Assisted Dying Bill: the three major flaws

Lastly, Paragraph 17, Death certification, states: “The terminal illness involved is to be recorded as the disease or condition directly leading to their death (rather than the approved substance provided to them).”

In other words, the medical practitioner is being instructed to tell a lie.

Food for thought.

Dr Hamish Maclaren, Stirling.

Use AI to re-create the Mack

AS the original Art School building, inside and out, has been destroyed completely, any attempt at rebuilding it on site can result only in a costly fake replica. Why not instead, using AI and the wonders of computer generation, recreate accurate images of the building and its interiors? These images could be available for study, or simply viewing, in one or multiple locations wherever was considered appropriate by the Board of Governors, and being portable could be available for educational display anywhere else here or abroad.

Possible display locations in Glasgow could be in one of the two universities, or wherever architecture students now study in the city, or in a dedicated tourist location such as an existing Mackintosh building or the Kelvingrove Museum.

There would be no point in retaining the present site, which would be sold off to provide for the costs of these displays, with the surplus going to support architectural studies and students in Glasgow.

Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

Glasgow School of Art Fires: Find all articles in the series here

Read more: The Mack is Glasgow's Arc de Triomphe. It must be restored

Read more: Arran should have a passenger-only service to Ardrossan

This was no tourist magnet

I WORKED for 30 years in the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School some 50 yards away from the Mack yet the only time I ever visited it was when our Odontological Society held one of its meetings there to break the monotony of holding them in the GDH.

I can guarantee you that at no time did I witness traffic jams in Renfrew Street caused by tourist coaches disgorging masses of visitors to gawp at the building. Was it ever on the route of the city sightseeing bus tour? I wouldn't be surprised if more people visit Glasgow each year to watch a football match than have ever visited the city specifically to stare in wonderment at the Mack in the entirety of its existence. At the same time as The Mack was burnt to a crisp so was the adjoining ABC Cinema on Sauchiehall Street; I wonder how many of those who for years frequented that cinema were aware of the existence of the Mack, never mind bothered to climb up Scott Street to prostrate themselves in front of the cultural icon. Has the fact that the building has been reduced to rubble had a detrimental effect on tourism? I doubt it. If one still wants to see examples of buildings designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh just pop round to Maryhill Road where there are two that I am aware of.

Yet we have a clamour to replace the building with an exact copy of the original at a cost that will almost inevitably spiral out of control as do all public projects these days and crocodile tears are being spilled over a subject that the majority of Glaswegians would care less about if they could. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that current data suggests that that those in that section of society demanding the Mack be rebuilt are likely, because of social circumstances, to live the best part of 20 years longer than the residents of Tambour Église, Maison de Pâques and Marie Colline or the other picturesque parts of the city that the tour bus also chooses to skip from its itinerary. Perhaps public money would be better spent improving the quality of life these poor souls experience rather than building a copy of a building that most Scots will probably never have heard of.

David J Crawford, Glasgow.

Carlos Alba with his electric car (Image: Newsquest)

The problem with electric cars

I AM pleased that John Palfreyman (Letters, March 28) is delighted with his electric car. However, like so many who have been duped by the green lobby, he ignores the uncomfortable facts associated with the construction of these vehicles.

He ignores the massive damage done to the planet in the mining of all the minerals needed to construct the batteries. He ignores the fact that there is no way of disposing of, nor of recycling these batteries at the end of their effective life. He ignores the considerable cost of replacing the batteries. He ignores their unfortunate tendency to spontaneously combust from time to time.

My diesel car produces no nitrous oxide, only inert nitrogen and water vapour, and has a carbon capture device (I will grant that more research might make this even more efficient). And I would agree that diesel lorries and buses must be improved (or changed).

Electric cars may be fine for individual householders who have their own charge points, but they are never going to be the answer in big cities.

My heart goes out to Carlos Alba ("My electric car has given me a shock", The Herald, March 27) and I wish him well.

John NE Rankin, Bridge of Allan.

When the cast says die

A NUMBER of correspondents have recently criticised aspects of pronunciation by presenters of Radio Scotland. I submit that these aberrations are as nothing compared to the mangling of the spoken word by many of the female contributors to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The distortion of any word ending in "ay" as in " day" comes across as "die" .Recently I had to switch off as one lady's speech had become almost unintelligible.

Ken Cameron, Cupar.