IT must be correct that business was paused in both Westminster and Holyrood in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack in central London (“Unwanted piece of history plays out as world attention turned to London”, The Herald March 23). It was equally appropriate that parliamentary business should recommence as soon as is practically possible to demonstrate that democracy must continue undeterred.

One or two public figures and a conspicuous minority on social media have chosen to try to use the terrible events in Westminster to justify further their stance in the independence debate. This is regrettable.

Protecting our citizens, visitors to our country and politicians of all political persuasions across the UK against terrorist attacks must, at times such as these, be of paramount importance.

Martin Redfern,

Royal Circus, Edinburgh.

IN the aftermath of the sad events on Westminster Bridge (“Terror strikes at Westminster”, The Herald, March 23) I have no wish to associate myself with one side or the other in the difference of opinions expressed regarding whether the important debate in the Scottish Parliament should or should not have been suspended. But it did remind me of one of my husband Jim's reminiscences about his first job.

In 1941, at age 14, he became office boy in Ferguson's shipyard in Port Glasgow. One of his tasks was to collect the bag of mail from the Post Office and bring it to the office on his way to work. That was the year of the devastating bombardment of Greenock one night by the Germans, just a mile from Port Glasgow. The sound of continuous explosions ensured that there was no sleep for the little family in their shelter that night. When they crept out, after the all-clear sounded, they found the whole sky was lit up. Included in the general devastation the Greenock sugar refinery, the whisky distillery, and a paint shop had all had direct hits.

Jim jumped on his bike and cycled to Greenock to see the havoc for himself. He was an hour or two late in arriving at the office. Miss Sangster, the head typist, took him to task, though not unkindly, when he explained where he had been. She pointed out that someone else had had to be sent to pick up the mail.

“We can't just take time off,” she explained. “We all have to play our part. We have to keep going."

Shona Arthur,

9 Culpleasant Avenue, Tain.

IT was a terrible sight to see knives and guns employed outside Westminster and people mown down on Westminster Bridge. I am sure many will be grieving for those families who lost their loved ones or received news about those in hospital with life-threatening injuries. We must be grateful to the police officers who acted with speed and courage to minimise the carnage.

There will be parliamentary discussion about the nature of terrorism and the need for even more effective security.

For me these terrible incidents raise basic issues. How did we arrive at this? What brought it about? Is there anything we can do to minimise the threat of such attacks?

These are not simple or straightforward issues and there are no facile solutions.

I believe that much of this relates to the kind of country we want the UK to be. It raises basic questions. How are we seen in the world? Who are our friends and allies? What does it mean to be one of the world’s leading arms manufacturers?

In my mind the origins of the hatred that has spawned the current attack are in UK’s role in the setting up of Israel and the dispossession of the Palestinian people (and I recognise the need for a post-war peaceful Jewish homeland). Further to that was the illegal war in Iraq which challenged United Nations and the peace-keepers. Those with longer memories of UK behaviour might recall the 1916 Easter Rising reprisals, Jallianwallabagh (the Amritsar Massacre) 1919, Suez, Korea, Prime Minister Thatcher’s support for apartheid and so on.

Like Yeats, I would like to live in a country “where peace comes dropping slow " where all communities, cultures and religions are valued, included and respected.

I am not sure if the UK with its history and current political leadership can provide this.

Maggie Chetty,

36 Woodend Drive, Glasgow.

THE Muslim community need to protect their faith, honour and future of harmony by addressing the extremist culture factions within the faith. It is their faith, they understand it best and are the true solution to restore a reasonably tolerant landscape in nations at the root of the radical unrest. Outsiders are outsiders and are not respected, and any action is futile other than by Muslims.

M C Freshour,

14 Kensington Gate, Glasgow.

I, LIKE others perhaps, find it difficult to determine an entirely fitting reaction to the events in London this week. Clearly one feels compassion for the family and friends of PC Keith Palmer, the schoolchildren caught up in the attack and the other innocent victims, and admiration for the bravery of members of the police and security services risking their lives on behalf of the public.

However, what otherwise should be one’s reaction? Despair at man’s inhumanity to man? Incomprehension that anyone could feel justified in so murdering and injuring their fellow human beings? Outrage at witnessing the awful aftermath of such an atrocity?

I can fully understand, in the aftermath, statements such as “not letting evil drive us apart” and “our exercise of democratic rights will remain undiminished”, but has it really got to the regrettable stage of acceptance of such events as having become a part of life in modern society ?

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.

IT was bound to come – a lone, knife-carrying, terrorist “armed” with a car mowed down the innocent in the street before stabbing a policeman to death in multicultural London. The hard part about handling modern terrorism is that its protagonists are assimilated into our society, and we are betrayed by this enemy within.

Muslim suicidalists, with their deluded concept of heaven and happy to perish even as they murder, are much more difficult to contain than the IRA who wanted to survive. The challenge is to strike a balance between protecting us from evil and stifling the very liberties we want to preserve, but GCHQ can tap my phone or internet any time they want.

Rev Dr John Cameron,

10 Howard Place, St Andrews.

AS a result of this week’s attack in London, does the first line of Wordsworth’s sonnet On Westminster Bridge need to change its tense to “earth HAD not anything to show more fair”?

Ian Lyell,

9 East Park Avenue,

Mauchline.