Readers' letters: Police cuts worsen anti-social behaviour

On a recent visit to Edinburgh, a city I used to enjoy visiting, it was not only the chaotic roadworks and inability to navigate your once beautiful city that alarmed me but the experience I had in trying to report an afternoon incident of anti-social behaviour one afternoon while having a snack in the window of a restaurant in Frederick Street.

I noticed three youths ages 14-17 all dressed in black drinking from cans of beer on the street. They started to spit the beer onto the bus stop, then the window of various shops including the one where I was eating then spitting on people as they walked past.

One passer by confronted them and they clearly became aggressive and appeared to challenge him, continuing as they did to drink beer from the can and spit at his feet.

I had noticed during my few days in Edinburgh a total lack of police and decided to call them and report what I was witnessing in case it turned even more nasty.

I was greeted by an automated recorded message. After nine minutes I eventually spoke to a person and told them what I had witnessed and was asked where they were now, to which i replied "Nine or 10 minutes ago they were in front of me spitting at people and swearing at them while challenging one member of the public in a very aggressive way."

"Do you know where they are now ?" I replied I thought they walked in the direction of Princes Street.

If I witnessed something similar again I am not sure I would bother to report it. The police are clearly too busy and under-resourced.

I would not like to think how worrying it would be if a tourist was being attacked late one evening in Edinburgh, they would stand no chance. The Scottish Government should hang their head in shame.

Mark Young, visitor.

Net zero looks like an impossible dream

The Ukraine war changes everything on net zero assumptions.

The EU is to classify gas and nuclear as clean energy. UK oil and gas drilling will be allowed on national security grounds. The Oil and Gas Authority is considering extending the use of two fracking sites in Lanarkshire.

Germany is to restart its mothballed coal power stations. Europe is importing more coal. China and India's coal consumption is escalating. Russia and China are to build a pipeline taking Russian gas to China.

The Ukraine war created hundreds of thousands of tonnes of emissions and rebuilding will create even more. Global net zero is now the impossible green dream.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.

Scotland’s expensive job creation scheme

The report of the Auditor General on the Ferguson Marine saga confirms a Scottish government committee verdict of "catastrophic failure".

Surely the most damning finding of the investigation into this fiasco is that SNP ministers went ahead in the first place against the advice of experts.

In 2015 Ferguson Marine stated that it was "unable to provide a full builder refund guarantee". This was a "mandatory requirement of the contract"! Was there a breach of any legal requirements as well as commercial common sense? From there on the ministers responsible continued to dig deeper to try to get out of the hole they had put themselves in.

The attempt of Kate Forbes to defend the SNP is ludicrous. Their actions saved 300 jobs she claims. Given that the cost of "saving two lifetime vessels" could top £300 million that works out at £1 million per job! And this woman is Scotland's Finance Secretary!

Colin Hamilton, Edinburgh.

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