'Livingston is a new town, not a new city' - Your views online

The people of Livingston have been urged to add their voice to the town’s bid for city status as part of the 2022 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Local politicians have been joined by business and cultural representatives in the town to launch the bid.

The Centre is a big draw in Livingston – but should the town be granted city status?

Peter Stitt: Who would vote for that? It hasn’t even got a main street in it, let alone anything of importance.

Myra Jones: Trees and birds and loads of roundabouts. Some city that would be.

Marion Thomson: No way is Livingston a city, I thought you had to have a cathedral before you could become a city.

Colin Nicol: There are 18 cities in the UK without a cathedral. Soon to be 19 once Southend is confirmed.

Paul Mackie: I don't know why they would push for it to be a city. The only thing that will achieve is upping the rent and increasing the cost of everything.

Ross Dick: Livingston is a new town, not a new city

Malcolm Forrest: Imagine being a tourist and looking for cities full of culture and history to explore, only to discover that Livingston has the likes of Craigshill and the Stirrup Stane. You’d be raging.

Adam Simmons: If they make Livingston a city then Cumbernauld and East Kilbride should become cities too.

Ian Ross: A conglomeration of housing and industrial estates with no great history does not make a city.

Euan McTurk: De Leving’s toun was established after Robert the Bruce gifted the land to one of his Knights and a Royal hunting lodge was built which was used by generations of Scottish kings. Just because you don’t know the history doesn’t mean there isn’t any.

Alistair Dunlop: That is true but it is really just the history of the name. It has no significant bearing on the town built there now.

Colin Nicoll: Dunfermline will get city status way before Livingston.

John Campbell: It’s a tip.

William Gilchrist: It was not a tip before the government built the new town – and yes, I was one of the 1,400 residents on the day it was announced in 1962.

Leire Re Sol La: I do think this will only increase the price of houses and taxes and won't benefit the people who live here. Also I don't think we have the infrastructure to be a city apart from houses and a shopping centre.

Tim Roman Rennie: To be fair, regarding infrastructure Livingston has a train station, the M8, a hospital and a shedload of roundabouts.

Susan Downie: Do you get to vote on this as a resident if you’re caught in the Asda car park for over an hour on the weekends?

Emma Porter: Livingston is a nice place to live but there’s not much here to give it city status… a nice shopping centre, a couple of nice parks and a heratige centre. That's it.

Fuel costs

The price of diesel around the UK has hit a new record high, just a week after petrol prices reached previously unseen levels.The average litre of diesel now costs 147.94p, according to data from the RAC Fuel Watch service.

Howard M Kennedy: The last time prices were this high, the per barrel price was almost $130. It is now $84 a barrel and duty has barely shifted. So what is the excuse for this sustained hike and could it have anything to do with major oil producers announcing record profits this week?

Phillip Richard Allan: Over the past few weeks it's shot up – every day there's a penny getting added. It’s just pure greed by the retailers, it’s totally unacceptable and it needs to be addressed by the government immediately.

Paul McMungall: The price in Germany is €1.80 a litre – that’s actually the same price as the UK. It’s dearer in the Netherlands and Belgium so the UK can expect it to get higher. The price won't come down as governments want us all to switch to electric. This is the beginning of the end for oil.

Stevie Rock: If the government wanted to force us to use electric cars they would have increased fuel duty but they haven't.

Jim Strachan: Almost £7 a gallon. Would our friends across the pond stand for it? I doubt it.

David Harkness: Where are are all the protest about this?

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.