TODAY is the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a document as important to the Scottish nation as Magna Carta is to the English. And yet, not one of the TV channels to whom we pay a tax – BBC One, BBC Two or the so-called “BBC Scotland” channel – or even STV for that matter, has produced a single programme to commemorate this event.
They were well aware of this upcoming anniversary and had plenty of time to produce something long before the virus hit. Yet they can find the means to broadcast year-round documentaries about Henry the flipping VIII of England, or Elizabeth Tudor, and anachronistic offerings from Dan Snow, Dan Jones and Lucy Worsley with the word “British” in the title that are, in fact, purely English history. For example, “Britain’s Bloody Crown” by Dan Jones, which was about the medieval English monarchy when no such entity as a British state existed.
So in Scotland our history is airbrushed out and in its place there is a steady diet of English fairy stories.
Linda Horsburgh
Dundee
READ MORE: New film celebrating Declaration of Arbroath anniversary goes online
THERE has been much discussion about how we should refer to the coronavirus. I suggest calling it the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
Why? CCP officials knew about the virus in Wuhan, China, in early December. Instead of acting responsibly, they spent weeks censoring information, arresting citizen journalists, and punishing and silencing medical doctors who tried to raise the issue.
Naming it the CCP virus avoids linking it to the Chinese people, who themselves are victims of the CCP’s ruthless authoritarian actions.
Knowing the severity of the virus, the Wuhan city government even hosted a Chinese New Year’s celebration attended by 40,000 families on January 18.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Nations forced to compete for medical supplies
A new study conducted by the University of Southampton concluded that if non-pharmaceutical interventions such as travel restrictions and social distancing had been enacted three weeks earlier, the virus infection rate in China could have been reduced by 95%.
On March 12, the deputy director of China’s foreign ministry information department, Zhao Lijian, made the shocking suggestion that the US Army may have brought the virus to Wuhan.
On March19, CCP mouthpiece Xinhua News reported that there were no new cases of the virus in Wuhan, in spite of evidence suggesting otherwise.
Having been born and raised in China, I am not surprised by any of the CCP’s responses to the situation. I am very familiar with its propaganda and how it runs the country. By using the name “CCP virus,” I hope more people will realise that the Chinese Communist Party put the lives and economic security of the Chinese people and the world at risk. All to protect its image.
Mrs Yu Yu Williamson
Glasgow
WHEN reading online about Unionists being unhappy about the naming of the temporary hospital in Glasgow, I wrongly assumed it would be the Union flag-waving extremists that were annoyed. Then I discover on reading the piece in The National today that it had actually been the likes of an ex-MP that were raising their objections . As for Jamie Blackett to suggest it would be an insult to the British Army, I wonder if it ever crossed his mind that Scots are also part of the British Army – sadly we are not separate yet.
For years I have read and listened to Unionist politicians and believed that they could no longer shock me with their comments trying to bring Scotland into line. I was WRONG.
AH
Biggar
JACKIE Baillie is appointed Scottish Labour’s new depute! I just don’t get it ... one catastrophe after another. When will the penny drop?
The party needs major surgery. To collude with and select one of the failed old guard when they need fresh blood and a renewed vision is mind-boggling. I just don’t get it!
Labour have clearly thrown the towel in, a year before Holyrood’s rematch!
Robin MacLean
Fort Augustus
READ MORE: These are Jackie Baillie's worst gaffes as a Scottish Labour MSP
I’M writing in agreement with the comments made by Councillor Kenny MacLaren (Letters, April 4) in support of The National.
I’ve made criticisms too in the past of some letters, in particular those by some who seem more intent on creating schisms in the overall Yes movement and delighting in attacks on the SNP leadership.
However, I’ve always felt that it was illogical and hypocritical to complain bitterly about the lack of balance in the largely Unionist media and then expect The National to be essentially a PR puff for independence.
In my opinion the message in support of independence is enhanced by The National exercising its freedom to print challenging articles, thus reinforcing its credibility, rather than the reverse.
Douglas Turner
Edinburgh
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