Tweet was ‘uneducated’

Dear editor

South Lanarkshire Council’s SNP leader John Ross should be called to account for his shameful remarks made on twitter about Jackie Baillie MSP and our local MP in Rutherglen Gerard Killen has rightly called on him to apologise for his comment.

He tweets “Jackie Baillie epitomises everything that the Labour’s branch office in Scotland stands for. Awa an bile yer heid wuman, ye talk pure mince.”

This was in a comment on her statement that “voters know that Scotland’s economy is struggling.”

As a Rutherglen woman, I find this comment ungentlemanly, uncomradely, unprofessional, uneducated and uncouth.

It demeans the office of council leader which he has recently been given the privilege of holding in the minority SNP administration.

It does not augur well for the standard of debate in council meetings and he should apologise not only to Ms Baillie but also to the electorate of South Lanarkshire.

We deserve better and he should hang his head in shame. Dorothy Connor Rutherglen South Lanarkshire Baillie is “only a woman” who should keep her opinions to herself and leave the difficult job of politics to the men.

It is an opinion as outdated as it is offensive.

I would also ask why Councillor Ross feels the need to tweet in colloquial language.

Is he trying to show us how down to earth he is? Or perhaps he thinks typing in proper English is beneath him as a Scottish nationalist.

A quick check of his Twitter timeline shows us that Councillor Ross is not a prolific tweeter, but he is partial to the odd retweet.

Sadly, he is happy to back the opinions of crazed conspiracy theorists and that does not bode well for his tenure as council leader.

He has spoken a great deal of working together at South Lanarkshire Council, yet his tweets suggest Councillor Ross has no time for opposing viewpoints.

Hopefully he will reflect on his statement and apologise to Jackie Baillie and the people he represents as council leader. Angry voter Name and address supplied

I noticed on Facebook it had been suggested that the opening of a Costa Coffee on Cambuslang Main Street was a good thing for the Main Street.

I also noted many locals disagreed with those sentiments.

It seems some people can never be satisfied.

The fact is, any established business moving into Cambuslang is to be welcomed. It is far better than the alternative which seems to be another empty unit.

Cambuslang Community Council should be lauded for their efforts to improve the Main Street area but we cannot be greedy.

This is not some charity shop moving in. Hopefully Costa will inspire other big names to follow them.

Of course, many people will continue to use the fantastic other coffee shops on the Main Street and that is their right. I expect Costa will simply encourage those who might not have grabbed a cup of tea rather than take business away from established shops. John Maxwell via email

Residents are being encouraged to give their views on the opportunities that exist in their communities.

The South Lanarkshire Partnership is developing its Local Outcomes Improvement Plan to create a shared vision to deliver improved opportunities for everyone in our communities.

The plan will be the basis of neighbourhood plans that will tackle inequalities where they exist the most.

The opinions of the people who form those communities will be a vital part of the plan’s preparation and so the partnership is keen to hear residents’ views and learn what matters to them.

To enable people to play their part, a survey has been created which will take only a few minutes to complete. It can be accessed by typing this link into a web browser: http://tinyurl.com/ SLCLOIP South Lanarkshire media department

With air pollution in the news so much it can be easy to lose sight of what is really at risk if the dirty air many of us breathe, particularly on our daily commutes, isn’t tackled.

It isn’t an issue that any of us can afford to ignore.

Air pollution is an invisible but deadly problem which contributes to an estimated 40,000 premature deaths in the UK per year. Behind that large number is an even more worrying truth.

Pioneering research funded by the BHF has shown that even short-term inhalation of high concentrations of air pollution - particularly dangerous ultrafine particles found in diesel vehicle emissions - increases the risk of a potentially life threatening heart attack occurring within just 24 hours of exposure. Glasgow has previously exceeded the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines for particulate matter.

For the 70,100 people in Glasgow city living with heart and circulatory disease, we must take action now.

Since 2010, the British Heart Foundation has invested £3.2 million into medical research into the link between air pollution and heart and circulatory disease.

We’re committed to working with political leaders at all levels to clean up the city’s dirty air. Everyone in Glasgow deserves that.

Councilleader commentswere disappointing Have your say on local outcomesplan

Simon Gillespie Chief executive of the British Heart Foundation