Letters to the editor

When will our suffering end?

SIR, – Your recent editorial on the named person scheme referred to a totalitarian state (Press and Journal, June 21). How true.

The last-ditch attempt by Highland councillors to prevent yet more centralisation (call centres) is just another example. Police chiefs appear to believe they had a good meeting, i.e. they didn’t listen and didn’t, or couldn’t, change their minds. The far more sensible suggestion of combined call centres for emergency services in local regions, in our case Inverness, has been ignored.

Centralisation of police services has, predictably, led to reduced numbers of police and frustration for all concerned.

Those in authority continue to maintain that the drastic cuts to hospital services in Caithness are for safety reasons. Residents know the reasons are financial. Massive protests are ignored. There is no consultation.

Recruiting health professionals generally is increasingly difficult.

Local planning decisions are regularly over-ruled by government.

Education is a disaster, partly due to the Curriculum for Excellence rolled out with no consultation. No wonder it is hard to recruit teachers.

The situation with farmers’ payments is a disgrace with no end in sight.

Unlike any other party, SNP members of parliament are bound to total obedience. How long must we suffer?

Brenda Herrick, Sandmill, Harbour Road, Castletown, Thurso

History books to be the only judge

SIR, – Kirsty Blackman MP in her guest columnist article (Press and Journal, June 23) berates UK Government stance, quote “no commitment to have Scottish Government at the heart of Brexit negotiations".

Well, Ms Blackman – no Brexit minister could allow a group intent on breaking up the UK via an indyref2, and who openly back the 27 opposing EU countries’ plans, to be part of the negotiations. That would be tantamount to siding with the enemy in a battle that requires total commitment to our UK cause.

Many politicians speak of cross-party discussions for Brexit issues but the SNP has no allegiance to the UK and disqualify themselves from any input because of that – something that was not lost in recent election results in the north-east.

Instead of flogging their indyref2 horse, Ms Blackman could offer her leader this advice: “Take the indyref2 off the table now.” Only history books will record the decision in a favourable or an obsessional light.

Angus McNair, Farnachty, Clochan, Buckie

Running our own affairs beyond us?

SIR, – Scottish farmers are up in arms about late payment of EU subsidies. The Scottish Government has accepted culpability and has provided loans short term as they try to sort matters out.

The farmers are hugely reliant on these EU subsidies. They have just voted to come out of the EU. Am I missing something? (It’s all a bit like our fishermen running to the Tories that sold them out in the first place). Maybe we are the only country too stupid to run our own affairs after all.

Dave McEwan Hill, Tom Nan Ragh, Dalinlongart, Sandbank

Silence from jolly Brexiteers telling

SIR, – It is now a year since the people of these islands took the historic decision to leave the EU. June 23, 2016 was hailed by the jolly Brexiteers as a “day of liberation”, a great stride towards sunlit uplands of free trade across the world and the end of immigration, to say nothing of the start of a massive inflow of funding to the NHS.

One year later, it is remarkable this highly significant milestone has not be marked by street parties and other festivities, led by jolly Brexiteers Farage, Davis, Johnson and Gove.

Why the silence? Where is the bunting?

It was only going to be a simple hop, skip and jump from the day of liberation to “taking back control”, running rings round those out-of-touch EU types across the Channel and eating our cake and having it while seeing our health services simply awash with cash. What could possibly go wrong?

Cllr Peter Argyle, Stoneleigh, Torphins, Banchory

Gove’s return beggars belief

SIR, – Instead of questioning if the SNP can be trusted with agriculture (Allan Sutherland, Press and Journal Letters, June 23) we should be far more concerned whether Michael Gove can be trusted not only with agriculture but with fishing as well.

How can we believe or trust anything this selfish opportunist says after his disgraceful behaviour during the recent Tory leadership battle? It beggars belief that the prime minister took Mr Gove back into the cabinet but I guess it is better to have him in the tent rather than out.

On a wider point, the current mess the country is in regarding Brexit and the uncertainty over all our futures is far more to do with the failure of successive and weak Tory prime ministers to control their right wing, Gove, Johnson, Ian Duncan Smith, Rees-Mog, Redwood et al, than the recreation of an independent, free trading nation.

The Tory right wing, along with Ukip, sold the UK public a cynical lie that we could leave the EU and stride into a sunny upland of free trade and independence. How deluded they all are and it is us, the ordinary voters, who will end up paying the price – as usual. Mark my words, Brexit, if it now happens, will not end well for us.

Mike Rasmussen, Allach Lodge, Low Road, Aboyne

Many politicians speak of cross-party discussions for Brexit issues but the SNP has no allegiance to the UK and disqualify themselves from any input because of that