Rural issues deserve greater consideration One thing to be greatly welcomed in the current election campaign is the growing recognition that the rural vote is vital, but will this last beyond May 3? The rural industries make a considerable contribution to the economy each year and it is right that rural isssues have moved up the agenda. Several parties have pledged funds to encourage new entrants and young farmers.
Rural issues deserve greater consideration
One thing to be greatly welcomed in the current election campaign is the growing recognition that the rural vote is vital, but will this last beyond May 3? The rural industries make a considerable contribution to the economy each year and it is right that rural isssues have moved up the agenda. Several parties have pledged funds to encourage new entrants and young farmers.
This, combined with the interest each party has taken in promoting bio-fuels, which potentially provide a large new market for agricultural commodities, offers encouragement to many parts of the farming industry that have had a tough time of late.
Although land prices are at an all-time high, there are still a lot of challenges facing the industry, not least the power of supermarket buyers (despite welcome increases in milk prices to some farmers). Pressure on farms to diversify remains and the new government must take more notice of rural issues throughout the whole new parliament and not just at election time if it is to shape and develop a successful rural economy. - Colin M Clark, 12 St Catherine Street, Cupar.
Failing on recycling
In response to Paul Young (Letters, April 25), I also must express my disillusion at Glasgow City Council. Having received my blue recycling bin, three weeks after the initial information and re-useable recycling bag to transfer waste to the bins outside, I have my doubts.
Scottish Executive targets on the recycling of municipal waste, under pressure from the European Union directive, are set at 25% by 2006, 30% by 2008, 38% by 2010 and 55% by 2020. Glasgow pulls down the national figure, recycling only 12.7% of its waste. Compare that with Clackmannanshire which manages to recycle 37.6% of its waste.
Ultimately the pre-election timing of the provision of blue bins, along with the Clean Glasgow campaign has to be viewed with scepticism. With little by way of re-education to enlighten people for the reasoning behind recycling, city councils will ultimately risk being heavily fined by the EU. Surely this has to be a wake-up call to the people of Glasgow if we are to stand any chance of winning our bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In the words of St Mungo, "let Glasgow flourish" once more. - Jill Ferguson, 6 Crow Road, Partick.
Paul Young's letter (April 25) bemoans the collection frequency of his recycling bin. I believe we hold the record at Shieldhall Road. Between eight residents' flats we have one blue recycling bin, installed in February 2006. Although I have telephoned and written to our housing association and the council, I have had no explanation as to why, in 14 months, this solitary bin has been emptied twice. I use the recycling bins at Shieldhall waste plant frequently and at the supermarket along the road in Govan.
However, I do realise that I am contributing to the carbon footprint problem each time I load my car and drive there. Can anyone fathom out why we aren't meeting our recycling targets in Glasgow? - Dave King, 490 Shieldhall Road, Glasgow.
Poverty's plague
Thank you for the sensible and balanced editorial about the drug Alimta for mesothelioma sufferers. The legacy of this disease remains a horrendous reality for many families in our divided city.
Would it take too much imagination for our soon-to-be-elected leaders to target financial resources to close our massive and increasing poverty gap, where the most vulnerable die too young and where recent stats for Shettleston show male mortality in the mid-50s whereas for Bearsden this is an average of 88? - Bernadette Pugh, 104 Ledi Drive, Bearsden.
Mistake over Norway
G M Lindsay asserts (Letters, April 26) that Norway is building a nuclear power station. That is wrong. Other than some thermal plants using North Sea gas and, at times, imports from other Scandinavian countries, just about all electricity in Norway comes from hydro schemes. The nuclear lobby is campaigning for two thorium-powered electricity plants to be built. These would be the first nuclear reactors, other than for research. There is also a small programme of renewables other than hydro.
Mr Lindsay's assertions on intermittency and grid instability are equally mistaken. They were comprehensively debunked in the UK Energy Research Centre report on intermittency, published in April 2006. - David Hansen, 9A Duke Street, Leith.
Progressive tax
For many years I had the good fortune to work and teach with the late C S Page, who was recognised as one of Britain's outstanding experts on local government finance. Stuart Page was firmly of the view that, notwithstanding the criticism directed towards it, the rating system was by far the best - or the least bad - of the options. He regarded it as having attributes but its two great strengths were that it applied to a fixed asset and was progressive.
Page was vehemently opposed to a local income tax, not least because he reckoned it would be an administrative nightmare. I regard this as a conclusive argument for not voting for either the SNP or the Liberal Democrats. - Thomas Carbery, 24 Fairfax Avenue, Glasgow.
