MICHAEL Russell’s otherwise excellent spiel (Indy papers will be factual antidote to Project Fear, June 18) was spoiled by his including Dounreay in a list of Tory-inflicted damage to Scotland’s economy when it ceased generating electricity in 1994. It never produced more electricity than it consumed, and it continues to be a massive burden on the economy and will, by official industry estimates, require such expense for another 400 years.

Its toxic waste will remain lethal for more than 1000 years, either stored (that which hasn’t already spread who knows where) and monitored, or, more likely dumped in a hole, probably to haunt many future generations of Scots.

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On the plus side there are a few dirty jobs, in an area made deliberately employment-hostile in case of accident or a need to test nuclear weapons.

The creation of the Dounreay experiment was the “damage”; its closure the first of many exhausting steps in mending that.

I’m proud to say I had a wee hand in destroying its business model about 36 years back. The WMD-toting Westminster government would have loved to keep it going. Imagine if the Saxons of 10000 years back had dumped megatons of toxic crap in Scotland ... oh, yeah, they did: Hereward the Wake is still active in telling people to “get off my land” in Scotland. Check. Don’t rewrite history on behalf of such as those who exploit Scotland for imperial self-interest, please.

Gwilym Barlow
Edinburgh

WITH the news that asylum seekers are now to be shackled by electronic tags, the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller are more and more chillingly relevant as applied to developments in the UK over the last few years:

First they came for the Windrush generation
And I did not speak out
Because I was not from within the Windrush people.

Then they came for the EU migrant workers
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a migrant worker from the EU.

Then they came for the environmental activists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an environmental activist.

Then they came for people protesting in the streets or pursuing human rights court actions
And I did not speak out
Because I was not involved in such activities.

Then they came for the asylum seekers
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an asylum seeker.

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

Andrew Reid
Comrie, Perthshire

I AM coming to the appeal for a fundraiser by Mr Sheppard MP from a slightly different angle. I believe it is wrong for any government to use public money for “research” and then refuse to reveal that information to the public unless there is a sound justification for that. In this case, it is probably just damaging to this Conservative government.

The courts so far have instructed the government to reveal it. The government just keep appealing the decisions to ever higher courts and more high-priced lawyers, presumably in the hope that the opposition will be unable to compete and therefore they will win and a precedent will be set to refuse to reveal any information they decide we had better not know.

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The government is using our money to keep us in the dark about what they are up to. When Mr Sheppard says the information is out of date, I believe he is expressing disbelief that the government is going to these lengths to protect information which is out of date. The big question is why? Is this not worth finding out?

Ann White
Carluke

THE Free Baptist leaflets describing gay people as a perverts, advocating the punishment of those who participate in abortion and the (illegal) physical discipline of children will surely be laughed away by most right-thinking people. However, that this church is a registered charity (with associated tax breaks) again raises concerns around whether such hate speech would be tolerated were it not to be religious hate speech.

Neil Barber
Edinburgh Secular Society

OH dear. A huge faux pas in the report on this Saturday’s AUOB march (Indy supporters to hold rally on anniversary, June 21). No wonder we Scots won, as your journalist had us there two years early in 1312!!! Well prepared indeed!! I did see the funny side.

Iain McEwan
Troon

IN a potentially ground-breaking operation on a man on Monday, doctors failed to find an ounce of integrity, accountability or even a trace of humility. However, they may try again in the future if a way past a bloated ego con be navigated.

Sue Forbes
via email