Government’s Raasay decision has disturbing overtones of 40 years ago
Bruce Millan should be remembered for his sterling work on mental health
AS the reporter who brought the Raasay scandal to the-then Glasgow Herald readership some 40 years ago, I was appalled to read that it is still alive and well and resident in governing establishments in Edinburgh (“Crofters lose shooting rights to outsiders”, the Herald, February 21, and Letters, February 23). I had first come across the start of this sad saga as a young reporter in Skye eight years earlier.
I thought it had died with the demise of the notorious Dr John Green in 1980. But it raises its ugly head again 33 years later with disturbing echoes of the earlier flawed decision to sell out the people of Raasay.
Despite a change in office premises it’s clear that a blinding virus regarding Raasay has followed the civil servants to their new abode. Has Paul Wheelhouse, the minister in whose portfolio the island has been unfortunate to land, inherited a characteristic of some predecessors of Scottish Office days?
There have been instances from the past of ministers signing papers without realising their full implications.
May I suggest he buys a pair of scissors and cuts himself free from the tangle of red tape in which he has entangled himself. Not that I’m particularly concerned about him, but he should at least have the decency to clean up the mess he has spread over Raasay. Martin Macdonald, 4 Canal Road, Inverness. WE were sad to hear of the death of Bruce Millan. We were among those who served on the committee which bore his name and sat from 1999 to 2001 to produce proposals for reform of mental health legislation in Scotland. That Scotland now has enlightened and widely admired legislation in the form of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 is due in no small measure to Bruce Millan.
It was an inspired choice of the former Scottish Executive to appoint Bruce, then into his seventies, to lead the review of mental health law in Scotland. He chaired the committee with determination, intellectual rigour and considerable skill. He had a strong concern for those affected by mental disorders, not only service users but also the families, friends and carers who support them. The committee produced a unanimous report notwithstanding the broad range of interests represented in its membership; we are sure we can say that he earned the warm respect of all those who served on it.
Amongst his many other achievements, he should be remembered for this major contribution to the mental health field in Scotland. Hilary Patrick, Honorary Fellow, School of Law, University of Edinburgh; Mary Weir, Former chief executive of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship (Scotland), now known as Support in Mind Scotland; Dr J A T Dyer, Former director of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, 29C Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh.