Politicians need to hold their hands up over Grenfell

Of course, he is not the only PM or government minister who operated during the era of the highly suspect and highly flammable cladding on buildings, cladding of that type used to save money despite companies' awareness of the grave risks. What we need to know is what information passed across the ministers' desks, or was brought to the attention of those responsible for the fire safety of buildings prior to the inferno.

From 1991 onwards, there were grave concerns expressed about the dangers of the cladding clothing many buildings. Fires occurred in 1991,1999 and 2009 in buildings with such dangerous cladding and there were mortalities in two of those cases. For some inexplicable reason, no one joined the dots.

Indeed, David Cameron was involved in the deregulation of fire standards during his period as PM.

Sadly politicians played their part in the tragedy of the 72 with their apparent insouciance when it cam to investigating the oft-expressed worries of the tenants of that fateful tower.

With the firms which produced this cladding covering up what they knew about its dangers, politicians compounded that devastating error through not taking seriously the public concerns about what eventually despite all the warning signs has been seared into our memories.

Grenfell is the most glaring example of what happens when politicians make mistakes.

Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.

Questions over the cause

ALL the reports and comment I have read recently on the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster focus one way or another on the use of flammable cladding in its construction ("Grenfell Tower disaster caused by ‘dishonesty, failure and greed'", The Herald, September 5). What I find surprising is the glaring omission of any discussion of the one factor without which this particular disaster would not have occurred, namely the source of the fire and how it is believed it started.

I recollect early reports that the fire was thought to have originated somehow in a domestic fridge in one flat. That fire engulfed that flat and then spread over much of the building, aided by the flammable cladding. Why a fridge should self-ignite is a mystery to me, but if it did then surely it is essential for the inquiry to find out how it did, and to identify the make and model involved so as to warn of the fire risk that model poses to anyone who has one, or does that risk apply inherently to all fridges?

Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

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Westminster's power grab

WITH respect, Peter Wright (Letters, September 6), post-Brexit, Westminster made a power grab of Holyrood’s autonomy via the Internal Market Act which Labour shows no sign of amending. Under the Sewel Convention, devolved consent is normally required, except when the UK Government decides that it knows best. It wasn’t the SNP picking fights when Westminster sabotaged the Deposit Return Scheme.

Like others, Mr Wright seems to forget that it is Westminster to blame for the cost of living crisis which has led to higher wage claims. Every part of the UK is affected by the £22 billion black hole that Labour blames for its austerity measures as it impacts on the finances of the devolved governments.

As Labour MSP Daniel Johnson’s car crash interview on Radio Scotland on Wednesday proved, Labour hates comparisons with Wales. The NHS waiting list in Wales has reached another record high, with about a fifth of the Welsh population waiting to be seen and fewer than half the 20,000 homes promised by Labour in its manifesto at the last Senedd election having been built. Labour has blamed UK inflation for a rise in costs but this explanation only seems to be acceptable where Labour is power.

Despite limited fiscal powers, Scotland has lower child poverty than many northern and western European countries while only Romania, Spain and Bulgaria have higher rates of child poverty than England or Wales.

During a Radio 4 interview last month, Henry McLeish said that in the Labour/LibDem Scottish Executive years, the Labour First Minister would have a weekly call with the Prime Minister, who would tell him what to bring before Holyrood and that only 20% of the Programme for Government was decided by the Labour/LibDem executive.

Fraser Grant, Edinburgh.

Economic dunces

THERE has been much discussion about the economic illiteracy of claiming that the winter fuel payment had been withdrawn for the majority of pensioners as part of a master plan that will eliminate the risk of a run on the pound.

The tale becomes even more ludicrous when laid alongside the response that the UK Government is launching a campaign to have all of those eligible for Pension Credit to register in order to ensure that those in direst need of the winter fuel payment continue to receive it.

By all accounts, if the campaign is 100 per cent successful the cost to the Government will be roughly twice what they saved by cancelling the payment.

Obviously, the campaign is unlikely to reach the 100% mark, but even if it is moderately successful the overall saving to the Exchequer will be roughly nothing.

While attempting to ensure all those who qualify for Pension Credit actually claim it would on its own be a positive move, it completely undermines the pronouncements by various Labour ministers that the overall policy will in some inexplicable way help to prevent an economic catastrophe.

The only possible conclusion from this farce is that we have “changed” from one bunch of economic dunces to another.

Cameron Crawford, Rothesay.

Starmer is a Tory ally

THREE months into Labour's term in office at Westminster and its "opposition" mentality is writ large.

Ridiculous policies, very much more akin to the SNP's playbook, abound. These include taking money from the "broad-shouldered" pensioners to fund pay rises, adding VAT to school fees with the absolute guarantee of chaos in state schools from the fallout and abandoning a close ally, Israel, in favour of Iran and effectively shutting down North Sea oil and gas.

Anas Sarwar, the potential next First Minister, is going to need a bigger tin hat and if Russell Findlay wins the election for Tory leader even that hat might be too small.

Westminster always causes waves for Holyrood but never like this. By default, Keir Starmer might well be the Tories' best friend as it is patently all over for the SNP.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

Social solidarity

JIM Kirkwood (Letters, September 6) asks: "Why should people with sufficient financial means be entitled to a free bus pass?". The answer is very simple, it's not free, they have paid for it through taxation and they are entitled to benefit from it.

Making benefits of this kind universal is a progressive measure that says to people like me that I have earned the entitlement, and to people who would be subject to a means test that we are all part of the same community, without being subject to a demeaning process that asks if we are really so poor that we need a subsidy from people like me, or possibly Mr Kirkwood.

It's not just about bus passes and free prescriptions, or even things like student fees, it's about social solidarity, something that some sections of society seem blind to, or maybe just don't like.

John Jamieson, Ayr.

What can the Palestinians do?

ISRAEL has the absolute right of self-defence to protect its sovereign territory and people. However the legal borders of Israel must be identified and it is increasingly difficult to defend Israel after an “occupation” of Palestinian Territory now lasting almost 60 years, with that belligerent occupation now morphing into direct annexation and colonialism leading to condemnation under international law.

Palestinians also have a legal right” to resist this occupation, as they are denied self-determination and political participation under Israeli military rule. That resistance can be civil disobedience or armed. Western nations have armed Israel’s military with the most modern weaponry possible, most of which was designed for a battlefield not a congested civilian space.

Unlike Ukraine, no Western nation has offered succour to Palestine to allow for its legitimate defence. I utterly condemn Hamas for its appalling conduct, but await some indication from the governments of the USA, UK or Germany, what the Palestinians can do to stop the slaughter of their non-belligerent population and appropriation of their assets (land and water for example).

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

Should free prescriptions be means tested? (Image: PA)

Farm was not unproductive

YOUR recent Big Read article ("The whisky baron who brought cowboys and a cattle ranch to the Highlands", The Herald, August 24) contains inaccuracies that I would like to address, namely, that the farm prior to being taken over by JW Hobbs and made into the Great Glen Cattle Ranch was either “unproductive” or “useless for livestock”.

Up to JW Hobbs taking over the farm in 1947, it had from 1924 and crucially in the period of the Second World War when food was being rationed carried a dairy herd of cattle supplying Fort William and the outlying areas with milk. In addition, it carried a breeding beef herd and a flock of breeding ewes, with progeny of both being sold at the local Ben Nevis auction mart. The farm supported a family of five, which by 1947 was worked not only by the farmer and his two sons, but employed five men including a ploughman, a shepherd and cattleman with further men employed at busier times such as clipping and harvest.

Although these are two small points in a much larger article, they are far from that to the surviving family members and to state that the farm was unproductive and unsuitable for livestock is not only inaccurate but upsetting for them to read.

Anne Cameron, Drumnadrochit.

Bin the pundits

PRAISE of Scottish sports broadcasters continues (Letters, September 3, 4, 5 & 6).

I am not so sure about the redoubtable Archie Macpherson, who said: "That's the kind he usually knocks in in his sleep - with his eyes closed".

I support, however, Allan C Steele's call for a cull on the numbers of touchline critics (September 6), often arguing in line with their allegiances to their former clubs; the viewer is usually capable of making up his or her own mind.

David Miller, Milngavie.

• CONTINUING on the Scottish football commentators theme, we must not forget to mention our rising star: Ally McCoist. I think Ally is by far the greatest football commentator there’s ever been, I really do!

David K Gemmell, Lanark.