Sir David and the real threat to life on Earth

IT comes as no surprise that at the UN Climate Change conference in Katowice, Sir David Attenborough was eloquent on the threat from greenhouse gases, but silent on the unsustainable growth of the world’s population.

In the Seventies, when I was endeavouring to be a trendy, Leftwing, environment doom-watcher, it was well understood that the ever-swelling tide of humanity was the fundamental driver of all forms of global pollution.

In present-day Britain, where natural habitats are disappearing, green belts are concreted over to be packed with soulless barrack housing and urban roads are at pollution-max gridlock, it is obvious what are the effects and what is the root cause.

That Sir David Attenborough says nothing about the cause is a consequence of the tyranny of political correctness.

Controlling population pressure, curbing migratory flows between continents and ending taxpayer subsidy for unlimited procreation are deemed off-limits in public debate now.

W. ATTENBOROUgH, Lincoln. WHILE I respect what Sir David Attenborough has done for wildlife, I feel aggrieved at his high-minded stance on climate change. How big is his carbon footprint over his lifetime?

He must have travelled millions of miles by plane — air travel is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. Has he planted a forest to make up for the damage he may have caused to the environment?

CARL DAVIS, Nottingham. I SEE Nicola Sturgeon handed out £200,000 of our money at the climate change conference.

Delighted that everything at home is in such great shape that we have money to burn as it means Derek Mackay will probably have room for tax cuts in his Budget. KENNY BROWN, Musselburgh,

East Lothian. IF A meaningful Brexit does not happen, then democracy in this country is dead. I am sure many of the people who voted Leave will, like me, decide there is no point in voting for anything ever again.

MIKE EDWARDS, Nantwich, Cheshire.

Ignore us at your peril

EVERY party seems to think every other party is in for a kicking at the ballot box when the Brexit battle is finally over.

I think all politicians will feel the wrath of voters. No matter your view of Brexit, the people voted for it and to be ignored by politicians is an outrage.

JACqUI DESMOND, Edinburgh. ARE we going to leave what must be the most important international union ever organised by mankind on the grounds of hubris within the Tory Party and a big lie on the side of a bus? Surely not. ANgUS MacPHEE, Hamilton,

Lanarkshire.

Christmas con trick

REPORTS about winter blunderlands (Mail) are amusing for those who did not attend. Regular though these rip-offs may be, grotty Christmas grottos are a nice little earner for crooks.

Produce a glossy brochure for a classy-looking event, use cartoon and film characters without having the legal right to do so, and then market it heavily and insist on advance payment for tickets.

On the day, provide the least you can and, when the complaints start rolling in, apologise and announce that the event will close for 48 hours ‘to make necessary improvements’. Then wind up your company and vanish with the takings, leaving the punters disappointed and the staff unpaid.

It’s time for the local authorities to monitor these events. Council staff and police should inspect every venue before a member of the public is able to buy a ticket.

If the event is not as advertised, it should be closed down on the spot. S. DUTHIE, Edinburgh.

Dismal track record

COULDN’T agree more – statistics on train lateness (Letters) are meaningless.

The goalposts are forever being shifted and tricks such as trains going straight through stations without stopping just so they can magically arrive on time leave paying passengers very angry indeed.

And I am old enough to remember British Rail. I don’t fall for the idea that a nationalised or public sector service would be any better. JIM gALLACHER, Paisley, Renfrewshire. NOT sure which is grubbier – charging children £1 for a train journey when they used to travel free of charge, or Transport Secretary Michael Matheson doing nothing about it.

JEAN SHAW, Dumfries.

Protect our privacy

THE exposure of how our privacy is being compromised by modern technology made for shocking reading (Mail).

Our laws are inadequate to protect us from sizeable organisations who are building up huge data banks on us without our knowledge.

Ticking a box to opt out of having your private information passed on is not sufficient when you sometimes need a magnifying glass to find said box.

They should be in a prominent position on forms and websites.

The new General Data Protection Regulation law is failing to protect us from excessive and aggressive marketing tactics, so needs to be reformed.

And councils should not be allowed to sell electoral registers to marketing companies.

Cllr JOHN WARMAN, Port Talbot, West glamorgan.