Putting East Kilbride first Can’ t argue with facts

Dear Editor,

I have to smile at the plethora of words from councillors signifying nothing but rants against the opposition.

It would be laughable if it were not serious. Please can they get on with their remit. I have come to the conclusion that none of them have any interest in East Kilbride at all.

A full time registrar? Hamilton. A fully-manned police station? Hamilton. A full-time Out of Hours Health Service? Hamilton.

I just wonder if Hamilton also has the totally ineffective LED street lights we have, which leave pools of darkness on roads and pavements. Please can I have someone to vote for who is willing to give East Kilbnde its proper status. Name and address supplied Dear Editor,

In reply to Mr Andrew’s letter (Nothing wrong with my facts, April 19).

I did not dispute his English and Scottish population figures. What I disagreed with, as he said, is his “perfectly reasonable assumption” that the disparity between the English and Scottish funding (on training schemes) is due to the English population being 84 per cent of the UK and Scotland’s population 8.4 per cent of the UK.

You don’t need to make assumptions. You can get a like-for-like comparison by doing the arithmetic. With civility and patience, I explain again why his assumption is wrong.

England’s population of 84 per cent is 10 times greater than Scotland’s 8.4. Scotland’s planned funding for 2017/18 is £93 million. If England’s funding was 10 times greater (in line with the difference in populations) that would be £930m. That is a fact and the disparity could be explained by the difference in populations as each country would be spending the same per head of population.

However, England are funding their training schemes by £2.01 billion which is 21.5 times greater than the SNP government’s funding (not 10 times) and this disparity can no longer be justified by the difference in populations. The fact is England‘s funding is more than double per head of population than that of the SNP government’s. So, which government is best at supporting young people in training schemes?

Mr Andrew wrote in his last letter, “It’s facts that matter”. I agree. Facts are better than assumptions. It’s simple arithmetic.

Your readers can calculate the numbers for themselves and judge whether my facts or Mr Andrew’s assumptions are wrong. Peter Dawson, via email

Tree-mendous shot Moira Campbell managed to get this image of a sparrow taking a break from building a nest in a garden in Hairmyres. Send your pictures to news@eastkilbridenews.co.uk for publication.