AS someone who has supported Shelter Scotland in a variety of ways for some time now I was somewhat surprised to see the organisation has taken out wrap-around adverts in today's Herald (November 21) to highlight its legal action against Glasgow City Council.

Any fight for the rights of homeless people is laudable and councils across Scotland, not just Glasgow, must endeavour to ensure that some sort of temporary accommodation is available to individuals and families who are made homeless through a myriad of different reasons. However, I would question the decision to spotlight their case in this manner.

There is a danger of politicising Shelter Scotland unnecessarily by focusing solely on Glasgow City Council, which has greater levels of social deprivation and major financial issues in the wake of the equal pay settlement that the previous Labour administration should have dealt with some time ago. Secondly, it begs the question of Shelter Scotland's current status: charitable organisation or pressure group? This may lead some supporters to question the administration and motives of Shelter Scotland where, like some other organisations, it is believed by some that executive salaries are excessive and not in kilter with the admirable aims and work of the group itself.

Owen Kelly, Stirling.

Lament from the Tweed

MANY of your regular correspondents criticise Nicola Sturgeon for an obsession with independence and a failure to attend to her day jobs of improving health, transport, and so on.

I live in Northumberland, in Berwick-upon-Tweed (population around 12,000) and our general hospital for blue light emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, major accidents is in Cramlington on the outskirts of Newcastle, 60-plus miles south of Berwick. We are also required to travel to hospitals in and around Newcastle for routine appointments for scans, chemotherapy treatments and all the usual clinics. The route to these hospitals is mainly on the A1 and more than half the route is not dual carriageway. Locally we have a cottage-type hospital with wonderful NHS staff but with practically no facilities. It is administered by our GPs.

For more than a decade successive governments have promised to build a new hospital and to uprate the A1 (the main artery between Newcastle and the north). This year they have finally chosen the site of the new hospital but are unable to say what services will be available.

Many of the citizens of this area fervently wish that recent Westminster administrations had been less obsessed with Brexit and should have concentrated on their day jobs. A decent road and better health facilities would be much appreciated.

John Mathieson, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

A royal pay cut?

ANY person who ceases employment instantly experiences a drop in income. Can we assume that the same will apply in the case of Prince Andrew ("Andrew steps back from public duties as Epstein scandal rages", The Herald, November 21)?

Alan McGibbon, Paisley.

Terrible, you know?

TO the use of “so", etc, (Letters, November 19, 20 & 21), I add the misuse of the remark “you know" when it is scattered by politicians amongst their long-winded blustering answers attempting to cover up their inability to give a straight answer to a difficult question, whilst instead betraying their own doubt about the certainty of what they are saying.

Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.

FURTHER to recent correspondence on the use of the word " so" prior to a sentence, even more annoying (to me anyway) is the use of "Do you know what" prior to answering a question. I have noticed it more and more across a range of TV programmes and can't understand how it has come about.

Brian Douglas, Ayr.