BILLY Briggs identifies a number of major Scottish concerns which have been acquired by foreign bodies (“How Scotland’s vital infrastructures are linked to China and ‘Vampire Kangaroo’”, The Herald, November 23) and expresses disapproval of some of the consequences of this phenomenon. It may be more far-reaching than he describes.

After three centuries of ring-fenced security and international respect, the ownership of the Scottish legal services industry stands on the brink of foreign, non-legal acquisition, at the behest of the Scottish Parliament and the Competition and Markets Authority, to name but two of the villains in the piece.

About 14 years ago the Scottish Parliament concocted legislation that would authorise the sale in the commercial market of Scottish law firms whose ownership since time untold, within the British Union, had been retained strictly within the Scottish jurisdiction, to serve the public interest of the Scottish people. That is until the Scottish Parliament, led by the nationalist administration, created the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 which authorised the sale abroad, to lawyers and non-lawyers alike, of Scottish law firms.

At that time the solicitors’ profession was given to understand that this change of law would not be given effect unless it had the general support of that profession. I was party at that time to a number of surveys taken from the solicitors’ profession and these produced an 80%-plus rejection of the proposals contained in the 2010 Bill.

Bear in mind that the solicitors’ profession is based upon a public law monopoly in the provision of legal services such as the purchase and sale of land and buildings and representation of litigants in court. This valuable monopoly is a public interest held by the legal profession in trust for the benefit of the people of Scotland and which appears to have no legitimate place in its sale outwith the entrusted profession, abroad or otherwise, by individuals for private profit.

The 2010 changes were not given effect in 2010 or since then. However, now that the years have run and the huge potential prizes have only increased in value, people have forgotten about the curious change in the law that was made in 2010 and we are now told that the changes are about to be given effect so that solicitors’ firms may soon fall prey to acquisition by foreign persons or bodies.

I have reported and publicised this state of affairs on many occasions over the years but to no lasting effect and I now turn to your columns not with any prospect of halting the drift, but just so that I can say that I told you so.
Michael Sheridan, Glasgow

A Central Park for Glasgow

YOUR excellent series of articles on “Who owns Urban Scotland” (The Herald, November 21-25) correctly identified the need for the planning system to adopt a more flexible approach to encourage a wider mix of land uses in urban centres. In the case of Glasgow the scale of the transformation of the Merchant City has shown what can be achieved.

Encouraging more residential uses into the inner city is to be encouraged but it must be complemented, thinking again of the “Dear Green Place”, by the creation of a major city centre park – not more hard landscaping – for these new residents to enjoy.

Lockdown with its restrictions on movement brought to the fore the need for urban “green lungs”. The next step following your articles should be to think big and campaign for specific projects, for example the purchase of a major city centre site to create Glasgow’s own Central Park.
Will Reid, Bishopton

Europe offers no NHS panacea

I AGREE with John Sinclair (Letters, November 23) that "the 1948 NHS is dead" but his advice that the European model must be followed is no panacea.

He cites what he believes is the successful model of Germany. I am sorry to disabuse him of his ideal, but Germany is facing the same problems as the UK. The media in Germany are constantly highlighting the current and projected shortages of general practitioners, specialists and nurses as well as the chronic shortage in the elderly care sector. The grass, I am afraid in this instance, is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Morag Black, Houston

• PROTESTATIONS by the First Minister about not seeking a two-tier NHS are vitiated by current two-tier dentistry. I have dental implants inserted by a very able dentist equipped with state of the art technology. I would have had no hope whatsoever of such treatment under the NHS. It was my belief that dentistry was an intrinsic component of the NHS; my belief no more.

Perhaps the First Minister will arrange that I, and others like me, shall receive a refund of our costs. I shall not hold my breath.
William Durward, Bearsden

• I AM happy for Ruth Marr (Letters, November 23) that she got good service from the NHS. However, despite her protestations to the contrary, it was clear from her letter that she believes that everything is OK with the NHS and those of us who struggle even to get through on the telephone to our local GP surgery, let alone get an appointment, are all wrong. Sorry, but one swallow does not a summer make.
Robin Mather, Musselburgh

Remembering paddle power

REGARDING his trip to Arran, Lin Williams says: "Although the weather was bad, I would assume that newer ferries would be more fit for purpose" (Letters, November 21).

In the 19th century, when Clyde services were largely provided by open-bow paddle steamers, no sailing was ever cancelled on account of weather conditions, except when during the force 12 hurricane of 1862 (when the railway track at Craigendoran was washed away) a boat bound for Rothesay turned back at Innellan because the chief engineer told the captain he was concerned about the amount of water coming down the funnel. Fortunately others were less exasperatingly cautious.

As recently as the 1950s, when I worked on the boats, nobody gave a moment’s thought to cancelling a sailing because of "adverse weather", since it was accepted that ships were designed to go up and down on water disturbed by the agency of wind. True, we broke ropes and damaged facing piles of piers, but everybody got home.

I remember Captain Donald Crawford agreeing with his colleague Colin McKay that "Even in the coorsest weather, a paddler’s aye got wan wheel in the watter".
Robin Dow, Rothesay

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