Borders can host wind farms, but as for getting good roads and basic services…

May I suggest a wonderful way to achieve savings in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service set up as a “one size fits all” service by Kenny Macaskill when he was justice secretary in the Scottish Government.

Readers will recall that when this service was set up it came on the back of what Mr Macaskill called a “National Police Force”. He maintains, in recently broadcast interviews on BBC Scotland that his dream, Police Scotland, is delivering as good as or a better service than the eight police forces which used to cover all of Scotland, from John o’ Groats to the Mull of Galloway.

Havei got news for him! here in the Borders we hardly ever see a policeman; have no traffic wardens; have practically no local police stations; have no local police stations whatsoever which we can contact either by phone or by knocking on the door; and when we go up to Edinburgh or Glasgow we are amazed to see that police officers actually still exist as we fall over them on practically every street corner.

This is the wonderful national single police service which only appears to work in city centres. The cutbacks, because that was Macaskill’s only reason for forming this elite little band, have robbed areas like the Scottish Borders of any law-keeping either in apprehending criminals or dissuading the anarchists who park on double-yellow lines if they can’t find a suitable pavement to park their cars or trucks on.

The Borders has also seen the demise of the cottage hospitals over many years. These small units were cost-effective in looking after the frail elderly who didn’t need to bed block in Borders General Hospital but could not look after themselves at home until they recovered from illness.

Every burgh in the Borders had a cottage hospital, many provided by rich manufacturing benefactors or by the locals subscribing a small weekly sum from their mill wages to pay for the units. The old and infirm could be visited by friends at local hospitals without having to rely on a scant public transport service. The cottage hospitals were handy, especially alongside retirement homes which were run by local authorities until these services became politicised after local government ceased to be local in the 1970s. We cannot blame Macaskill for that.

But now the man who ruined our wonderful police services in Scotland wants to further reduce our brave firefighting crews and his successors now want to close fire stations and reduce manpower. You can just tell how that will pan out. One unit in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow and the rest of us looking over our shoulders to see if any baker’s shop in Pudding Lane is fit for purpose – or how about a hosepipe in every small burgh marketplace throughout Scotland?

As the Scottish Borders has no or very few police stations, no proper roads system and no care for the elderly in place, would it not just be simpler to cut out all fire and rescue services south of the M8, which seems to us to be the start and stop of Scotland?

Don’t get me wrong, I was an SNP supporter and will never give up on fighting for independence for Scotland, but the party of government is still wondering why all these big blue areas appeared on the political map of Scotland in the southern lands. One word sums it all up: “Neglect”. We are good for hosting huge unsightly wind farms on our beautiful countryside but don’t deserve roads or services with which we could again be employing thousands of people in industry.

We simply don’t exist in the current political hierarchy so are not entitled to roads, police, fire service or proper care in medicine or in our dotage.

I am Scottish through and through but wonder if we in the Borders wouldn’t actually be better off if we were part of Northumbria or the Kingdom of Cumbria, which used to stretch as far north as Glasgow.