No flagging in Red Ensign row

Sir, – The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom comprising the seagoing commercial interests of UK registered ships and their officers and crews and as such its vessels have the right to fly the Red Ensign.

King George V named the British merchant shipping fleets “The Merchant Navy” in respect of their service during World War 1.

Later King George VI issued the following statement in September 1939: “In these anxious days I would like to express to all Officers and Men (serving) in the British Merchant Navy and the British Fishing Fleets my confidence in their unfailing determination to play their vital part in defence. To each one I would say yours is a task no less essential by people’s experience than the Navy, Army and Air force. Upon you the nation depends for much of the foodstuffs and raw materials and for the transport of troops overseas. You have a long and glorious history, and I am proud to bear the title of ‘Master of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets’.”

These seafarers did not let us down whether it was in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic Convoys, coastal shipping along the east and south coasts and troop carrying through the Mediterranean.

In subsequent campaigns such as the Falklands when the QE2, Canberra, Uganda, Norland, the ill-fated Atlantic Conveyor etc went off to war zones, Merchant Navy personnel were involved.

In today’s more peaceful times one has only to look at foodstore fruit and vegetable shelves where a large percentage of produce comes by sea, either deep sea or cross-channel ferries crewed by merchant seafarers.

It took a long time and much lobbying to persuade officialdom to recognise the sacrifices made by UK seafarers in World War Two and for Merchant Navy Day to become an official Day of Remembrance on September 3.

It is against this backdrop that I would respectfully ask Angus Council to reconsider and fly the Red Ensign over Montrose this year. John Aitken.

7 Graham Crescent, Montrose. increasing levels of national debt and consumer debt, show that far from being austere, we are living well beyond our means.

In 1997 the UK National Debt was £375 billion, and in 2013 it was £1,200 billion, and now, in 2018, it is nearly £2,000 billion.

So there has not been any austerity for the past 21 years.

The interest on the National Debt is about £52 billion a year, and we seem able to afford that, so we continue to borrow.

UK Consumer debt is about the same amount, and for as long as individuals can pay the interest on credit cards, loans, and mortgages, that borrowing also continues.

So thanks to the banks – who create this money – it seems that we can carry on living beyond our means regardless, and to heck with austerity.