schedule. The Iranian government maintains that the US recklessly shot down the aircraft, violating international law, after repeatedly provoking the Iranian forces. Some analysts blamed the overly aggressive attitude of Vincennes's captain, William C. Rogers III, while others focused on more widespread issues and miscommunications on board.
Consequently the Lockerbie bombing was an act of revenge on the USA, organised by Iran but contracted to Libya.
The cause of the Lockerbie bombing on 21 December 1988 lies in the earlier shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai. On 3 July 1988 the United States warship Vincennes fired two surface-to -air missiles which hit the Iran Air aircraft, an Airbus A300, while it was flying its usual route over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. All 290 people on board were killed, making it one of the deadliest airliner shootdowns of all time. The shootdown occurred during the Iran-Iraq War, which had been ongoing for nearly eight years. Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.
The reason for the downing has been disputed between the governments of the two countries. According to the United States, Vincennes's crew misidentified the aircraft as an F-14 Tomcat, a US-made fighter jet part of the Iranian inventory, despite it transmitting civilian identification codes. They assert that Vincennes and other warships repeatedly contacted the aircraft on both civilian and military air distress frequencies, but received no response. The flight had departed behind schedule. The Iranian government maintains that the US recklessly shot down the aircraft, violating international law, after repeatedly provoking the Iranian forces. Some analysts blamed the overly aggressive attitude of Vincennes's captain, William C. Rogers III, while others focused on more widespread issues and miscommunications on board.
Consequently the Lockerbie bombing was an act of revenge on the USA, organised by Iran but contracted to Libya.