The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Facts we have a right to know
Sir, He who pays the piper should call the tune.
Am I the only taxpayer who thinks senior executives, who accept very handsome salaries from us for overseeing sections of our day-to-day lives, are hiding facts that we have a right to know?
Over the years we have had many examples of needless secrecy.
That leads some to believe that facts are being purposely hidden lest something unpleasant is revealed, which in turn will not show some public servant in a good light.
The fact that Sheku Bayoh’s death in Kirkcaldy took place in the presence of several police officers seven years ago and is only now the subject of a public inquiry must surely give rise to accusations of “putting matters on the back burner” and not giving the tax-paying pubic the facts sooner.
The question obviously arises: “why?”
A similar example of a lack of information being passed to the tax-paying public surrounds the disappearance of Allan Bryant in Glenrothes nine years ago. Claims have been made that there is more to this mystery than has been revealed.
On the political side of things, too, we find a similar attitude by senior executives to hide facts that we should all know in order to make
judgment on the abilities (or inabilities) of our political masters.
The question of “who signed certain contracts
for shipbuilding” had to be forced out of those who should have been totally honest with the general public.
And just recently, the Scottish Government had to be “advised” to make public legal advice it had received regarding the arrangements it has in mind for any future independence referendum.
That advice should have been made public from day one.
It’s about time we taxpayers got a bit more honesty from those who we are paying handsomely to run parts of our lives. Archibald A Lawrie. Church Wynd, Kingskettle.