Readers' Letters: Lib Dems are mad to let Christine Jardine go

I gave up my membership of the Lib Dems a while ago due to the increasingly ultra woke tendency fostered in the Scottish party by leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and his clique.

Now that Christine Jardine is to be defenestrated (“Jardine to quit Commons after being told she is ‘too old’,” 28 September), and in such a manner, is shocking, but not surprising. The lunatics have finally taken over the asylum, and I imagine that phrase will raise the hackles of the aforementioned tendency. Too bad!

Pauline Carruthers, Edinburgh

Lib Dem Christine Jardine has said she will step down as an MP after the next election

Peace for all

Christine Jardine is right that Ukrainians have endured relentless agony and massive displacement (Perspective, 28 September).

No country should succumb to aggression, oppression and subjugation. Ukrainians have demonstrated unswerving resilience and resolve in the face of adversity. They should be allowed, like other people, to amass their talents, creativity and innovation to rebuild their war-ruined nation and rise from the ashes. They truly deserve an honourable and enduring peace.

(Dr) Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London

Thinking capped

We have one of the lowest world reserves of diesel fuel upon which most lorries transporting goods depend. Canada has 1,320 days’ (import) reserves, the UK has 42 days. Just over a month and that is without panic buying. And the SNP and UK governments allowed refineries to shut because of high energy costs in the over zealous pursuit of net-zero.

Our gas storage reserves are among the lowest in the world – yet we have the capacity and capability to store, but we do not do so and therefore lose our buffer against a sharp increase in gas prices (as is the case just now), as well as risking shortages if we cannot import.

We don’t use our own North Sea gas, in the over zealous pursuit of net-zero, and are not opening up energy fields in the North Sea – unlike Norway – losing jobs and tax revenue in the process.

We have not invested in water storage, and so farmers in times of unusually hot and dry weather have been unable to water their crops, resulting in low harvest yields on potatoes, barley and other grains, which will undoubtedly increase food inflation.

Meanwhile, we spend enormous sums of money paying wind turbine owners to shut down because the electricity grid cannot transfer power from where it is being generated to where it is required, largely because of years of under investment.

Successive governments have massively under invested in our armed services, placing the country at risk from those who would wish to do harm. Some RAF bases have been protected by a simple wire fence which activists have penetrated, causing millions of pounds worth of damage to aircraft.

These are all long-term issues demanding strategic action. Meanwhile our new Prime Minister obsesses about alcohol at football matches and bus fare caps, and strengthening our relationship with Europe where all the major economies have grown less than the UK economy has since Brexit.

What on earth happened to strategic thinking in the UK? The Conservatives failed us, Labour has failed us and the SNP has failed us. It’s enough to make one weep.

Mind you, if enough of us do, Labour and the SNP will find a way to tax weeping as well.

Brian Barbour, Haddington, East Lothian

Day of reckoning

Any fool can win votes by borrowing money and giving it away, but there's no future in it. You can house the homeless, educate the children, save the NHS and boost defence, but eventually comes the day of reckoning, and when that happens all the things you thought you were saving with someone else's money will be infinitely worse than they would have been if you'd had the guts to face facts in the first place.

Graham M McLeod, Kinross, Perth and Kinross

What to expect?

As a very young child during the Second World War, I was accustomed to seeing members of HM Forces in public places such as railway stations and dockyards. Uniforms abounded, and we sang “Rule Britannia” at school and in concerts.

There was no marked differentiation between English, Scots and Welsh – we were all British and proud of the fact. So, from whence came the differentiation which has led to Scottish nationalism? It has been set up by a group of narrow-minded, self-interested individuals for their own benefit.

The nations comprising the UK still need each other in this modern age. The only people who stand to gain from Scottish independence are the SNP politicians.

And just how would an independent Holyrood Parliament face the future: Economically – without funding per the Barnett formula from Westminster; without the Bank of England as its central bank, and the pound sterling as its currency; if it had to establish its own Foreign Office and embassies; if it had to create its own Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force; et al.

So just what sort of future do the remaining SNP zealots envisage for Scotland? In place of overall governance of the UK from Westminster, by which the average person or family has a reasonable standard of living, what can we really expect from an “independent” Scotland?

Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife

Senior service

It was between 1999 and 2005 that Malta gradually introduced their VRT, the Maltese equivalent of our MOT. Cars are checked every two years.

In the 1990s I once asked their minister of transport why Malta did not have an MOT. It would be electoral suicide, he replied grimly!

The same answer could be given today if you were to ask any UK government minister why they will not threaten the Triple Lock pension. Labour would relinquish power for a decade. Have they forgotten the fury over the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment?

We have the poorest state pensions in west Europe and pensioners are always the group who get out to vote.

Simples

John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife

Worry not

A survey has shown more than two thirds of Scots worry that using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to find instant answers means people are thinking less for themselves (Technology, 28 September). Did that product of the Scottish Enlightenment, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, first published in Edinburgh in 1768, have the same effect, with the main personal technological difference only being the turning of a page?

Like AI, the encyclopaedia significantly reduced the need to memorise facts.

Four in ten of the respondents in the survey blamed technology for making their memory worse. I could blame excessive use of those old technologies, the scientific paper and the medical textbook, for my forgetfulness, but I fear that getting older comes top of the list.

Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen

Good use for AI

Before allowing agreements for data centre builds to proceed in Scotland, the Scottish government should commission independent expert AI-driven studies on the design and operation of such proposed industrial hubs.

For example, on the subject of the energy and water demands of data centres, proven changes in technical assessment methods such as the use of DeepMind Applied could be instituted. In 2016 the use of this AI methodology allowed a reduction of 40 per cent in the energy demand for the cooling of Google temperature-sensitive data centres.

The future substantial demands of both energy and water must surely now be scientifically evaluated using these AI techniques to optimise energy and water efficient designs well in advance of locating new data centres in Scotland if we are to optimise the protection of our natural environment.

Elizabeth Marshall, Edinburgh

Brooch home

What an interesting article on the provenance of a silver brooch in America (“Delight after antique mystery is solved”, 28 September). It marks part of our Highland piping heritage and well merits publicity and preservation.

If the owner, Bruce Cameron Williams, is interested in finding an appropriate place for the display of the brooch I would suggest the Clan Macpherson Museum in Newtonmore would be suitable. It is the oldest Clan Museum in Scotland and contains a fascinating collection of artefacts relating to the Clan Macpherson in all parts of the world. The brooch would be totally at homethere in its native Scotland again.

Sandy Macpherson, Edinburgh

Eyes opened

I recently received a form from the Electoral people checking who was at my address and, age wise, eligible to vote as we have the May Council elections next year.

That form made me realise why Andy Burnham did not call an early election. If he did he would not have had time to get all the 16-17 year olds in England registered to vote.

Neither would he have time to get all those living in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) registered, because nowhere on the form does it ask if you are a citizen, or in the country legally.

If he gets the registration documents out across the rest of the country then can we assume there will be a general election come May 27?

Elizabeth Hands, Armadale, West Lothian

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