ADVOCATES of a bridge to Northern Ireland should beware of the support of Boris Johnson. His efforts in overseeing bridge building projects in London (toy-town projects compared to the proposed N Ireland venture) such as Emirates Airlines Cable Car Bridge or the Garden Bridge project have been ill-conceived massive failures which have wasted millions of pounds.
If there is spare money for Scottish projects I would rather see this spent on a National Grid connection to the Western Isles or proper funding given to tidal energy development in the Pentland Firth (before somebody else moves in on this wonderful gift).
Robert Clark
Gorebridge
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon may have just killed the 'Boris Bridge' – and here's why
I AM pretty sure it was Steve Bannon in his Trump-Whitehouse exposé Fire and Fury who suggested that Donald Duck’s ideas and policies were based pretty much on whoever he last spoke to. Whether this is really the case I cannot comment, but I do get the feeling that it certainly applies to the elected-by-Engurrland “Prime Minister” of this dis-united queendom.
Yes, many will think a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland is a good idea, many will not, but that is neither here nor there. What we have is someone who has been told that erecting a mega-structure through Beaufort’s Dyke ammunition dump is a good idea and truly believes it, no doubt buoyed by the “success” of his Garden Bridge linking London and, err, London (£43 million of public money wasted after a suggestion – see, that theory again – by thespian Joanna Lumley).
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon says bridge funding should be sent to Holyrood
A quick glance at Wikipedia reveals (allegedly): “The Ministry of Defence estimated that well over a million tons had been disposed there. In July 1945, 14,500 tons of 5-inch (130-millimetre) artillery rockets filled with phosgene were dumped ... according to documents from the Public Record Office, approximately two tonnes of concrete-encased metal drums filled with radioactive laboratory rubbish and luminous paint were dumped in the dyke during the 1950s.”
Who is going to clean that lot up or, more to the point, who is going to pay for that operation? (Hint: step forward Scottish Parliament)
Dr Peter Storch
Argyll & Bute
YOUR article (Bowls in Norfolk count for BBC quota of ‘Scottish programmes’, February 8), which featured details you lifted from Private Eye, is filled with inaccuracies and speculation.
The programmes to which you refer were produced by Sunset & Vine Scotland, an independent broadcast production company whose staff are based in Glasgow and who have for a number of years been heavily involved in broadcast sports programme production for the BBC and for other broadcasters. Sunset & Vine has significant expertise in bowls coverage, dating back to 2003 when it was commissioned by BBC Scotland to produce the Scottish International Open.
READ MORE: Bowling in Norfolk counts for BBC quota of ‘Scottish programmes’
In short, the company has a substantive base in Glasgow, it was the Glasgow staff who produced the bowls programme in question, and that programme fully meets the Ofcom qualifying criteria.
Exactly the same can be said of our coverage of championship snooker, provided for us by IMG and as confirmed by Ofcom itself.
The fact that no trading is registered for Sunset & Vine (Scotland) through Companies House does not mean that a Scotland office does not exist – it simply means that the annual report and financial statements are administered by the over-arching company.
One point that is correctly reported – IMG does have its address at 40 Pacific Quay, the same address as BBC Scotland. That is because it has contractually rented space in our building, in exactly the same way as Sunset & Vine Scotland has rented space in the offices of Edit 123.
In summary, Ofcom has very strict regulations about how independent production companies qualify for out-of-London work. We check this thoroughly ourselves, as does Ofcom, and to suggest that both the BBC and the industry regulator are not fulfilling their obligations is simply untrue.
Ian Small
Head of Public Policy and Corporate Affairs, BBC Scotland
I REALLY enjoyed Alan Riach’s article “Let not language be a barrier” in Monday’s National.
Some years ago while on a walking holiday in the west Highlands, I came upon the works of Alexander Carmichael. During his travels to the Hebrides and Highlands he collected a fund of Gaelic prayers and blessings and had them published in 1912. Although translated to English,they still resonate the Gaelic language and encapsulate the Gaelic soul.
READ MORE: Alan Riach on the importance of Gaelic in 'British' literature
The two volumes are titled New Moon Of The Seasons and The Sun Dances, both books were published by Floris Books of Edinburgh and I believe they are still in publication.
Refer to them in a quiet moment and be inspired.
Terry Keegans
Beith, North Ayrshire
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