SURELY it is time to have our own Scottish tennis team and not have our players playing for team GB. They claim their number one women’s player Johanna Konta is British when she was born and grew up in Australia and her parents were Hungarian. But as an Aussie she qualifies for GB.

Many small and less wealthy countries perform well enough and often better than the Brits despite all the millions that is misspent by the LTA in continuing to fail in developing home talent.

I always said it would take a Scot and never an English player to be world No 1 and I was right. Andy, you are incredible. Not one of the successful British tennis players came through the British class-dominated and crippling system, so let’s just get on with having our own team.

As a keen player I was glad to hear of Judy Murray’s address to the Scottish Parliament suggesting it was time to have our own team. We have it in other sports so why not tennis? The legacy of Andy and Jamie should be for us to leave team GB and set up our own system with its players representing Scotland. Please bring it on, Holyrood.

Tony Martin
Gullane

I WAS reading Saturday June 15 edition of The National with increasing despair and frustration at Adam Tompkins MSP and his response of “the smacking bill”. Does he not realise that intimidation to snack is as bad as, if not worse than, the act itself?

We are in an age of enlightenment to domestic abuse/domestic violence. Any form of physical acts, by anyone to another, is abusive. For it to be aimed at children, for no other reason than the person’s entitlement to do so and the oft-spun reply “I was smacked as a child and it did me no harm”, is arrogant. We are trying to be more educated to this terrible, terrible part in our society/cultures.

How can we ever hope to eradicate abuse in relationships, the work place, places of worship, if the very people who are here to make the law don’t get it! Adam Tomkins MSP, and I use the term very loosely, IS antediluvian, as are many members of parliament, here and in Westminster. Until these out-dated, archaic ideas are eradicated, we will still see certain aspects of society who agree with him.

Fionnaidh Halloran
via email

WELL, it seems that the free TV licence for over-75s will definitely be rescinded from June 2020. I have just received an official letter from TV Licensing to confirm this.

They don’t even give us an address to write back to, to tell them to “get stuffed”. Luckily I kept my last licence so there will probably be an address on that to allow me to do so.

I will now write and tell them that the BBC has such a bias against Scotland – and this is backed by the Wastemonster Government who seem to encourage them to spout forth Unionist propaganda – that I will not, even if I am not entitled to a free one, pay them a single penny. Nor will I co-operate with their investigations into whether or not I receive pension credits. I will suggest they bill Westminster for any licence fee they wish to charge to me.

Maybe this could be the start of a civil disobedience campaign as advocated by one of your recent correspondents. If everyone over 75 wrote back to them along these lines it would surely cause some sort of chaos.

Charlie Kerr
Glenrothes

UNBELIEVABLE and a bit rich was the question posed by Stephen Kerr MP in the House of Commons to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office: “What steps is he taking to ensure that communication between the UK Government and Scottish local authorities is maintained?”.

He went on to seek assurances that there will be future meetings with Cosla to make sure the voice of Scotland’s local authorities will be heard in Westminster!

Mr Kerr MP, considering the weekly abuse the SNP benches in Westminster receive from the Conservative benches, when have the Conservative Westminster Government ever paid any attention to Scotland voice or given Scotland due recognition?

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk

WE welcome that the National Secular Society is asking to end “the advancement of religion” as a claim to charitable status with its associated tax breaks.

This derives from days of yore when religion in itself was deemed “good for all”.

Groups which, for example, genuinely relieve poverty or save lives should be continue to be eligible: their faith position is incidental.

This is not an anti-religious view, simply a fair one.

The 12,000-plus groups which currently enjoy this status must be free to organise and advance their own beliefs, but with some promoting activities such as gay conversion therapy, infant circumcision and non-stun animal slaughter they have no claim to being of “public benefit” and should pay taxes like everyone else.

Neil Barber
Edinburgh Secular Society