Readers' letters: Now it’s the Great Dog Dirt Crisis of 2022!

In 1894, cities across the world faced disaster, a threat to health and no-one had an answer.

London, said The Times, would be buried under nine feet of filth by 1944.

It was discussed at the world’s first international urban planning conference four years later in New York, but we know disaster was averted because the Great Horse Manure Crisis was solved, not by politicians but the internal combustion engine.

But in Edinburgh today there seems to be no end in sight to the Great Dog Dirt Crisis, with street bins overflowing because the council simply can’t manage something so basic as efficient waste collection.

It is true that when faced with a full bin, dog owners would be better advised to take their mutt’s mess home and put it in the landfill bin, but they are not to be blamed for thinking that an overflowing bin will be emptied in the very near future.

Covid and increased dog ownership with longer walkies has made matters worse, and so too has the pressure on council officers from staff shortages and lack of resources.

The fault lies firmly with a submissive SNP/ Labour council administration unable to argue an effective case for Edinburgh with the SNP government, leaving the city starved of cash while billions are pumped in from Westminster and frittered away on money pits like Prestwick Airport, Ferguson Marine, Burntisland Fabrications and, of course, a second independence referendum.

Our city is crumbling before out very eyes ─ bins go unemptied, litter is everywhere, weeds infest every crack, roads go unrepaired, broken pavements are a constant hazard ─ yet next month we will be told how much our council tax will rise to pay for services we don’t receive.

Maybe in future we’ll have the necessary resources to do simple things like emptying a litter bin, but that will need the Scottish Government to be run by a party which actually believes in local services.

We can, however, empty the SNP/Labour cabal now wrecking the city at the council elections on May 5. As Paddy McGuiness says, “The power is in yer hands…”

Cllr Graeme Bruce, Conservative

Tories’ terrible luck with telephones

What is about Tories and their phones?

First, Lord Bethell unfortunately lost his phone which contained vital information regarding the awarding of massive PPE contracts which an inquiry wished to see.

Then Boris Johnson replaced his phone and was unable to provide Lord Geidt, who was undertaking an investigation into the No. 10 refurbishment, with important messages regarding who paid for their interior design.

Then Baroness Michelle Mone was unable to access WhatsApp messages and e-mails relating to fast track VIP PPE contracts and an accusation of alleged racism.When I changed my phone recently all info was transferred to the new model in minutes.

Boris Johnson and his Tory colleagues have had shocking bad luck losing so much vital evidence which could have cleared their names in seconds.So much for technology.

D Mitchell, Edinburgh.

Nuclear power

A sad day for Scottish nuclear power when Hunterston B closed last week after providing enough power for all Scottish homes for 31yrs.

The SNP anti-nuclear policy means that we will now have to import more fossil dues and gas at very high prices as massive investment in wind power proves consistently so expensive and unreliable.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

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