Foil the immigration extremists and let the people have their say

The Scottish and UK governments must shoulder the blame for this vacuum. By ignoring the widespread concerns that exist within our communities, especially in areas that feel the most direct impact of immigration, the authorities are effectively allowing these radical factions to fill the void. The poorest areas are often where communities change most drastically, without the consent or even the consultation of the people who live there. This sense of imposition only serves to fuel resentment, creating a perfect breeding ground for extremism on both sides of the debate.

The majority of Scots are simply tired of seeing these protests, and the associated bandwagons that accompany them, disrupting their daily lives. People want a calm, sensible discussion on the realities of immigration, without the noise and chaos caused by those who are more interested in their own agendas than in finding solutions, including high-level city councillors and MSPs.

Instead of imposing decisions from the top down, it is time for the politicians to directly ask the people what they want by taking a clear stance in their party manifestos and letting the public decide in the next set of national and local elections. Honest, transparent dialogue is needed, outlining both the benefits and challenges that immigration brings. Only through such a conversation can we arrive at policies that reflect the true will of the people.

If we allow this issue to continue festering in the hands of extremists, we risk endlessly dividing our society and losing the chance for meaningful, constructive reform which either limits or increases immigration. A plague on both their houses, indeed.

Graeme Johnston, Glasgow.

Read more letters

Scotland has to break away from the warmongers of Westminster

The fighting with Westminster can be traced back to Sturgeon

A Greater Glasgow solution

AS the issue of metro mayors for Scotland moves inexorably up the political agenda ("Elected mayors could bring hope in gloom-laden times", Andy Maciver, The Herald, September 6), it is worth reminding those Glaswegians who may be nervous about the proposal that a model, if not a precedent, exists.

The position of Lord Provost, is, yes, filled through an indirect election by sitting councillors choosing one of their number. However, by tradition and expectation, the person so elected moves away from party politician to representative of the whole city. Those who have sought fully to exert the influence this confers have been able, despite the lack of any political powers, to use the office for the promotion and general good of the city.

This, to me, is the essential characteristic that has made metro mayors such a success and why those judged to have worked for their communities are, in the main, re-elected irrespective of party label.

To the respect that such a position in a new Greater Glasgow would command, add the effective powers that would be allocated to the office and one can see why it will be such a powerful tool in restoring pride in the city and inspiring the private sector to co-operate in economic regeneration.

As flesh is put on this proposal, one political problem that must be addressed is the apprehension the peripheral local authorities might feel at any intrusion by the "big city". As one who has chosen exile in well-run East Renfrewshire I would meet this concern by creating a Greater Glasgow with defined powers of economic strategy and planning while strengthening the existing smaller councils with increased funding. This would allow them to execute enhanced devolved functions under local democracy which is a role they already perform effectively; more effectively, certainly, than the current set-up in rubbish-littered Glasgow which is long overdue for change.

Michael Kelly, Giffnock.

Labour really has changed

SOME 50 years ago, then Shadow Chancellor Denis Healey warned there would be howls of anguish from those rich enough to pay 75 per cent tax on their last slice of earnings. Later he went further, promising to squeeze property speculators "until the pips squeak".

More recently, his present-day successor Rachel Reeves has declared her intention to remove the pensioners’ winter fuel allowance.

There is speculation that Angela Rayner will scrap the single person council tax discount estimated to affect some four million pensioners.

Is the Labour leadership confused or is this what they really meant by “Change”?

Alan Carmichael, Glasgow.

• THE Chancellor could go some way to cutting the budget deficit if she revoked the tax privileges of the royals.

J Oliver, Falkirk.

Pensioners aren't gullible

HAVING watched the Keir Starmer interview with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1 on Sunday morning, I was astounded by the Prime Minister’s pathetic attempt to justify the removal of the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners this winter. The main thrust of his argument was that the triple lock would outstrip the loss of this allowance.

Does he really think that pensioners, of which I am one, are so naive that they do not realise that any resultant increases sustained by the triple lock would be supplementary to the winter fuel allowance, especially as the triple lock retention was one of the pledges in the Labour manifesto? We may be vulnerable, but we are not gullible.

Christopher H Jones, Giffnock.

Keir Starmer on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1 (Image: PA)

SNP must rethink advertising cuts

WITH the SNP cutting £500 million from Scottish Government budgets, including £115.8 million from health and social care, I doubt many readers will worry too much about the cancellation of its advertising and marketing campaigns.

In normal years this would amount to around £20 million, and it underpins hundreds of jobs in Scotland’s creative sector, be they advertising agencies, media buyers, television and radio companies, magazines or news publishers. The freeze has been known for some weeks, but last week it got worse, with £0.8 million slashed from VisitScotland’s budget. Sadly, there is no army of glamorous actors and writers to force a rethink like that which saved the Creative Scotland Open Fund, but it is no less critical for the bread and butter of the Scottish media industry.

The creative work and booking strategies behind these campaigns are contracted to agencies, and even if they and media owners were generous enough to offer their services for free, the revenue loss would still mean job losses.

Scottish agencies are now giving employees redundancy risk notices, but protected by a no compulsory redundancy policy, the jobs of those working in Scottish Government marketing are safe even though they have virtually nothing to do.

But the implications are far greater than media jobs, because the cancelled campaigns are not just to fill space or airtime. They contain essential public information, not least of which is the real risk that the absence of a winter flu vaccination awareness programme will result in the deaths of vulnerable elderly people who have not been prompted to get their boosters.

Health campaigns like the "Early Bird" cancer detection initiative by Healthier Scotland and NHS Scotland are crucial for encouraging people, particularly in more deprived communities, to get themselves checked. Both examples show advertising can help save lives, so it’s not just about the self-interest of media companies.

When the SNP revealed that severe cuts would need to be made, it pledged that those areas essential for economic growth would be protected, yet a recent Advertising Association report showed that every £1 spent on advertising generated £5 for the Scottish economy, so what looks like a saving for the Scottish Government is actually inflicting wider damage and puts its tax revenue at risk.

There is no easy way out of the financial bind into which the Scottish Government is knotted, but like the Creative Scotland Open Fund, a rethink is urgently needed and the advertising tap reopened.

John McLellan, Director, Newsbrands Scotland, Edinburgh.