Yes, you have the right to protest... thanks to Winston
DO the young people now calling for the removal of Winston Churchill’s statue not realise that without his fortitude and strength of purpose we would have a very different country from the one in which we enjoy such freedom?
The Nazis would have invaded and imposed their murderous and racist ideology on us. There would have been no people of Jewish, African, Asian, Eastern European or Chinese ethnicity allowed.
The fact that people of all faiths and backgrounds make up the population of this great country is a testament to this great man.
ROSS SUMMERS, Bothwell, Lanarkshire.
Monumental madness
IT started out with those connected to the slave trade and has now extended to include BadenPowell, Gandhi and television shows such as Fawlty Towers and Gavin and Stacey.
Here in Scotland, a statue of Robert the Bruce has been targeted. Where will it end?
Now even the sins of the father are included as Sir Robert Peel was named in the protesters’ hit list, even though it was his father (also Robert Peel) who was the pro slavery advocate.
However, what I find significant is that the hero of the Labour Party, Keir Hardie, has been conveniently overlooked, even though he actively campaigned to ban foreign workers and made derogatory statements and racial slurs about them.
PAUL LEWIS, Edinburgh.
Bruce was no racist
ROBERT the Bruce was, and still is, a historic hero among us Scots.
Of course, the Scottish and the English have maintained a friendly teasing of each other’s nations, especially when it comes to football and rugby, but at the end of the day we are all British and, to me, that means everything.
But to see the defacing of Bruce’s monument left me both sad and bitter. The thugs who carried out this vandalism should be arrested and charged. They should also be informed in no uncertain terms that King Robert the Bruce was definitely no racist. He fought for his country and for freedom.
IAN OLIVER, Aberdeen.
A question of taste
I HEARTILY agree with those who find certain episodes of Fawlty Towers and Little Britain offensive. They should never have been made.
But I don’t get offended, because I just don’t watch them.
At completely the other end of the scale, I get offended by the taste of Brussels sprouts. So I just don’t eat them. Simples!
ALLAN BELL, Edinburgh.
No Commons sense
COVID-19 seems to have engendered a sort of ‘suicide syndrome’. First there are the attacks on Winston Churchill, who pretty much saved the UK from the Nazis. Pray for another like him when the Russians or Chinese really turn up the heat!
Now MPs want folk to boycott British Airways over job losses. BA has lost nearly £200million a week. No business can last long doing that. So if you boycott it over 12,000 job losses you guarantee to lose the 23,000 people who still keep the airline running.
The minimum age for entering Parliament should be ten years old because children have more sense than some of the MPs. VINCENT SAUNDERS,
Troon, Ayrshire.
Double standards
I READ that British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet have filed papers at court to challenge the UK’s quarantine regulations.
It would be more fitting if these companies were first forced to pay back all their unpaid refunds to passengers before they are allowed to take further bookings. This really is double standards.
KARL EDWARDS, Argyll.
Never lose hope
I READ with empathy about George Alagiah’s battle with cancer (Mail). I also was diagnosed in 2014 with bowel cancer. I’ve been declared cancer-free now but have had various other ailments. Pulmonary embolism, sepsis, kidney disease, shingles and so on.
However, like George I now appreciate the beauty of a spring morning, the first sighting of a snowdrop, the green leaves unfurling on the trees.
The love of my family has comforted me in my darkest moments. I wish George my best wishes in his fight for life.
The journey is long and uncertain but in our hearts there is always hope.
PAM GILCHRIST, Glasgow.
Stop playing politics
WHILE the Scottish and UK Governments have made mistakes relating to Covid, now is not the time for detailed analysis.
Why can’t politicians recognise that we are experiencing a UKwide crisis and put aside political differences ?
Ian Blackford of the SNP and many Labour politicians can only look for ways to criticise and waste time by carping on about the decisions taken, instead of being constructive in getting together to obtain the best possible result for the nation.
We are talking here about individuals’ survival, retaining jobs and assisting in supporting companies to get the economy back on track – not playing games to see whose ego is best served.
D REID, Dalgety Bay, Fife.
Pothole rage
I’M a born-again cyclist since lockdown started and have to say how shocked I am at the state of the roads.
I have had to swerve around large, dangerous potholes into the path of traffic.
Councils, do your duty, fill potholes and cut back overhanging trees that lash cyclists.
Some drivers seem to forget that they have wing mirrors when they overtake me and I am in danger of being gassed by exhaust fumes.
I think I’d be safer behind the wheel than on two wheels.
ADRIAN BONE, Leyland, Lancs.