JIM Sillars erroneously tries to make the case that the steel industry faces crippling energy costs that can be blamed on the renewables industry (Current energy policy is a grave handicap to ailing steel industry, The National, October 23). He compares energy costs in Germany and France to that of the UK. Solar energy can meet half of Germany’s electricity demand while its energy costs of £21.45/MW hour contrasts with the UK’s at £49.5/MW hour.

France’s energy price of £27.14/MW hour is due mainly to being mostly state controlled. Compare that to the index linked £93.5/MWhour we will pay for new nuclear with much of the risk being underwritten by the British taxpayer.

Fuel poverty could be avoided by supporting community-owned renewable energy schemes. The Committee on Climate Change reported that from 2004 to 2011 energy bills in the UK went up by £360 on average but that only £30 of that was due to lowcarbon generation. Most was caused by higher gas prices and network costs. Most was caused by higher gas prices and network costs.

The reason our energy costs are so large has less to do with renewables and more with the lack of public control of basic services. Foreign investors take their cut. The Chinese get a return of 15 per cent on the investment at Hinckley Point. In 2014 it was reported £900m went from British household energy bills to foreign energy suppliers EDF and GDF.

Iberdrola supplied £600m in dividends to private investors. Huge sections of our transport and utilities are also run by companies owned by European countries and as such that is where the dividends go, paid for by UK customers.

Gordon Murray
Lanark

STEEL workers will find no consolation in John Chivall’s observation that 10 times their number are employed in Scotland’s renewable sector, generating electricity no one can afford (Letters, October 26). Equally, it will bring no comfort to the million Scottish households facing fuel poverty that their freezing conditions leave a zero carbon footprint.

While current energy policy props up a vocal green industry, it is quietly failing those who depend on cheap energy most. Climate change excuses don’t absolve our politicians from their primary responsibility to keep the lights on and our homes warm.

Calum Miller
Prestonpans

Westminster rot started with Iraq war

‘YOU took the words right out of my mouth’ will be the reaction of many after reading Carolyn Leckie’s recent article (Don’t be fooled: Blair has still not said sorry, The National, October 26).

The decision to follow Bush into war in the Middle East was not only wrong, it was a defining moment in history. It was a moment you can look back and point to and say: “The demise of the Union started here”.

I was at that rally in London along with hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens who had come from all across the UK and cried out ‘not in my name’. I still cannot believe politicians, sent to Westminster as the voices of those people would be so arrogant to allow our voices to be drowned out with the sound of war drums and soldiers marching feet. I agree totally with Carolyn Leckie, it should not only be Blair in the dock. Westminster did not learn any lessons then and never will. The demise of Westminster started then, independence is our future and closer now that it has ever been.

Walter Hamilton
Elie, Fife

THE independence referendum woke me up to politics. The article by Carolyn Leckie and the comment piece by Maggie Chapman (Isn’t this what they said would happen if we’d voted Yes?’ The National, October 26) reminded me why I switched off – the ability of the ruling parties to completely ignore the opinions/plight of the electorate. The ruling classes must be getting sore feet trampling over us.

Su Johnson
Irvine

Maggie’s article highlights the Selfservatives’ desire for personal gain is far superior to any sensible public policy and they need to be stopped. It looks like they have hit the self destruct button so come the second referendum (which is getting closer by the day) we need the Scottish electorate to do the right thing for the sake of all home nations.

Luke Strong via national.scot

THE news that Trident is going to cost £167 billion is surely the final nail in its deathly coffin (Trident even more ‘indefensible’ as £167bn bill looms, The National, October 26).The obscenity of spending up to £5billion a year on ineffective weapons of mass destruction while cutting billions from the poor, exposes Tory values.

However the focus this weekend will be turned on Scottish Labour when, for the first time since 1997 it will be allowed to discuss Trident. Then it came out clearly against it but for the past 17 years this matter has been reserved to Westminster and Scottish Labour accepted Labour’s support for Trident.

Now the situation has been transformed. Scottish Labour has only one MP at Westminster, Ian Murray He is opposed to Trident. Also Labour has a new leader in Jeremy Corbyn who has spent his life opposing nuclear weapons and has made it clear he would never press the nuclear trigger.

So the way should be clear for Scottish Labour to come out fully against Trident. But will they? In the way are trade unions who represent members making and maintaining Trident and also Unionists in UK Labour who are resistant to autonomy for Scottish Labour. It should be an interesting weekend in Perth but only if Scottish Labour makes clear its full autonomy from London can it hope to rebuild its dwindling electoral support.

Hugh Kerr
Wharton Square Edinburgh

IAIN MacWhirter and others have written that EVEL was set up by the Tories as an attack on Labour. My take is that this is the Westminster establishment desperately scrambling to keep control of Scotland as an asset now that the Labour party have been revealed to us Scots as being as blue blooded as the Tories. The two party tag game is over. EVEL is an apartheid against non English MPs. Westminster is as it has always been, an English parliament ruling for the London Elite.

Mark Harper
Dysart

ALL Under One Banner and Yes2 would like to thank The National for the accuracy in reporting regarding the march and rally we organised on Saturday October 24 (Sean Clerkin, the Scottish Resistance and George Michael, The National, October 26).

We would also like to take this opportunity to further clarify why the decision was made to cut the microphone during Mr Clerkin’s speech.

After discussion and agreement with all but one of the pro-indy parties, we clearly outlined to Mr Clerkin that we would not be in a position to have him speak on behalf of the Scottish Resistance but alternatively we could accommodate an issue-specific, talk which we agreed mutually would be on the subject of austerity. We were given absolute firm assurances that this would be the case. After an inspirational speech from an SNP member who received a standing ovation at the party’s recent conference, Mr Clerkin asked to go up next.

We were intently concerned when he introduced himself as being from the Scottish Resistance, which was an immediate break in the agreement we had, and he continued to loudly push the Scottish Resistance agenda. We quickly cut the mike and were extremely disappointed at this break of trust we had been subject to. We continued the speeches with contributions from representatives of RISE, the SWP, Solidarity and a variety of other speakers and grassroots campaigners.

We are already planning the next event for 2016 starting in the spring on top of the success of Saturday’s event and we are extremely grateful to the other speakers who gave us their time and thoughts about a more prosperous and fairer Scotland built on the cornerstone of independence.

Our biggest thanks goes to those who marched and braved the intermittently awful weather at the rally and invite them all again to join us next year as we show our strength of unity towards independence.

Neil MacKay, All Under One Banner and John McHarg, Yes2