Let big beasts of industry head the Brexit talks

AN extended transition period from the EU – what next?

It’s time to get hardened negotiators from industry to give a firm rebuttal to the EU instead of relying on politicians with no experience of business.

If all of our MPs had followed the democratic result of the referendum and backed the Government, rather than undermining it, the EU would not be laughing at our disarray.

ALEX PRESCOTT, Lancaster.

OUR Prime Minister is again humiliated by the Brussels cabal. She is too steeped in subservience to bureaucracy to stand a chance in any negotiation.

She should resign before she digs us deeper into the mire. her successor would be sensible to call on top businessmen such as JCB’s Lord Bamford, Sir James Dyson, Wetherspoon’s Tim Martin and Lord Sugar to take on the EU.

Frank McManus, Leeds.

THERESA MAY has been given an impossible situation to resolve. Forget about how we found ourselves in such a pickle, now is the time to rally around to make the best of a bad job.

The Prime Minister must be supported by us all – that includes the people, civil servants and the politicians who created the problem. I trust that as usual we will make the best of a bad job.

WILLIAM BUTT, royal Wootton Bassett, Wilts.

Turbine turmoil

ONCE again wind industry trade association Scottish Renewables tries to convince policymakers that rural Scots support more onshore wind development (Mail).

No word of concern for the poor consumer who would have to stump up the cash for more subsidies on top of the outrageous hundreds of millions of pounds paid in constraints to turn off the over-deployed wind fleet.

a tiny sample of people was polled (0.1 per cent of rural Scots) with no way of us knowing if they live near or are threatened with a wind development. To spin this poll as ‘evidence’ that people living in the country want more industrialisation and an environment devastated by turbines, pylons, access tracks and substations is the stuff of fairy tales.

Lyndsey Ward, Beauly, Inverness-shire.

Lights won’t go out

GM Lindsay of Kinross asks how customers will get electricity when the wind is not blowing as SCOTTISHPOWER moves to 100 per cent green generation (Letters).

Customers can rest assured the lights will stay on.

Consumers across the UK currently get power from wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, and – for now – thermal power stations. But all the electricity we generate for this UK mix will be 100 per cent green.

We have closed coal plants such as Longannet and sold our gas stations because we want to lead the way to have more wind and solar, backed by storage, to cut carbon quicker and help bring down the price of energy for everyone.

Ks Anderson, CEO, Scottishpower, Glasgow.

Why close the Palace?

GLASGOW’S People’s Palace is to close indefinitely, a slap in the face for Glaswegians and tourists.

With the city’s Burrell Collection closed until 2020 and parks deprived of funds and manpower, what can we look forward to next year? Budget cuts, probably.

W MCCARRON, Glasgow.

The deadliest spice

SPICE, a deadly class B drug, is being sprayed onto clothes, letters and even children’s drawings sent to inmates of Scottish jails (Mail). Time to get prisoners back into uniforms, and start photocopying letters and drawings before handing them to inmates.

Tesh Shirron, aberdeen.

Clue to the past

THE story of Carl Edon, the boy who showed early signs of having been a Nazi pilot in a previous life (Mail), reminded me of when I was a boy, born and brought up in Central Scotland.

My parents took my brother and I to the beautiful Trossachs. Something clicked and I had no clue what it was but over the years those glens would come to mind.

I took a great interest in Indian culture and religions. The two seemed to be linked, so in 2003 I booked a holiday in India. When I arrived there was a wonderful feeling I could not put my finger on so I went to Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama.

I shall never forget that trip through the scenic himalayan foothills. Yes, I had been here before: the Trossachs and the foothills of the himalayas, evidence for me of the proof of reincarnation.

Ian P. Oliver, aberdeen.