Professor Richard Murphy is missing the bigger picture on land tax

I feel honoured that the esteemed Professor has taken the trouble to respond to my letter criticising his misunderstanding or ignorance of the legal rights which the Scottish Parliament has to legislate for transactions involving an interest in land. It’s a little more troubling when he used the classic politician’s technique of failing to either admit his mistake, ignore it or talk about something else. As your regular readers will know, I do not support a land value tax. I propose AGFRR which is a property tax based on the area of a space – including land, floor and roof – and charged at a rate per square metre. I initially chose four land types to make it easy for illustrative purposes (though maybe not so easy for Richard Murphy to digest) but there could be many.

Professor Murphy omits the fact that Scotland has to get over the independence line, and if the UK is unco-operative then the Scottish Government must have the means financially as a currency user to acquire public funds under existing powers. There is not going to be a transition period to argue about what type of monetary theory we shall adopt. That’s for another day.

AGFRR provides an independent Scotland with the simple means to raise public funds without borrowing and adopting a highly complex taxation system like the UK. Such systems exist in their complexity to justify the salaries and influence of some economists, accountants and financial advisers in both the public and private sectors.

In regards to his concern regarding wealth differentials being increased, he should recall that an integral part of AGFRR was a Universal Citizens’ Income of £10,000 for every adult and child based on 2019 official figures. Every household is different but an examination of different types of households and properties they occupy and household salaries actually shows the closing of the income gap between the lowest to the wealthier if AGFRR replaces all taxation.

Finally, AGFRR and MMT are not mutually exclusive. Meantime, my focus is getting independence over the line. Would that Professor Murphy have the same sense of urgency.
Graeme McCormick
Arden

I AM writing to highlight a significant issue concerning the town of Dalgety Bay. Despite being a vibrant and established town for 62 years, Dalgety Bay is not recognised as an option for residency on various online platforms, including Facebook.

Dalgety Bay, developed in 1962, is a town with its own unique identity and community. However, due to administrative oversights involving Fife Council (and Dunfermline District Council before it) and the UK mapping authority Ordnance Survey, it is often overshadowed by the officially recognised postal town of Dunfermline. This anomaly has resulted in residents being unable to select their town on websites, having to opt for Dunfermline or other nearby towns and villages.

I myself have reached out to Ordnance Survey. In classifying various locations as towns, cities or villages, they have only been able to specify Dalgety Bay as “Other” for the simple fact, I am told, that no local authority has ever actually taken the time to reach out and let them know what Dalgety Bay is.

In the recently won, centuries-long battle to have Dunfermline recognised as a city, it seems peculiar that so much time has been spent upgrading the classification of one location, while never acknowledging the existence of another.

This issue not only misrepresents the identity of Dalgety Bay residents but also poses challenges in various online and administrative processes. While nearby towns, even smaller ones like Inverkeithing and Hillend (an albeit older village that Dalgety Bay now joins on to, consisting primarily of a single main road with one award-winning pub and no shops) enjoy accurate representation, Dalgety Bay’s omission stands out as an oversight that needs rectification.

Therefore, I am reaching out to request support in rectifying this oversight. While we continue to wait for the members of Fife Council to notice that Dalgety Bay exists, we encourage web developers, programmers and digital platforms to acknowledge the existence of Dalgety Bay by updating their location options and address databases. A simple code update saying “I believe in Dalgety Bay” can make a significant difference.

Your support will not only ensure accurate representation of Dalgety Bay but also foster a sense of belonging and identity among its residents.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Andy Barratt
Dalgety Bay

IN addition to the question of door safety problems regarding the Fort William to Mallaig tourist train reported by Dr Neil of Selkirk in The National on December 27, I write to point out that many feel that other aspects of the “Hogwarts Express phenomenon” require attention.

Being aware of the popularity of the area in viewing the passage of the train, in August 2022 we made an early start from Fort William to park and visit the Glenfinnan Monument among the historical sites in the area. We were not ready, however, for the epic scale of assembled visitors occupying, as mentioned by Dr Neil, every “knoll and hillock” in the viaduct area.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) car park was completely occupied by car and van traffic by 10am. As I and others are planning a return road trip to Glenfinnan and other sites in the area, with one member of the group possibly still requiring assistance for longer pedestrian sorties, I spoke to the NTS, which stated that while it cannot stipulate who can or cannot park in the NTS car park, it would secure a disabled space if we were to telephone ahead of the day we would plan to visit the NTS Glenfinnan Monument site.

Additionally, the car park at nearby St Mary & St Finnan’s chapel was full of cars at this early hour on a weekday.

If any update on the situation has emerged since late 2022, I would be pleased to learn of this.
J D Moir
Aberdeen

I HAVE read two articles in The National, the first from January 3, “Spot-kick call”, (from the match report by Matthew Lindsay), and the second from January 4, “Rangers: Release VAR Audio” by John McGill.

This letter is not about Rangers and whether the club are favoured or victimised, but about the state of senior SPFL referees in Scotland in ALL football matches for ALL football clubs.

In the article by Matthew Lindsay, he posts about “unfair aspersions which are regularly cast on the integrity of our leading referees”.

The “integrity” of a referee is not in question, it is their incompetence that is being questioned.

Regarding the article by Lindsay, for the “Old Firm” match, the “top official”, the Fifa-accredited SFA referee Willie Collum, “doesn’t know the offside rule”! He, and he alone, has the time, the technical facilities at hand, the extensive knowledge of football’s laws (allegedly) to play and replay the incident as often as he wants, but almost immediately decides with determination it’s a goal kick!

Often in the past, football matches in Scotland are delayed for many minutes while a VAR decision is being determined, but not on this occasion.

So, Rangers FC are deprived of a penalty in a football match being shown throughout the world – a match that can decide who will (potentially) win the SPFL title, and a decision by a referee takes mere seconds to determine!

That decision had profound effects on the remainder of the game, of that there is no doubt.

Now, we have the SFA refusing to make public the VAR audio of the incident and “strongly disputing Rangers’ version of events”.

This smacks of the SFA trying to cover up the mistakes so that the “integrity” of referees (already questionable on both sides of the Old Firm) can be maintained.

When an organisation gets a major decision wrong with serious implications, it is better (and as quickly as possible) to accept its shortcomings, put corrective measures in place to prevent repetition and seek to address compensation (if this is prudent), thus bringing the problem to a conclusion – even to replay the match, if it is THAT serious.

That is not the SFA way!

Denying there is or was a problem, deflecting responsibility to the complainant, covering up shortcomings and protecting the incompetents is the SFA way and we are seeing this unfold on steroids.

As far back as 2019, I proposed that, for SPFL premier division matches, referees should come from England where they have professional status, not part-time, as in Scotland.

What is it going to take before the SFA recognises its own shortcomings and takes measures to correct this “shambles” before the game in Scotland descends into football oblivion?
Jim Todd
Cumbernauld

WELL done to Stan Grodynski (Letters, December 29) for articulating a means of getting across the views and obvious aspirations of at least 50% of the Scottish population. A TV channel where a grown-up conversation about independence and self-reliance could flourish without the usual bias we have to endure on a daily basis from an incredibly powerful media and UK establishment. How easy it must seem to anyone with a Unionist mindset to be comforted by the stuff we’re force-fed. Well, I for one am sick of it.

Our own TV channel is, to my mind, the only way to counter the arrogance of what’s there at the moment. Of course, what would be thrown at a channel devoted to Scottish independence would be that of biased propaganda. But of course it would! Their propaganda is so much more honest and relevant than our propaganda! How difficult is it, and how expensive is it to start up a TV channel? It’s the sort of thing which might grow arms and legs very quickly. Worth a try.
Ronald Jamieson
Ayrshire

HI from Skye! I realise that in the general scheme of things, the Gaelic language may play a mere background role in the wider Scotland area, however, I would like to share some thoughts with your readership.

I titled this letter “An Appeal”, and that is exactly what it is. As a Gaelic speaker for half my life – 30 years plus – I appeal for equity in all matters, social and economic and otherwise.

If we are to be truly united, can we not agree to unite in efforts to preserve this living, vibrant tongue of ours?

I am close to retirement now, but for many years, I enjoyed the benefits of being a freelance translator, working on varied material on behalf of, among others, the Scottish Government. The financial rewards were considerable and provided me with the means to support my good lady wife and to pursue other interests. A most positive experience.

I think the point is that Gaelic is another Scottish/Highland “industry”, from which many benefits can accrue.

In a similar vein, I also support Lallans – indeed, would we not be better in campaigning for BOTH rather than falling into the all-too-gaping chasm between our twin tongues?

Le spèis, is mise
Niall Gòrdan
Skye