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The Herald Scotland

Sorry, Russell Findlay: your Dirty Harry act won't wash

My question is this: what on earth gave him the idea that such a leader would be a good fit for Scotland's problems? Be it drug-related mortality, burgeoning mental illness, alcoholism, deaths of despair, etc: is Clint Eastwood the man for the job to sort that lot out? Perhaps his strategy is that desperate times call for desperate measures. And therein lies the obvious title for his own subsequent and inevitable misery memoir: Desperate. Frankly, I won't be buying Desperate either, as I have little patience for the catalogue of lame excuses found in political obituaries. Archie Beaton, Inverness. Referendum was on devolution Martin Redfern from the 'almost in England' town of Melrose denies Pete Wishart's claim that Yes nearly won the 2014 referendum (Letters, June 15). Oh, how memories fade. Running into the vote it was generally accepted that Yes was winning. The unionist parties panicked big time, 'swallowed the wasp' and came together to buy off some of the 'fearties' (those who may fall victim to the numerous Projects Fear) in Scotland with yet more deplorable devolution. Has Mr Redfern forgotten 'the Vow'? The Smith Commission? In the end the question unofficially changed from Yes or No to Scottish independence to one of more 'buy-off' devolution. There was never a vote on independence whether or not the Queen 'purred'. Frank Cannon, Glasgow. Simple questions Alan Ritchie's "simple question for the taxman" (Letters, June 15) raises various questions, such as (a) why should well-off pensioners like me receive the winter fuel payment, and (b) why shouldn't parents have to pay for their offspring's education, given that parenthood is a lifestyle choice? George Morton, Rosyth. Read more letters Rob quangos to pay schools Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has published the Scottish Government's national guidance on how to tackle escalating levels of bad behaviour and classroom violence. Teachers have been asking for help for far too many years but were ignored by the SNP-dominated Scottish Government. Disruptive pupils should not be allowed to affect the education of others and hinder them achieving their full potential in life. Those causing disruption need to be taken out of class and put into specialist facilities with specialist staff. This will require additional finance. Where will this come from? Easy, the Scottish Government needs to stop spending money on its army of spin doctors, special advisors, equality, diversity and inclusion staff, climate change committees, quangos and lots more and spend it on education. A report last month revealed that the Scottish Government spends an estimated £6.6 billion funding quangos every year. The SNP always talks a good game but always fails abysmally in practice. Clark Cross, Linlithgow. Slash the boats Illegal immigrants gathering in northern France are reported to be fighting each other, with crimes committed by them against French men and women. Unlike legal migrants we do not know their provenance or status. It's the duty of government to defend the realm and the citizens within it. Illegal migration across the Channel in inflatables must be stopped for the safety of the public. The weak point of the gangs is their use of inflatables. Deflate them and it's no-go. What is required is the use of the army. Platoons of well-briefed men should cross the Channel by air or sea at dawn and disable every inflatable they can find by the simple expedient of slashing them. The process could be repeated daily until the migrant gang masters give up. Alas the Government seems more concerned about protecting far-off countries rather than our own borders. William Loneskie, Lauder. Repression in Hong Kong I was interested to read this week that in Hong Kong, the China Labour Bulletin has been forced to close its doors. It was founded in 1994 by Han Dongfang, a Chinese railway worker originally from Shanxi who founded the gōngzìlián, a federation of workers autonomous from the "official unions", in the days of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Affected by the repression of June 4, 1989, he had spent 22 months in prison, where he had contracted tuberculosis. Expatriated to the United States for treatment, he was not allowed to return to Beijing and in 1993 he arrived in Hong Kong as an exile. The following year, Han Dongfang created the China Labour Bulletin precisely to support labour movements in China with the aim of making trade unions truly representative and providing accurate information on Chinese workers' activism. In addition to commentary and research, the CLB website monitored strikes and industrial accidents across the country. At its headquarters in Cheung Sha Wan, the China Labour Bulletin employed more than a dozen full-time employees and initially received grants from a range of government or quasi-government entities, as well as trade unions and private foundations. Now Hong Kong's new rules have made it a "threat to national security" to also receive subsidies from abroad to carry out activities of this type. The voice that relaunched the battles of simple workers who are victims of injustice in China is extinguished. Since Beijing imposed a security law on Hong Kong in 2020, about 60 civil society groups have disbanded or been forced to stop their activities. The West, as usual, never makes a fuss when money is involved and so rich dictatorships like China and Saudi Arabia do whatever they want. B McKenna, Dumbarton. Are Super Off-Peak fares in danger? (Image: Colin Mearns) Beware threat to Super Off-Peak ScotRail's upcoming scrapping of peak fares is good news, but (here's the proviso), only as long as scrapping of peak will not (unlike last year's trial on ScotRail), be accompanied by the quietly-slipped-in abolition of Super Off-Peak. Super Off-Peak needs to be protected. The 12-month trial on ScotRail in 2023/2024 abolishing peak fares actually increased travelling costs for many trips and round-trips. This is because the very many journeys which would never have been taken during peak time anyway (weekend and bank holiday travel are examples) no longer had the advantage of the Super Off-Peak discount which they had had before the implementation of the trial. The abolition of peak was completely unnecessarily accompanied by the abolition of Super Off-Peak. Simplification does not necessarily mean better. Elsewhere in Great Britain, the quietly-slipped-in abolition of Super Off-Peak as part of fare restructuring which is (allegedly) intended to decrease travelling costs has actually resulted in an increase. People and groups should always check if any proposals for changes to fares structures include the abolition of Super Off-Peak. (The word "simpler" and the word "better" are not synonyms). As happened with the 2023/2024 ScotRail scheme abolishing peak fares; as has happened with fares changes on LNER, changes to public transport fares and ticketing are often used as an opportunity to quietly slip in an abolition of Super Off-Peak, so actually often increasing travelling costs. Super Off-Peak is a valuable resource for the travelling public. Don't let Super Off-Peak on Great Britain's railway network be killed off. Russ Underhill, Burnt Oak, London. Fight the benefit cuts People with arthritis are at risk of being hardest hit if the UK Government's planned cuts to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) go ahead. The devastating impact of the proposed welfare changes could see 77% of people living with arthritis who claim PIP – Adult Disability Payment in Scotland – lose this vital support altogether. We need to speak out against them – and urgently. Life costs more for disabled people. Benefits like the Adult Disability Payment can help with the extra costs of everyday tasks or getting around. It's a lifeline. Pushing thousands into poverty due to proposed changes to these proposed changes will make life even harder for people already struggling to pay for care, cover their bills or heat their homes. We have a chance to stop the cuts. MPs could be voting on these plans this month, so we need your readers to act now and share their concerns with their constituency MP. Versus Arthritis is urging anyone who is concerned about these proposed changes to disability benefits to contact their MP and ask them to protect people with arthritis now and vote against the cuts. Your readers can contact their MP direct by post or email them by visiting the Versus Arthritis website and entering their postcode. Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive, Versus Arthritis, London.