Letters:

SOME council tax payers may be unhappy with councillors and officials being issued with free Apple iPads as reported in the News (May 22).

I have no problem with our elected representatives and key people supporting them being given the most up-to-date technology to do their job.

It is a tough task they have, steering our city through troubled times, and they should have every means we can offer supplied to them.

But these gadgets, however cutting edge they may be, do not equip their users with some of the more essential requirements necessary for the big job ahead of them.

Would an iPad have forecast the trams fiasco? Could it have steered councillors away from the latest bus lane nonsense?

I suppose until Silicon Valley’s finest minds come up with an iGumption tool, we will have to put up with the usual.

Kenneth Welsh, Easter Road, Edinburgh

Prisoners must be barred from vote

EUROPEAN judges have once again defied parliament by ordering Britain to give thousands of prisoners the vote.

Politically motivated prisoners such as Tommy Sheridan, when he was in jail, could have quite easily organised inmates to vote for a certain demand, and knowing what some of our politicians are like, it could well happen.

No wonder only 34 per cent of the population voted in the council elections. Would it have made any difference if more voted? I don’t think so.

John Connor, David Henderson Court, Dunfermline, Fife

Blind are left lost without benefit

Every day blind and partially sighted people face extra costs as a direct result of living with sight loss. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) helps cover some of these expenses, so I am extremely concerned by the government’s plans to replace it, spending 20 per cent less on a new benefit – Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The proposed test for PIP fails to recognise the challenges faced by people living with sight loss. This could leave thousands of people without support to do everyday things that people with sight take for granted. This could be paying for assistance with repairs or cleaning around the home, or food-labelling systems to ensure they don’t eat food which has gone off.

The government said that PIP would be fair and support disabled people to remain independent, yet many blind and partially sighted people will be excluded. I have asked my MP to write to the Government raising these concerns on my behalf, because the help blind and partially sighted people get from DLA is not a luxury – it means that they can live independently.

Nicholas Alexander, Birkenside, Gorebridge

NHS deserving of credit for care

I’M writing to give full marks to the NHS for the attention I’ve had since an accident in December. I’m still being looked after in different ways and I do appreciate it.

E Ward, Coillesdene Drive, Edinburgh