Not giving up on post office
Dear Editor,
As local parliamentary representatives for East Renfrewshire and Eastwood, we remain concerned about the temporary closures of the Clarkston and Eaglesham branches of the post office.
The post office remains a vital service for so many residents that we are privileged to serve, especially the elderly.
The post office is about much more than letters and packages with many utilising and relying upon its counter services to withdraw benefits and pay bills.
The Clarkston branch in Busby Road is currently closed following an armed robbery and the Glasgow Road branch in Eaglesham because of the retirement of the postmaster.
We have received assurances from the Post Office that they intend to retain provision in both areas, with a new business being sought in Clarkston to take over the post office services and an alternative operator being sought in Eaglesham following the postmaster’s retirement.
Nonetheless, the negative impact these closures are having on locals cannot be allowed to continue much longer.
And there requires to be an urgent effort from the Post Office to secure alternative providers well before the end of the year.
We have been in correspondence with the Post Office and will be organising a meeting with their representatives in early course to discuss the various concerns constituents have raised with us.
We will continue to raise constituent concerns on this important matter and will be sure to update concerned readers following our joint meeting.
Paul Masterton MP and Jackson Carlaw MSP, via email
Scenes of shame in Spain
Dear Editor,
One cannot fail to have been moved by the scenes of violence in Catalonia, as Spanish forces attacked unarmed voters.
Whatever the view on Catalonia’s right to hold such a vote or not, the response by the Spanish national government was brutal and excessive, leading to 844 people being injured.
The sight of people being dragged from polling stations by baton-wielding police and the disabled being attacked in wheelchairs has no place in a modern western democracy.
One cannot praise highly enough the calmness, humanity and bravery of the Catalan people when faced with such acts of violence.
What is deeply disappointing is the muted response from the international community which, bar a few exceptions such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has been largely silent.
While the European Union may argue that this is a domestic situation, in the past it has been willing to act in such matters. In 2000, for example, it imposed diplomatic sanctions on Austria when Joerg Haider’s extreme right-wing Austrian Freedom Party entered the government.
The Tory Government is so morally bankrupt that little more was to be expected than the pathetic response from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when it referred to Spain as a “close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us.”
There was no condemnation of the violence but the UK Government is so weakened due to Brexit that it requires every scrap of support it can gather, even if it means turning a blind eye to such obvious brutality.
One suspects that if there was any doubt previously over Catalonia’s desire for independence, the actions of the Spanish state have pushed it well and truly down this road.
Alex Orr, via email