Letters: Weekend closure of breast clinic is a shocking decision

I have recently been an in-patient of the Western General Hospital’s Breast Clinic, for a matter of several days, with future operations in the offing.

Therefore you can imagine the shock, dismay and horror which greeted us ladies upon discovering that come this December Ward 6 is intent on closing, courtesy of NHS Lothian, at weekends and thereby fewer patients will be accepted . . . the ones already in will be dispersed to different wards scattered throughout the rest of the hospital with no specialist staff available or on hand for their needs.

The money for the clinic was gathered and funded not by the NHS but from years of ladies taking time out to complete the Moon Walk.

Annamarie Causer, Edinburgh

Euro not to blame for economic ills

THE euro has come in for a hammering, blamed unfairly for the economic crisis, fault for which should be laid fairly and squarely on the greedy bankers.

It wasn’t the fault of the euro, any more than the British banking crisis was the fault of the pound sterling. The purpose of the single currency was to remove barriers to trade and investment, to complete the single market. Mistakes were made, such as a failure to stick to the EU borrowing rules. But this was a great civilising project, laying to rest the grim history of economic nationalism

Even now, reports of the euro’s demise are premature. Listening to Europhobes you’d think that countries which have been flirting with sovereign bankruptcy, such as Ireland, would be desperate to leave the eurozone and restore their old currencies.

This is clearly not the case. Iceland, the worst victim of the banking crash, is lining up to join the euro. So are most of the countries of central Europe, giving them protection in the current global financial environment.

The European Union and the single currency it created has fuelled unprecedented prosperity in Europe, acting as a major force for peace and human rights in the world, and we abandon it at our peril.

Alex Orr, Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh

Run is a nuisance to city motorists

I SET off for the West End of Edinburgh on Sunday morning unaware that major roads were closed to accommodate a run through the city.

A journey which usually takes 15 minutes was extended to 40. I often wonder about the sense in these road closures.

A run through the city may be in a good cause and raise money for charity, but there is no doubt that many citizens are greatly inconvenienced and extended car journeys add to the pollution in the city centre.

How do the emergency services cope? We have plenty of open spaces in Edinburgh. What’s wrong with holding a run in the Meadows or the parade ground in Holyrood Park?

Gordon Wright, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh

Save the world from politicians

DAVID Cameron tells world nations to act now to save the world economy.

The world economy needs saving from politicians who have led it to where it is now.

But it is not the world’s politicians who are paying for their mess – it is the working folk across the planet who feel the pain of other people’s incompetence.

Trevor Swistchew, Victor Park Terrace, Edinburgh

Youth’s words have substance

NOW that political rutting season is upon us, the daily news round is dominated by the party political conferences.

Yesterday lunchtime I sat with my grandson whilst the radio played parts of the unreal speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the blue rinsers in Manchester.

“Who is that man?” my grandson asked.

“Your Chancellor in the Westminster Parliament,” I told him.

“What’s he been smoking?”

In four quick words he restored my faith in his generation.

David Fiddimore, Calton Road, Edinburgh