MP’s misguided homage to the Catalan cause...
PAUL Monaghan, Nationalist MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has called Scotland and Catalonia ‘two great nations’ whose ‘rebirth’ means the end of their ‘subjugation’.
He tells the Catalans that ‘Scotland is with you’. I have two questions relating to this.
First, what makes Mr Monaghan think that he has the right to speak for ‘Scotland’?
I am aware that this is something that Nationalist MPs and members do routinely, but what is the justification for this presumptuousness?
Second, does he seriously think that his avid and vocal support for Catalan separatism helps the cause of his leader, whose aim is to win the support of European states for a separate Scotland in Europe?
No wonder Spain has poured cold water on her hopes.
Mr Monaghan has form, appearing several times on the Kremlinbacked TV station Russia Today and berating President Obama for expelling Russian diplomats for alleged Russian interference in the US election. Are these antics what the good people of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross elected him to do? jill stephenson, edinburgh.
PAUL Monaghan is accused of being the Kremlin’s mouthpiece – simply outrageous! That’s Alex Salmond’s job.
l. kennedy, Glasgow.
IF the SNP are to deliver on their promise to ‘retain Scotland’s place in Europe’ they will need every EU country’s backing.
Spain, despite what Mike Russell would have you believe, already takes a dim view of SNP support for a Catalan breakaway. And now MP Paul Monaghan blunders on to the international stage taking the Russian side against America.
That will not play well in Poland, which has an increasingly belligerent Russia on its very doorstep.
It may be news to Mr Monaghan, but Poland has been an EU member since 2004.
w. livinGstone, edinburgh.
THE CIA accuses Russia of influencing the US elections. Is this the same CIA which claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and could deploy them in 45 minutes, leading to this whole disastrous Middle East catastrophe?
barrie maclean, edinburgh.
Good riddance 2016
COULDN’T agree more with Jonathan Brocklebank (Mail) and his sentiment that we’re well rid of 2016. And I agree too with his wish that 2017 is better by far for us all.
stephen coulter, Glasgow.
SORRY that we lost many great artists in 2016 but, on the whole, it wasn’t so bad a year.
We’re heading out of the European Union, which cost the unconvincing David Cameron his job, and the Nationalists are threatening a new independence poll just as support is slumping. All good, if you ask me. And Donald Trump? I don’t live in America...
j. phillips, Glasgow.
Golf sexism row
EQUALITIES Secretary Angela Constance is again ranting on about Muirfield being men-only and that the golf club ‘should come out of the Dark Ages’.
In this world of equality I support that general view, but as a private members’ club, I thought members had a right under law to run the club as they see fit? Is Miss Constance saying that she does not respect the law of the land? brian turnbull, thornton le dale, north yorkshire. JOHN COOPER (Mail) has a pop at Angela Constance’s grasp of syntax – Derek Mackay thinks that is something that applies to cigarettes and alcohol!
j. Gibson, Glasgow.
Camelot lottery
I’D LIKE to reassure Geordie Campbell (Letters) and all National Lottery players that the fraud alleged to have taken place in 2009 could only have been carried out under a unique, one-off set of circumstances and would not be possible today.
As soon as we were made aware of the allegation, we commissioned accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to review the processes relating to the alleged incident and the systems we have in place to prevent potential fraud. PwC found no evidence of any other similar circumstances. Our internal fraud detection and prevention processes have evolved considerably over time, and we have strengthened them still further following this review.
The Gambling Commission also found no evidence of similar incidents. The Commission’s own statement makes it clear that the circumstances of this case were specific and that its investigation did not uncover systemic failings.
It goes on to reassure players that there is no evidence of similar events and that controls are in place to mitigate against any future failings. rob dwiGht, camelot, watford, herts.
Invest in our heritage
IF WE don’t maintain our heritage, then what will there be for visitors to the UK who bring in billions every year?
People who bemoan the spending of taxpayers’ money for the upkeep of Buckingham Palace should understand that it’s our monarchy and history that attracts visitors.
patricia mead, hayle, cornwall.
Eastern block
FURTHER to observations concerning Rudolf Hess in Spandau prison (Letters), despite the efforts of the British government and her Allies, it was, in fact, the Russians who kept blocking the release of Hess.
With Spandau prison situated in West Berlin, it gave them the chance to enter the Allied zone regularly when it was their turn to guard the man who, towards the end of his life, was the only prisoner in Spandau.
jim mcdouGall, reading.
REGARDING BBC Radio2 presenter Jeremy Vine’s comment on pop group Spandau Ballet’s name, the origin of the expression ‘Spandau Ballet’ was nothing to do with the jail, but was instead a reference to the German machine gun, the Spandau MG 08.
It described the jerking and twitching of a victim’s body being hit repeatedly by gunfire from the deadly weapon. ray stockton, west wickham, kent.
Religion root of crisis
IT is wrong to say that religious persecution constitutes only a small part of the refugee crisis.
While Syrians have been fleeing for the past five years, the substantive international refugee and human rights framework, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, arose because of the horrors of World War II when Jews were mercilessly persecuted for their faith.
Religious persecution has persisted for millennia. In fact, the statement made by Prince Charles on Radio 4’s Thought For The Day about freedom of thought and religion are precisely the types of statements that should come from royals.
I commend HRH for highlighting the persecution of Ahmadis, Christians and other faiths and the reference to the Holy Prophet Muhammad at a time when there are so many misconceptions and so much misinformation about Islam.
khalil yousuf, deputy director of communications,
ahmadiyya muslim community international.