Young are our hope for the future

SIR, – I refer (Press and Journal, November 15) to Conservative MP George Freeman’s two visions of a post-Brexit Britain. Successive governments have avoided planning for Britain’s increasingly ageing population due to its cost to the public purse.

The influx of folk from eastern Europe brought extra challenges for an already failing system in terms of housing and schools. However their influx helped largely in solving what would have been a significant ageing crisis particularly in cities like Aberdeen.

Europeans filled vacancies in our hospital, care services, public transport, catering, agricultural and fishing and paid taxes.

All this helped maintain our economy and particularly the needs of the ageing population. It was the ageing population (of whom I am one) who should have been welcoming the Europeans, but who voted for Brexit, against their own interests.

Any kind of Brexit will lead to a reduction in the role of financial services which are the backbone of our economy. Brexit has already led to a decrease in those coming to the UK and for some to return home. A hard Brexit would lead to more of these wonderful young people leaving.

Jonathan Russell, Springbank

Place, Aberdeen SIR, – Over the weekend, many will have enjoyed the “pop up” festival put on by Festivals Edinburgh, supported by Aberdeen Festivals, across the city.

On Friday, as part of the festivities, I was privileged to chair the first festivals management conference at the Belmont. In attendance were our lord provost, the Cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs and the chief executive of Creative Scotland. They were joined by leading figures from across the sector in Edinburgh, the north-east, and Scotland. All of this was, in part, recognition of the great strides being made by the arts and cultural sector in the region in general and Aberdeen Festivals in particular.

It was at this moment that the pygmies that pose as our elected representatives chose to cut down our tallest poppy by voting, in secret, in a petty, personal and political carve-up, to cut funding to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF), a move that, if confirmed by the full council, would make it very hard for AIYF to continue after 46 years. They trashed Aberdeen’s reputation in front of most of the key players in Scotland’s cultural sector. That next year is the national Year of Young People, in which AIYF was primed to play a major part, is further evidence of the ignorance behind this decision. To ensure maximum reputational damage, one of the councillors then scurried away and leaked the private information that impacts directly on people’s employment to ensure that they would read it on the front pages, and what should have been a weekend of celebration would disappear beneath negative headlines. Sponsors and backers across the region were not even consulted.

Hundreds of artists from across the globe have already booked and paid for their air fares for next year’s festival which will ensure that the city’s reputation will be damaged worldwide.

Some of the councillors involved have never been seen at an AIYF event so they, quite literally, don’t have a clue what they are talking about and certainly don’t appreciate the fact that many of the key cultural figures in the city cut their teeth at AIYF and without it they would probably be elsewhere.

This decision is not yet final. Politicians only listen if votes are involved and if the people of the north-east want to save their oldest festival we need to make our voices heard.

Steve Harris, chairman, Aberdeen Festivals,

Braehead Crescent, Stonehaven