LETTERS
Brave officers
I AM so grateful for the bravery of those who risk their lives to keep us safe each day.
My prayers and thoughts are with those killed and injured by the London Bridge terrorist knifeman, the civilians who tackled him, and the police officers who had to use ultimate force because it appeared he was wearing a suicide vest.
The taking of a life is never easy, whether on the battlefield or on our streets. Despite the best training in the world, the police officers will be distraught at having had to do so.
No one goes to work to shoot someone, but our police, security services and Armed Forces know it is a possibility. The circumstances of the incident will live with them for ever, yet they do their duty to keep us all safe.
JOHN HILLMAN, Newport.
The brave bystanders who tackled the terrorist should be awarded the George Cross.
MORFUDD JONES, Llandudno, Clwyd.
Life must mean life...
TerrOrISTS are evil, cowardly people whose sole purpose is to murder, butcher and blow to bits human beings. There is no lower being on this planet.
There is absolutely no excuse or valid reason for anything other than a sentence of ‘jailed until they die’.
Why is it accepted that it is now ‘normal’ that human beings will die on our streets yet the human rights of killers warrant their early release? Is that what humanity has become?
G EADIE, Edinburgh.
WhAT a crazy justice system we have. The latest killer was a terrorist convicted of plotting to blow up the London Stock exchange.
Just imagine the death toll that would have resulted had he and his fellow plotters succeeded. Our justice system dictates that prisoners on fixed-term sentences only have to serve half their time.
In line with that practice, this convicted terrorist was released early, free to attack. We now know there are another 74 convicted terrorists who have also been granted early release.
Astonishingly, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t think that convicted terrorists should necessarily have to serve their full term.
I wonder if he would care to meet the parents of the two young people murdered by this terrorist and tell them that.
GERRY DYER, Cirencester, Glos.
Blackford sidelined
hAVe I missed something or is Nicola Sturgeon now running for election as an MP?
In almost all the debates and interviews I have watched so far, she has been the voice of the SNP for the Westminster election.
I thought Ian Blackford was the SNP leader at Westminster, but so far he has been as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel. I am left with the impression that Mr Blackford and his Westminster colleagues are no more than stooges for the real SNP power base at holyrood, which has pushed them to one side. Why, then, would anyone vote for these ineffectual political non-entities?
PAUL LEWIS, Edinburgh.
Use your vote wisely
NeWS that Scotland In Union has launched an excellent tactical voting website has been welcomed by many people, including those of us who have been banging on for years about the need for it.
recent local and national elections have been polarised by the Indyref question and consistently show that at least 60 per cent of voters put their cross beside a UK ‘remain’ candidate. So it’s little wonder that the SNP claims a majority of seats, rather than total votes cast for it, gives the party a mandate for another referendum.
I hope the Scotland in Union website works, and if it does, the meth
ods and collaboration can be fine-tuned in time for the ‘high noon’ of Scottish politics, the 2021 Holyrood elections.
ALLAN SuTHERLANd, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire.
Threat to business
AS a small-business owner I am concerned about the danger posed to our country by a Jeremy Corbyn government.
At the start of 2019 there were 5.82million small businesses (with 0 to 49 employees), 99.3 per cent of the UK’s total business. They account for three-fifths of employment and around half of turnover in the UK private sector.
Has Mr Corbyn ever had to work commercially? Does he ever consider that a country is a business that needs to make money to pay its way? The above statistics would be severely distorted under a Corbyn government.
Voters need to stand up for
Great Britain. If you are employed, think of your future – three out of five of you may be adversely affected by a Corbyn administration.
L FOWLER, Perth.
Reject call for cull
THE call by conservation extremists to cull more red deer or we will miss climate change targets (Mail) is misleading.
It has little to do with climate change and more to do with a desire to break up Scotland’s sporting estates.
Yes, red deer numbers were unacceptably high. That’s no longer the case. Numbers have declined considerably in the North-east and many estates are finding it difficult to achieve cull targets.
Natural erosion over millennia has caused peatlands to be in their current condition, not impacts from deer.
If we want to increase forestry and live in harmony with Mother Nature and her wildlife, then sensible management policies must be in place.
Unfenced forestry schemes in the middle of the red deer range are neither sensible nor practical, and if climate targets are to be achieved, covering Scotland and prime agricultural land in trees will achieve nothing. Best to focus on global deforestation.
PETER FRASER, Vice-chairman, Scottish Gamekeepers Association,
Perth.