THAT the first of shipment of 750kg of highly enriched uranium left Wick Airport last Saturday to be flown 4,000 miles to the Savannah River Nuclear site in South Carolina is of concern to many people.
Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (HANT) has been campaigning since 2013 to have all rail, sea and air movements of nuclear materials stopped. The safest solution is to store the materials at Dounreay under constant security and monitoring.
The consequences of a terrorist attack or accident during the movements would be devastating for the population affected and the environment.
The nuclear flights from Wick Airport are planned to continue for 18 months. Highland Council in its road closure notice stated that the transport from Dounreay to Wick Airport is “a danger to the public”.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority continues to state that these movements pose no danger. One of these authorities must be wrong – which one is it?
HANT would urge the public to put pressure on their MPs and MSPs to stop this madness.
Tor Justad
Chairperson, HANT
The Scots tongue is egalitarian and internationalist - our Government is too cautious in their support of it
HAVING re-read "Notes towards a manifesto for uncertain times – the future for the arts and education in Scotland” by Alan Riach and Alexander Moffat (The National, Sep 16), I noted that one of their conclusions was “cultural distinction defines democratic representation".Sandy Moffat’s painting The Poet’s Pub, which illustrates the piece, shows a number of writers who used the Scots language. As well as this the article mentions the Kailyard School of writers, and the stalwarts of Scottish literature – Scott, Hogg, Gault and Robert Louis Stevenson – all of whom used Scots and English.
A principal function of the Scots language since the Wars of Independence has been to create cultural distinctiveness. Although the present Scottish Government quietly supports the Scottish Language Dictionaries and has put Scots into the Curriculum for Excellence, it is very cautious about using Scots as a means of creating the sense of identity which Riach and Moffat propose is needed to achieve our own democracy in Scotland.
The SNP should recognise that Scots is internationalist – MacDiarmid and Hamish Henderson – and egalitarian – Burns and Fergusson. It is also radical and democratic.
Iain WD Forde
Scotlandwell, Kinross-shire
REGARDING more autonomy for Scottish Labour after the NEC agreed to the party having more freedom north of the Border,
(The National, Sep 21). If they are granted the freedom to set their own policies even for reserved matters, will it prove to be a bold initiative or a recipe for even more electoral disasters?
For example, how will Scottish Labour deal with the issue of Trident renewal, supported by UK Labour MPs in Westminster yet faced with overwhelming opposition by Scottish Labour MSPs in Holyrood?
Will we see a split before the next UK General Election, with Scottish Labour Party candidates opposing UK Labour Party candidates in the same constituency when there are differences in policy?
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
I SEE the Labour branch office is now proclaiming it is to be given more autonomy – if the London Labour NEC approves the latest plan. Is this the same autonomy that they were boasting about last October or is this just a rehash of an old press release from Labour? What real powers does the branch office actually have, can it set its own policy on Trident and whip its sole MP to support this, or will it be another Labour fudge?
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
WHILE those of us who support independence were heartbroken two years ago, I do not believe that the referendum was a wasted exercise. Of course, it would have been glorious if Yes had triumphed, but we were educated about many aspects of campaigning about which we were innocent, not least the dark arts practised by Westminster, Better Together and most of the mainstream media. We were also made aware of the weakness in our discussions, on such as currency and pensions. But it is worth recalling that in spite of 300 years and a tide of fear, support went from 28 per cent to an amazing 45 per cent. So next time we will be even wiser, and Unionists will not be able to use the same scare stories.
I do not envy Nicola’s task, but I rely on her wisdom and political nous when deciding the date for indyref2. The lies and machinations manufactured in London will be just as intense – for example it is not beyond credibility that when Nicola does announce indyref2, Theresa May will declare that the Brexit referendum result was only advisory, with heavy hints that Britain will remain in the EU. When she thinks she has fooled enough Scottish people to vote No, she will invoke Article 50 anyway! Now, you may think this is just too far-fetched – until you remember the Vow, Gordon Brown and EVEL. Who saw that lot coming?
I agree with Lovina Roe that Westminster will stop at absolutely nothing to prevent independence (Letters, Sep 20). I believe a Tory MP has already threatened that Westminster would take over Scotland’s oil by force if necessary in the event of independence. They seem to think that but for the people inhabiting the land, Scotland would be an excellent place! Well, we have to show them that it’s not their land; it belongs to the people of Scotland.
Richard Walthew
Whitsome Crofts, Dunns
I WISH to endorse Michael Gray’s praise of Fife’s newest councillor, Mary Lockhart (A shout-out for a kind-hearted councillor, Sep 20). Mary experienced her first day as a councillor in a full council meeting last Thursday. It would have been very tempting for her to sit out the day in quiet anonymity. However, that is not Mary’s way and never has been.
Instead, she agreed to speak in a debate in the chamber, which asked the council to reject CETA, a toxic trade agreement as dangerous as the better-known TTIP. She spoke about the threat to democracy in Scotland, to public services and to workers' rights which CETA would pose. This illustrates what Martin Niemoller’s poem “First they came ...” is really about. It is about the absolute necessity to speak out bravely and timeously in situations when it would be easier to sit back and say nothing. The people of Mary’s constituency are lucky to have such a principled person as their councillor.
Jean Kemp
St Andrews TTIP Action Group
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