WITHOUT taking either personal or political sides regarding "celebrations" inspired by the death of a former Prime Minister, I wonder what made some of the celebrants so jubilant.
It was as a politician that Mrs Thatcher affected us – whether positively or negatively – so the appropriate time to celebrate her demise would have been when she lost that political power over us.
Celebration is normally associated with events which bring personal happiness or satisfaction, such as financial or professional success, or reaching some milestone in life. Reduced to essentials, the Thatcher scenario is that some people are happy that someone who long ago ceased to have any influence on them has died.
I find it impossible to understand how her actual death can have any beneficial effect on anyone else, and I doubt whether anyone celebrating was more satisfied than on the previous day. What have they gained?
Robert Dow,
Ormiston Road, Tranent.
LIKE many, I have always respected the dignity of work exemplified by those whose lot in life was to toil and often die in the coal mines. This country undoubtedly owes its prosperity to those who led a hellish life that most of us can hardly imagine. The crass behaviour of some, and I trust it was only some, at Danderhall, Easington and elsewhere on Wednesday served only to damage the respect in which their communities are held.
Robert Bennie,
Clayslaps Road,
Glasgow.
THE Scottish political parties agreed to postpone the parliamentary debate on Margaret Thatcher's legacy until the day after her funeral, but am I alone in wondering why they wanted a debate in the first place ("'Provocative' debate is postponed", The Herald, April 17)?
In a climate of colossal financial chaos, in which the whole world is struggling to find solutions and alleviate the hardship of millions, I expect MSPs to be spending their time addressing the issues of the day and making Scotland a better place in which to live.
Instead, the Scottish political fraternity decided they should spend a day arguing over Mrs Thatcher, in "company time" and at the taxpayers' expense.
Why? If MSPs want to record their opinions on the former Prime Minister, why not write a blog, or publish a book (in their own time)?
It rather confirms the suspicion that our elected representatives give priority to party politics. Running the country, it appears, can wait.
James Miller,
Stenaday,
Finstown, Orkney.
PROFESSOR Peter Gray complains that John Humphrys and Jeremy Paxman bully politicians on the BBC (Letters, April 18). It is the powerful politicians who are the bullies. They have created a society in which top academic staff are prepared to take huge salaries while others are on paltry zero contracts. In Easterhouse, Glasgow, the millionaire political leaders are pleased to evict tenants from their flats and their neighbourhoods. They punish the jobless who – as happened recently – compete against 140 applicants for one post. While professors and politicians can eat just what they like, thousands depend upon food parcels.
I give thanks for the likes of Humphrys and Paxman who are prepared to attack the political bullies.
Bob Holman,
76 Balgonie Road,
Glasgow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article