I NOTE the Auditor General’s frustration at legal issues preventing him getting to the detail of how two loans worth £45 million given to Ferguson Marine were spent ("Legal hitches hold up ferries cash probe", The Herald, May 25). However, I can’t help wondering why he’s not investigating the actual legitimacy of these loans.

The first of these was for £15 million and was sanctioned by the Scottish Government in September 2017. As such it constitutes state aid and falls under the EU rules regarding same. These rules were only fully rescinded in December 2021, so they still applied.
According to published Government emails the first loan was classed as "restructuring aid" to help Ferguson Marine become more competitive. Assuming that claim is true then it would fall under the EU guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid. These rules outline the terms under which such aid can be granted to a beneficiary.
The key aspect member states are required to adhere to is the “one time-last time” principle. This means that after the first loan is made no further loans can be advanced for 10 years. Accordingly, whilst the first loan of £15m made by the Scottish Government was legitimate, the second loan of £30m made in 2018 was not.
Transparency over such loans is another key feature of the guidelines. There is a requirement for the Scottish Government to publish the full details of the loan(s) and that “such information must be published after the decision to grant the aid has been taken, must be kept for at least 10 years and must be available to the general public without restrictions”. Yet the details of these loans were not published and emails that have since been made available have had the loan details redacted.
Finally there is a requirement to notify the Commission prior to granting aid as follows: “In the case of restructuring aid, therefore, the Commission will require that the Member State concerned submit a feasible, coherent and far-reaching restructuring plan to restore the beneficiary's long-term viability”. There is no evidence that this was done.
So once again, why is the Auditor General not investigating all this?
Robert Menzies, Falkirk.

Shades of the ten-pound Poms
THE UK Government is only one of many governments struggling to control levels of immigration, legal or otherwise. Changed days from the 1950s when the Australian Government encouraged immigrants from the UK to settle in that country. This is the basis of the programme Ten Pound Poms currently being screened on BBC1.
As the new arrivals to Down Under were unaccustomed to the strong sunshine of Australia, their complexions quickly resembled the colour of ripe pomegranates, and the description, Poms, was soon coined, not infrequently preceded by an equally colourful adjective.
It has been suggested that the Australian twang may be derived from that of the earlier settlers, many of whom originated from the Greater London area where the Cockney dialect can be heard. So an alternative name, Jimmy Grants, surfaced for the new immigrants, though it does not seem to have survived. No adjective would appear to have been affixed to it at the time.
It remains to be seen if the latest wheeze of the UK Government to prevent relatives of some foreign students to join them in this country ("Family ban for students from abroad blasted as ‘appalling’", The Herald, May 24) is any more successful than the Rwanda idea. The chances of a refund from Rwanda would seem to be somewhat remote.
Malcolm Allan, Bishopbriggs.

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Rail staff deserve praise
MY husband and I were invited to a family wedding in Newcastle on Friday, May 19. Due to recent mobility issues I phoned Glasgow Central Station for assistance. The lady I spoke to could not have been more helpful, taking details of every station from Troon via Glasgow to Edinburgh and on to Newcastle, and, also the return journey.
Our journeys both ways could not have been better. We were met at Glasgow and taken by buggy to the front exit where we boarded a shuttle bus to take us up to Queen Street Station to get our connection to Edinburgh, We were then taken care of until the train for Edinburgh came in to the platform. The lady who was looking after us then saw us safely on to our coach and then radioed ahead to Edinburgh to advise the operatives at that end what coach we would be in and what train we were on. The service at Edinburgh was the same and that was the way it continued all the way to Newcastle.
Our return journey on the 21st was equally impressive; our booked train was delayed due to a problem on the line and the lady at Newcastle managed to get us on an earlier train that was just about to leave the station. Once again the service was impeccable and the whole journey went without a hitch all the way to Troon.
I can't praise them enough. We are always hearing the railways being slagged off, so I thought a word of praise was well deserved.
Marion Adams, Troon.

• I READ The Herald every day and enjoy the variety of articles, news coverage and the Letters Pages. However on Friday (May 26), the headline on the front page drew me up with a start: “Manned rail stations closures will mean ‘muggers’ paradise.”
As a rail user and in my eighth decade I too am concerned about the safety aspect for all rail travellers and rail staff. The practice of having unstaffed stations where tickets can only be purchased at a machine or via an app has been a worrying trend in and is true here at Alloa station.
However, what also concerns me is the use of language, which is so important in communication. Surely it's time that The Herald moved into the 21st century and when referring to any workforce used the term staff or staffed?
Teresa McNally, Alloa.

A class act
BEING male it follows that I must be a pretty good driver, naturally courteous and law-abiding, but I recall a deserved comeuppance some years ago when on the outside lane of the M8 I made it clear to a young lady in a small sports car that I would like to overtake. ("It seems our most popular sport is no longer football – it is speeding", The Herald, May 25).
Graciously she signalled a move to the middle lane, put her foot down, and with a friendly wave blasted into the distance, leaving my trusty Volvo savouring exhaust fumes.
Speeding, Yes. But that was class.
R Russell Smith, Largs.