Green light for reasonable view

Sir, – I read Jenny Hjul’s column every week, hoping that, if I persist, I might find something with which I agree: but to no avail.

So it was with this week’s missive, in which she attacks Green MSP Mark Ruskell for being, well... green. After berating him for the eminently sensible proposal that speed limits in built up areas should be reduced, she suggests “his priority is the planet, not the people who live on it”. If we don’t prioritise the welfare of the only planet we have, we really will be heading for catastrophe.

She goes on to complain that the Green Party “with just six out of Holyrood’s 129 MSPS... holds undue sway over policy because of its willingness to prop up the minority SNP Government”. She conveniently forgets the DUP, with 10 out of 650 MPS, holds her beloved Tory Government in Westminster to ransom, bribed with £1 billion of taxpayers’ money.

She goes on to lambast him for wanting a small tax rise for the better off, to be spent on public services, as opposed to the UK Government who favour tax reductions, but only for the very rich.

She accuses him of being a “fan of land redistribution”, as if this were unreasonable in a country where 50% of the land is owned by

fewer than 500 people.

And she is unhappy about his views on “a citizens wage”, which is indeed untested but given the many challenges ahead, surely we need consider radical measures.

She concludes by suggesting Mr Ruskell is “the most extreme green”. He seems perfectly reasonable to me. I would suggest that, in modern Scotland, Ms Hjul’s views are the ones which are out of line.

Nevertheless, I will look forward to her next column, ever hopeful. Les Mackay. Carmichael Gardens, Dundee.