Letters: We should welcome the spotlight Vigil shines on the dangerous issues that surround our nuclear submarine fleet

Much worse though is to imply that Paterson Joseph is playing the commander of Vigil because he is black. This is extremely unfair as Mr Joseph has given a strong and convincing performance. In that case, really does it matter what his colour is?

Mr Lloyd sadly, though, is not alone. One MSP tweeted that the programme makers had, according to his “ex-RN wife”, used the wrong helicopters.

All of this only distracts from other aspects of the programme that, I feel sure, supporters of the Trident "deterrent" would rather were never mentioned.

For instance Vigil is not the first to question the safety of our nuclear deterrent, though the Ministry of Defence have been consistent that all is well. However was the failure of corroded water pipes leading to the death of two American contractors unrealistic even in a fictitious entertainment? Would the Commander really have ordered the boat’s reactor be restarted when it was not clearly safe to do so (giving the Western Isles their very own Chernobyl if the core had gone into meltdown)?

Then there is the depiction of strains among the crew of being effectively locked up in a metal tube for weeks on end, and then going ashore to “let off steam”.

But perhaps more serious than anything else, which became clear in episode three are the efforts of the MoD to keep the incident on which the series is based (the death of a rating from an apparent drug overdose), under their control. I was though most surprised how late MI5 were in turning up (halfway through episode 3).

It is possible to nit-pick the series, but we should be grateful to it for not just providing an entertaining drama but for putting issues such as these into the public domain for debate.

Alasdair Galloway, Dumbarton.

NO REASON TO BE OUTRAGED

I ENJOYED reading your Spotlight feature ("Chaos theories: Why the truth sometimes isn’t stranger than fiction", September 8) outlining various absurd conspiracy theories. After John V Lloyd's letter it looked right at home. Mr Lloyd sees the new drama series Vigil as “awash with BBC wokery” – a condition that is apparently serious but has not been clearly defined.

The “evidence” is that the submarine commander is black (gasp), that there are several women in the cast (jings) and that one, possibly two, appear to be lesbians (crivvens). In a series set in Scotland, there is a Scot who takes drugs (pass the smelling salts).

It appears that a desperate trawl for things to be outraged about has come up with not very much. I would write more, but the microchip that Bill Gates planted in my Covid vaccine is making me lethargic.

Tom Lynch, Edinburgh.

UK CULPABLE IN EXPLOITING WORKERS

IAIN Macwhirter ("Pity it took Brexit to expose Britain’s addiction to poverty", September 5) goes against research groups like Rowntree Foundation but cites no research for his views. The exploitation of workers is the Government’s responsibility and successive Westminster governments have been involved, from zero hours contracts to the gig economy and bits of regulation on gang masters. The weakest suffer most. There has been little investment in training and there has been an economy run on privatisation and the selling-off of public assets with living standards falling along with productivity.

Migration has added to the UK economy with EU workers adding billions. As a result of a self-harming and xenophobic Brexit, the UK economy will now face labour shortages in many sectors including of highly-skilled people in the NHS in Scotland. The haulage industry is in crisis with the border, red tape imposed by Brexit and the disappearance of skilled EU drivers, all predicted. But the reckless Tory Government has suggested less training for haulage drivers as a solution, of great concern to the necessarily well-regulated haulage industry.

Despite Mr Macwhirter’s optimism on wages, the Tories have yet to raise the minimum wage, or insist employers look after their workers in secure contracts with adequate conditions. They have already taken away the Working Hours Directive so workers can be forced to work dangerously long hours. They intend to attack elements of the Human Rights Act. Scotland needs its own immigration policy and to hold onto rights and fair treatment of workers whoever they are.

Pol Yates, Edinburgh.

BREXIT WAS CHIEFLY POLITICAL

I READ Iain Macwhirter’s article with great interest, and I agree with almost everything he says. But he says he was wrong about the economic impact – try telling that to those many companies and workers who have lost out badly as a result of Brexit.

It would also be good to remember that the decision to leave was chiefly political, and I doubt very much that Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg & Co were ever thinking about how Brexit might benefit the low-paid in this country. What Mr Macwhirter writes about here is a side-effect of Brexit, but not the motivation for it.

It is much like when the Thatcher Government took on the miners in the 1980s, and closed down the coal industry. That too was chiefly political and had little to do with the resulting side-effects of a cleaner Britain (and planet once the rest of the world ends coal production too).

It shouldn’t have needed Brexit to give key workers like care workers and lorry drivers a decent wage.

George Archibald, Lasswade.

TORY ATTACKS ON LEAST WELL-OFF

IN a "tax and don't spend" double whammy, Boris Johnson has attacked pensioners and the ordinary working man and woman to pay for disastrous Westminster policies.

The suspension of the state pension triple lock is a betrayal of pensioners who are among the developed world's poorest.

The triple lock was introduced in 2010 to ensure that pension increases were guaranteed to rise by at least the rate of inflation, average wage increases, or 2.5%. But not, apparently, when it doesn't fit the ever-fluid Westminster agenda.

Not satisfied with attacking pensioners' incomes, he also now wants to (disproportionately) increase tax on the lowest earners.

National Insurance is to rise by 1.25 percentage points to raise £12 billion. Because National Insurance kicks in at a notably lower level than income tax, this hike will disproportionately affect the young and lower-paid – who start to pay NI at a level of earnings about £3000 less than the income tax personal allowance.

I'd write to my MP, Alister Jack, who is also supposed to be Secretary of State for Scotland, to ask how he feels about these attacks on the incomes of the least well-off but – having seen how he excuses the effects of Westminster Brexit on Scotland's farming, fishing, hospitality and other sectors – it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

Ian Waugh, Dumfries.

LEADERS DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CLIMATE

JOHN Milne (Letters, September 5) enthusiastically tells us that leaders of 86 countries have signed the Pledge for Nature scheme. I can assure him that these leaders don't give a damn about the environment, except for the opportunity to virtue signal.

There was the recent G7 conference in Cornwall with the environment supposedly being one of its main themes, yet most if not all of the delegates flew in by private jet. Our own Boris Johnson flew in from London instead of going by car or train. His wife, a long-standing climate campaigner, apparently had no objection.

And there are well-known billionaires who some might say are more influential than national leaders. They too are frequently pushing environmentalism, yet you don't become a billionaire without causing enormous environmental damage.

The mission statement for the upcoming COP26 climate conference should be “Fossil fuel for me but not for thee”.

Geoff Moore, Alness.

FLAWS OF A NATIONAL POLICE SERVICe

IT has been an inauspicious start for the fledgling Police Scotland and current Chief Constable Iain Livingstone was right to make a public apology for police failures following the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill after a car accident near Stirling in 2015. It won't bring them back but hopefully will give some solace to the relatives and friends of them both.

However, the Scottish Government should also come in for criticism for rushing through a flawed and underfunded plan to create the national police service. It was supposed to save money and improve efficiency but has achieved neither.

I have sometimes wondered what outcome might have resulted if the initial phone call reporting the crashed car had been directed to a police control room in Stirling rather than Bilston Glen.

Bob MacDougall, Kippen.

HOW 60% COULD WORK FOR INDY

ALLAN Sutherland (Letters, September 5) quite rightly asks for a 60 per cent threshold in the next referendum. I wholeheartedly agree with him and would also ask that the question in the referendum should be “Do you wish for Scotland to reject independence and remain part of the UK?” Would Mr Sutherland still be an enthusiastic supporter of the 60% rule? Be careful what you wish for.

Tom Cassells, Ayr.

MONTE CARLO OR US?

I NOTE that yet again you refer to Jim McColl as "one of Scotland's wealthiest men" ("‘I was just Scottish Government’s pawn in Ferguson fiasco’ says McColl", September 5). Mr McColl is a noted critic of our Government but has chosen Monaco rather than Monklands as his main residence. I'm not sure he even has a vote here and, if so, why?

Apart from the weather, I'm sure there are other advantages to be had from an address in Monte Carlo. Now let me think....

Steve Brennan, Coatbridge.