Letters: Capital football fans won’t be good fellow-travellers

HAVE the Scottish Football Association considered the consequences of having Hearts and Hibs supporters all travelling back to Edinburgh by train at the end of the game, no matter who lifts the Scottish Cup?

Surely it would be sensible for Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde Police to get together with the SFA and the Scottish Rugby Union and discuss the possibility of holding the final at Murrayfield.

Both Hearts and Hibs have elements of supporters who will go all out to cause mayhem regardless of which team wins the cup.

Let common sense prevail and think of passengers who may be on trains and are only wanting to get home safely without trouble.

Let’s have a day both sets of supporters can enjoy without any trouble and make it a day to remember.

Eric Cleland, Easter Haugh, Edinburgh

Stadium no match for the big game

MEADOWBANK stadium has long been a “white elephant”. An annual fireworks display and the odd pop concert is not a lot.

Not much in the way of athletics events since the 1986 Commonwealth Games, and there is no modern covered terracing 42 years after it was built.

At least it won’t be considered for the cup final!

Ian Bethune, Pilrig Street, Leith

Humour failure hits Nationalists

I WAS disappointed to see Martin Hannan has lost his sense of humour with his comments about the Economist’s front page (News, April 17).

Martin, along with his SNP colleagues, has completely ignored the content of the article which set out economic arguments against an independent Scotland.

If we are to have a reasoned debate then all these issues have to be discussed, but unfortunately all we seem to get from the SNP is kneejerk reactions to anyone who is opposed to independence.

Frank Russell, Broomhouse, Edinburgh

No self-respect for own nation

IT is customary at Labour, Tory and Lib Dem Scottish conferences for their party leaders to proclaim in their speeches that “the Nats don’t own the Scottish flag” or that “we’re just as proud of Scotland as the SNP”.

These claims are normally rewarded with warm applause from their party faithful.

And yet their collective response to the Economist’s insulting cover was to attack the SNP, who were the first to complain about its xenophobic public school humour.

By doing so Scotland’s Unionist parties revealed the lack of self-respect they have for their own country.

Gavin Fleming, Websters Land, Grassmarket

Move westwards brewed up mess

THE article by Colin Warwick on Edinburgh’s illustrious brewing history (News, April 14) only serves to highlight the appalling betrayal of this history by Heriot-Watt University.

A number of years ago Heriot-Watt launched an appeal for material relating to one of Edinburgh’s most important industries, the brewing industry, on the strength of Heriot-Watt boasting an existing brewing department having subsequently amassed a significant amount of valuable material.

Heriot-Watt then betrayed both the depositors and Edinburgh itself by unceremoniously despatching this material to Glasgow, a city with a quite risible brewing history.

Suffice to say that such of this material that has survived is languishing in Glasgow, entirely due to Heriot-Watt’s perfidy.

Garfield Betts, Crewe Terrace, Edinburgh