MICHAEL Sheridan (Letters, November 5) speaks of "the potential of improving its [the government of the day's] prospects of political success by influencing what was taught in the state schools”, for example “apocryphal Scottish history”. To claim, however, that checks and balances to such “political interference” are created by the provision of private education, is pushing his point beyond credibility.

However there remains a distinction between state and private education. Why do parents pay considerable sums to give their offspring a private education if the state provides? What is the perceived advantage that warrants the expense? Logic demands a reason. The simple fact is that increasingly, the state is not providing the broader education it once did. By sending them to the school of their choice, parents seek to ensure that their children receive the kind of education the quality of which cannot fail to ensure success.

Mr Sheridan however does have a point re “political interference” but perhaps not in the manner he suggested. If successive governments continue to water down the curriculum in attempts to improve pass rates and claim desired goals (“improving its prospects”), the gap between state and private education will grow ever more apparent. The state sector pupil can only learn what is delivered and if what is presented as a curriculum is a poor relation to that encountered in the private sector, so be it.

May I reassure Mr Sheridan that democracy is alive and well in the state sector. If I remember correctly, in 2014, mock referenda were held, regarding the question of independence, in secondary schools throughout Scotland. Despite lessons on "Citizenship", the result was a resounding "No". Fear not, the kids are alright.

Maureen McGarry-O’Hanlon, Jamestown.

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Keep taking the tests

I WAS interested to read about the conclusions of some researchers in Germany that physical activity, specifically in the morning and evening, could cut the risk of developing bowel cancer (“Activity timing linked to bowel cancer risk", The Herald, November 6). Perhaps the explanation is that this activity speeds up the digestive process so that cancer-carrying foodstuffs don’t linger too long in the bowels?

As a survivor myself so far of that cancer, I was diagnosed with it in my sixties when my significant physical activity occurred normally during daytime most weekends as I was working on weekdays. I asked and was told my cancer was most likely caused by my fondness for steak tartare, which had the ring of truth about it.

My advice would be that whilst regular exercise is no doubt good for your health, both mental and physical, to minimise the risk of developing bowel cancer to the point when it requires life-changing major surgery, you should take advantage of the readily available DIY tests from as early an age as possible, and repeat them on an annual basis.

Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

Bonfires of vanities

MY goodness! We have, across the country, perhaps two to three dozen recalcitrant wee laddies holding the powers of the state at bay over the misuse of fireworks. So, how did we reach this state of ridiculousness?

Well, one must accept the role of the media here, in hyping the misuse of fireworks as the latest moral panic. There is the role of social media too, where the mock-outraged post and recirculate absolutely anything that suits their stance, arguing frenziedly that things are surely getting worse. There is the role of politicians, who knee-jerk into reacting to the media/social media frenzy, and pass laws/regulations which cannot realistically be enforced, due to lack of resources caused by other policies that these self-same politicians have implemented. There is the two-generations-in-the-making erosion of police powers to deal quickly and effectively with recalcitrant wee laddies, allied with the strengthening of the rights of said wee laddies to do exactly what they want with impunity.

And how do they reward those politicians, do-gooders, social workers and the like, who won them these concessions? Do they fall to their knees and thank them profusely? No, of course not. They flip them a V sign, and fire a Roman candle in their general direction, then post a video online of them doing so, thus encouraging their peers to do the same. And so it goes on.

It strikes me that the more professional politicians, social workers and the police try to become in dealing with a perceived issue of the day, the less professional is the response. I fully expect that on November 6 next year, the perceived issues around fireworks will remain unresolved, and the same stories will appear in the media. Watch this space.

Stuart Brennan, Glasgow.

How can they afford fireworks?

IT seems the areas of greatest deprivation in our major cities have again had "money to burn", as witnessed by the events of Bonfire Night. These are the areas where people talk about the residents choosing between eating and heating, having to use food banks, not able to send children to school every day due to lack of clothes and/or facilities to wash clothes and so on. These are also the areas where many families receive the extra £25 per child per week. Perhaps questions should now be asked on how that money is used and what is seen as a priority when shopping. (It is known that drug and alcohol deaths continue to rise.) Should those arrested following the fires and vandalism be asked how they found money for expensive fireworks? As those involved in the behaviour will know, prisons are full, MSPs have declared they are too young to know what they are doing and there are no holding facilities for those under age 18. In other words what will stop those involved doing all the damage again at the New Year?

Elizabeth Hands, Armadale.

Fireworks photographed by reader Jacki GordonFireworks photographed by reader Jacki Gordon (Image: Contributed)

• NOVEMBER 5 has come and gone and I have spent some time in the garden picking up the debris from my neighbours' firework displays.

We are separated only by hedges, fences and trees: they don't stop the aerial bombardment, the bangs, the whooshes, the startling illuminations. Can we stop this nonsense?

Allan McDougall, Neilston.

• TRADITIONS give us all a nice glow but isn’t it time that we used silent fireworks? Asking for my dog.

Jacki Gordon, Glasgow.