Don’t blame public for beastly chaos
JOHN MacLEOD (Mail) is right that we were well warned about the arrival of the Beast from the East weather. Yet schools declared they would be open and employers – private and public – remained open. Hard to square that with Transport Minister Humza Yousaf warning people not to travel then coming very close to blaming those who did drive for their own misfortune. Many of the people caught in the snow chaos were simply heeding warnings to get home early. Stewart McLaren, Falkirk, Stirlingshire. DURING the last spell of bad weather, Humza Yousaf boasted about how much salt councils had in stock. But salt is no use in snow without snowploughs. The question we must ask after Wednesday’s snow is about the number of ploughs available. Have councils cut back? Should the Scottish Government have a stock of such vehicles to ensure key arteries stay open? BILL FentOn, Glasgow. HOW many farmers took ‘a duvet day’ when snowed in? Not one. Livestock need tending no matter the weather.
FIOna DenhOLM, Perth. WE fail to cope in snow not because we are less hardy than our forebears but because society has changed. These days very few of us now live within walking distance of shops, let alone schools and our workplaces. We are heavily dependent on road travel and when this is hit, the result is total chaos. ‘Don’t travel unless it’s vital’ advice is all very well, but for many it really is vital.
LOrraIne BrOwn, ayr. IF we are going to have a ‘red light’ system through which the Scottish Government can order us not to travel, it must be operated by a politician of higher calibre than Humza Yousaf, who knows more about constitutional waffle than he does about transport.
DOnna CrawFOrD, Glasgow. TWO months ago I bought an old book on wartime rationing and survival in my local charity shop and it is proving to be very useful and interesting in the awful conditions the whole country is experiencing at the moment. However, when I see what is happening across the world in countries such as Syria and Yemen, I don’t know how these poor people are surviving. I don’t think we can complain too much about temporary snowfalls.
B. rOurke, Glasgow.