CMAL's utter stupidity is costing Arran, and Scotland, dear

Then, Glen Rosa, with a planned passenger capacity of 1,000, was originally intended for the Harris and North Uist Little Minch services, where no sailing had ever approached 350 passengers. Then that ill-thought-out scheme was abandoned with no official explanation; reconfiguring Uig terminal too difficult/expensive?

Dr Vallance then refers to small Sydney Harbour passenger catamarans, a wholly irrelevant comparison. A more relevant Australian example is the 45-minute SeaLink Kangaroo Island ferry operated reliably by two passenger and vehicle catamarans across the at-times-stormy Backstairs Passage providing up to 11 daily crossings each way. Even more relevant are the competing Pentland Firth services, where catamarans Pentalina and Alfred have sailed more consistently in adverse weather compared with the monohull Hamnavoe. It’s not so much a question of handling the sea conditions, but the difficulty of high-sided monohulls berthing and unberthing in such conditions.

The irony of all this is that Arran could have had two (or three) 74-metre, 98-car, 762-passenger, 14-crew catamarans for £15 million each, well able to negotiate Ardrossan, almost 10 years ago, but no, the Einsteins at CMAL decided to spend more than 10 times as much on a travesty.

Roy Pedersen, Inverness.

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The folly of the fuel choice

DR Ramsay Valance does not agree that the design concept for the Glen Rosa and Glen Sannox is fundamentally flawed. Taking into account that they are too big to use Ardrossan in anything but low winds does he think that is a good design?

Does he think that LNG fuel that has to be changed over to diesel for maneuvring or for steaming into the weather in anything over a Force 5 wind is a good design, never mind the lack of a viable storage and refuelling system?

Does he think that a ferry having 32 cabins for crew, all ensuite in addition to the leisure facilities for them, is a good idea when almost every ferry I know of similar size operates with 15 to 20 crew and supplies more facilities and service for the passengers? The additional deck increases windage, in turn reducing maneuverability and eliminating Ardrossan as a reliable port.

The third Glen Sannox rarely missed a service because it was one-third of the size of the new-builds, underlining the wisdom of having two or three smaller vessels able to use the much shorter Ardrossan route rather than the 40% longer Troon route with the associated extra fuel burn and reduced number of available crossings. It would be smart for the Sannox and Rosa to be put onto the Hebridean service and put the two new Turkish vessels on the Ardrossan-Brodick route.

Add to all this the ineptitude of CMAL/Scottish Government building a new pier in Brodick in a north-south direction which is exposed to the only wave sets that can stop the ferry berthing. Every previous pier was built pointing east, into any easterly swell, eliminating cancellations due to the vessel rolling.

One thing Dr Vallance did get right was "the 1957 third Sannox brought major benefits to Arran with her much-increased car carrying capacity with modern economical diesel machinery". Yep. Reliable and devoid of any illusions that LNG is a better fuel.

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.

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SNP needs a Kamala Harris

ALTHOUGH the SNP has made several mistakes during its 17 years in government ("SNP has big questions to ask itself", The Herald, August 13), its performance on health, education, transport, housebuilding and more stands up very well when compared to the previous Scottish Lib/Lab Executive or with the current Labour devolved government in Wales while independence remains the only real change open to Scotland.

The quirky first post the post voting system means that Labour with 33 per cent of the UK vote is triumphant, and the SNP on 30% of the Scottish vote is humiliated, but it masks the fact that around 50% of voters in Scotland believe independence is the only way in which we can match the prosperity and quality of life enjoyed in Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Norway, as devolution without full fiscal powers cannot resolve the cost of living crisis or UK-wide poverty, yet many blame Holyrood, rather than Westminster which is the root cause of austerity and lack of economic growth.

The fact that Labour is not supporting any democratic route to self-government is no reason to give up. John Swinney is well-liked and a safe pair of hands but the SNP needs a Kamala Harris-type figure to re-energise the party and inspire Scotland going into 2026. It’s not too late for a Kate Forbes/Stephen Flynn fresh-faced ticket with plenty of new ideas and strategies to show that Scotland, with our vast energy resources and balance of trade surplus, would be better off as an independent nation, particularly within the EU or EFTA.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh.

Currency group wasting its time

I AM sure I am not the only one to be at a loss to understand why you published the article by the obscure self-appointed Scottish Currency Group ("Why an independent Scotland needs its own pound", The Herald, August 13). The message from the voters of Scotland is still as clear as it was in the historic vote of 2014: we do not want independence, and the overwhelming majority backs parties that specifically and absolutely rule out Indyref2 any time in the foreseeable future. Indeed, support for those parties must now include those who when polled answer that they would like to see independence, which suggests a new-found maturity amongst Yes voters: they can see that although independence is something they would like, it is neither practical nor affordable. Like most adults dealing with grown-up matters, their heads now rule their hearts, which is as it should be.

The upshot is that independence is not going to happen at any time soon, if ever. Even if does, it would be many decades hence, when the economic conditions will be unimaginable from today's viewpoint. In short, the Scottish Currency Group is wasting its time, and although its undoubtedly fascinating ruminations keeps its members occupied (how the nights must fly) they need not bother the rest of us, thanks all the same.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.

Could Kate Forbes and Stephen Flynn have a Kamala Harris-type effect on the SNP? (Image: PA)

Not so clever

SO James Cleverly thinks that his party can give the SNP and Labour a “trouncing” in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election ("Cleverly has ‘every confidence’ Tories in Scotland can give SNP a ‘trouncing’", The Herald, August 13). I’d be interested to know what medication he is taking (and where I can get some).

Neil Sinclair, Paisley.

We don't need the rich

THE Beatles' wonderful album Revolver opened with a bit of a complaint: Harrison's Taxman expressed their annoyance at having to pay 19/6d in the pound on their multi-million-pound earnings. Complain they did, but they paid up and still managed to get rich beyond the dreams of most of their fans.

So what about today, when FTSE-100 chief executives are scooping up more than £4 million a year? Are they paying 19/6d in the pound? Spoiler alert, no they're not.

Why not?

Nobody needs that much money. You can only drive one Bentley at a time and how many rooms does your house really need? How many swimming pools and games rooms, private cinemas, serving staff on minimum wages and a carbon footprint bigger than some of the poorest nations on Earth?

We hear that we have to attract the top talent and pay accordingly, otherwise they will leave.

A bit of advice to the top earners: fine. Go. Off you pop, take your ill-gotten gains with you. We, the people, are just as smart as you are and we will make a success of our country without parasites like you.

AJ Clarence, Prestwick.