Sunak should be in the dock for crimes against us all

The results of his wilful ignoring of the climate emergency, pushing back on emission targets and compounding this by sanctioning the extraction of oil from the Rosebank field, may not be as immediate or obvious as the sight of a missile exploding in Ukraine, but the potential consequences are likely to be even more damaging.

The sanctioning of investments, 90% of which we in the UK are funding through tax breaks sneaked in on the back of the windfall tax, will condemn uncountable thousands on this globe to displacement and death.

The spurious calumny of the benefits Rosebank will bring must be challenged and exposed for the lie it is. There will be no greater energy security. There will be no positive impact on energy bills.

Rishi Sunak's actions are amongst the most heinous any prime minister has ever perpetrated.

And Sir Keir Starmer cannot claim the moral high ground. If Labour had said it would reverse the decision, Rosebank would have been stopped dead in its tracks. Sir Keir is every bit as culpable, unable to find a spine in case it loses Labour votes. It is a cliché but, really, what is Labour for?

I only hope that the good people of Rutherglen in less than a week’s time do not feed into Sir Keir’s belief that he is doing something right. The Labour Party leadership is populated by weak, pusillanimous, self-serving politicians whose only ambition is power at any price. Say nothing, do nothing.

What a hopeless bunch of would-be “leaders” we have inherited.

William Thomson, Denny.

What history teaches about oil

IT is worth remembering that in the 1970s, the SNP was very much a minority party in the democratic world of UK politics and Ruth Marr's recollections of the time that "there was only 15 years of oil in Scotland's waters" (Letters, September 28) is actually accurate, for very little was known about the reservoir geology of the North Sea, indeed the discovery of the Brent reservoir, the UK's largest reservoir ever, was a surprise because of the geology it existed in. Extensive geological surveying and mapping has covered most of the UK Continental Shelf now and it is unlikely that any more large discoveries shall come to light.

Most citizens of the UK believe that the oil reservoir is one giant pool but the fact is that the oil and gas is held in porous rock structures from which 100% recovery is impossible. The average oil recovery factor for the UK is 43%; ie, 57% remains in the ground. This figure has remained static even though enhanced recovery techniques have increased the recovery rate, albeit from lower levels.

The Rosebank field's "Initial Oil in Place" (or IOIP) is declared as 500 million barrels of oil (15% of that of the Brent Field's), but the recoverable figure is claimed as 300 million barrels. I believe this is BOE, (Barrells of Oil Equivalent,) which will include the associated gas production. The peak production of 69,000 barrels of oil per day production will go primarily to European (including UK) refineries as no single refinery will be able to cope with the continuous production. The 44 million cubic feet per day of gas will go directly into the UK national gas grid supplying only 8% of our demand, and a good proportion of that is needed to support the 60% shortfall of electricity generation not supplied by renewables.

The figures are published by Equinor, which might undermine claims of UK Government subterfuge.

Oil production in the UK Continental Shelf peaked in 1999 at 2.7 million barrels per day and has been in decline ever since to roughly 700,000 barrels per day today. We consume 14.4% equivalent of our proven reserves per annum which is why we must import from other countries around the world. Oil and gas will be required for some considerable time as the National Grid will struggle to cope without the introduction of new nuclear generation, a factor that the pragmatic decision of the UK Government to delay the introduction of electric vehicles addresses, notwithstanding a charging infrastructure that is far short of even today's requirements and for which components are already standing at a five-year delivery schedule in global markets.

Bearing the above in mind, if the independence question were asked today, the reality of the Green stranglehold on the SNP would most likely bring home some awkward home truths.

Remember the three-day week and the rationing of electricity? I do not think we want to go back to the 1970s.

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.

Read more: SNP guilty of economic self-harm that is not far from idiocy

Ewing could win as an Independent

SURELY Fergus Ewing has to be asking himself whether or not he should remain a member of the SNP ("Scion of a political dynasty, Fergus Ewing is now in the SNP firing line", The Herald, September 28). He has been consistently at odds with the party in relation to such policies as the Deposit Return Scheme, the short-term lets licensing scheme, gender reforms, the A9, and fishing controls. He has, I believe, sought to represent the interests of his constituents in good faith, like other earlier independently-spirited elected representatives such as Margo MacDonald and Dennis Canavan.

I am confident that Mr Ewing could resign from the SNP, stand as an Independent and be re-elected as MSP for Inverness and Nairn. In my view the time has come for him to move on, notwithstanding his family’s profound and widely-appreciated links with the SNP.

It is interesting that neither the First Minister nor Nicola Sturgeon was at the meeting which decided to suspend Mr Ewing.

Ian W Thomson, Lenzie.

Deeply-flawed legislation

SOME legislation is well-intentioned but has unwanted and unintended consequences. And then there's Scottish Government legislation with blindingly obvious and disastrous consequences. I'm referring to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, and the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform (GRR).

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act aims to protect vulnerable groups from prejudice on the basis of age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or variations in sex characteristics. Sounds fair enough, except biological sex is not included. The GRR makes it easier for people to change their legal gender. Again, sounds all nice and fluffy until you realise it will give any male over the age of 16 access to female-only spaces if he self-identifies as a woman after just a few months.

Combine these two deeply-flawed pieces of legislation and it means that any woman who dares ask a man to leave a female toilet or changing room will be the one criminalised for hurting his feelings. And, despite facing deep cuts, Police Scotland must fully investigate all reported incidents of hate crime. Considering that in 2020-21, there were almost 7,000 reported hate crimes in Scotland, but more than 15,000 sexual crimes, it's good to know where the Government's priorities lie.

Perhaps the first task of Police Scotland's new unit should be to investigate the hate speech and misogyny in the Scottish Government.

A Lindsay, Linlithgow.

Read more: Ardnamurchan: Church of Scotland opens new kirk

Evangelical lessons

THE Rev David Cameron’s public relations article ("God is not finished with Scotland - despite what some might say", The Herald, September 28) reflects the second commandment of Jesus to love our neighbours as ourselves. The first commandment of Jesus is to love God with all our heart and soul and strength.

The Church of Scotland Mission Plan is largely horizontal in nature, dealing with ecclesiastical organisation. A vertical solution is required to recover Christianity’s place in Scotland. Deeper, more fundamental questions need to be asked. Is Christianity intellectually credible? Is church decline a contradiction of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Why are so few men and women being called to the ministry of the Church of Scotland? Why does the Church of Scotland publicly reflect the spirit of the age, being politically correct, progressive and woke? Why does its parochial mentality still reflect Cultural Protestantism (God, freemasonry, Robert Burns, football) rather than Jesus Christ?

Communist Russia utilised the ideology of the "Five-year Plan" to promote economic development. It was all a house of cards, a large Ponzi scheme. Team leaders and sector bosses falsified production figures to give exaggerated accounts of progress. A contemporary comparison can be made with the wrong intelligence advice given to Vladimir Putin about how easy it would be to invade Ukraine and conquer Kyiv.

The Christianity of most parish churches is a mixture of inarticulate expression and nominal practice. Hot-housing the same understanding and mentality to do "mission" is unlikely to work. It is just mission-washing. First commandment Christianity is growing here and there in the Church of Scotland but most often in independent new evangelical congregations, from whom the Church of Scotland has a lot to learn.

Rev Dr Robert Anderson, Dundonald.

The statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, in Edinburgh's St Andrew Square (Image: PA)

Why plaque must be returned

I FELT it was important to respond to the claims made by Alison McCarthy ("Edinburgh City Council’s ‘humiliating’ approach to Dundas statue will take ‘years’ to recover from", The Herald, September 27).

While I fully respect her right, as an academic, to debate the historical interpretation of the role of Henry Dundas in the UK’s slave trade and its eventual abolition, repeating inaccurate claims over planning-related matters does nothing to advance her argument. For clarity, prior to the installation of the plaque, in October 2021, the council consulted with the owners of the monument.

Yes, Listed Building consent was granted to remove it by the Development Management Sub-Committee earlier this year. However, given the application was not from the owner or leaseholder, such consent gives no authority whatsoever for its removal by any other party.

Unfortunately, misunderstanding of the decision has also led to the Melville Monument Committee believing they had the right to remove the plaque, which they did last week. We have written to them demanding it be returned as soon as possible and for any damage to be made good to prevent any further legal action. The matter has already been reported to the police. We’re working hard to create a better future that recognises the history of slavery and colonialism - and providing context, such as that included on the plaque, or the wider work being taken forward by the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Implementation Group - are all important steps in facing into our often-uncomfortable history.

Cammy Day, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council.