If you want free bus travel, be prepared to stump up a fortune

GGM’s figures are calculated using a Transport Scotland statistic based on the average operating cost for a bus per kilometre. The figures are now out of date but they are, at the very least, a commendable attempt to calculate the amount of money required to achieve the group's aspirations. In today's money £245m equates to £306m.

What we know for a fact is that the number of passengers on buses is dropping year upon year. But what appears not to be factored into the £245/306m figure, is the increased fleet, insurance, maintenance and staffing costs that will arise when everyone in Strathclyde decides to take the bus. It doesn’t factor in the increased fuel/energy costs required from moving heavier buses around. It doesn't factor in any increase in services that will undoubtedly be demanded by the public. And it doesn't factor in the bloated inefficient bureaucracy that will inevitably be required to centrally plan the new regime. £306m is the base line, and the only way is up.

To its credit GGM gives some indication about what free at point of use bus travel might cost. What will be required is "greater levels of long-term and sustainable central government support". That of course translates from the language of socialism into the reality of higher taxes. If this is new money then it should say by how much taxes will rise; if it's from the existing budgetary settlement it should say from where it thinks savings can be made. More significantly, instead of central taxation, GGM suggests that the funding could come from local taxation. Here it does put a figure on it, and it's quite frankly eye-watering. If the argument for free bus travel is that the council tax needs to rise by 20%, then the argument is already lost.

If Councillor Salih, GGM and David J Black want free bus travel to be seriously considered they need to be honest with people about the economic facts that are inherent in their definition of "free". If they hide behind slogans, sound bites and clichés they can all too easily be dismissed as the latest iteration of dangerous utopians with nothing to offer except wild fantasies about spending other people’s money. It's time to stop dreaming and get moving on some hard number crunching.

Graeme Arnott, Stewarton.

Read more: When on earth will someone act to end Ayr's rail misery?

We don't want more trams

JOHN Gilligan (Letters, January 30) hits the nail on the head. I live in the south side of Edinburgh and have yet to hear anyone say we need a tram service down our main street when we have a plentiful supply of buses. The very thought of further major roadworks fills me with dread.

There seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel in the city centre as the St James Quarter, the National Gallery and the tram extension to Leith upheavals were completed, so please give us a break and divert any cash available to building a new eye hospital in Edinburgh and renovating the roads.

George Wright, Edinburgh.

Should Edinburgh's tram network be extended? (Image: Getty)

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We must end arms sales to Israel

CHRIS Ewing (Letters, January 31) reflects on the political weakness of the UK Government in its response to current actions of the Israeli government and armed forces. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the military attack on Gaza goes beyond what is acceptable in any interpretation of international law; the extremist parties which influence Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition are clear in their desire to "cleanse" Gaza of its Palestinian population.

Israel has a major domestic arms industry but also relies on weapons imports from a range of countries including Britain. UK arms sales are supposedly controlled by policies which reflect international arms trade treaties. To quote the relevant Government minister recently in the House of Commons, "export controls help ensure that controlled items are not used for internal repression or in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law". Sadly the international arms trade continues to exacerbate conflict around the world but if controls on this trade mean anything, the case for ending arms sales to Israel is obvious.

Duncan MacIntyre, Eaglesham.

Read more: The judgement of 15 of our peers is still the best way to decide

Monkey business

HE story concerning the escaped macaque monkey from a Highland Wildlife Park ("It’s monkey business in Kingussie for runaway macaque", The Herald, January 30) had me thinking about an old acquaintance who came from Peterhead.

Peterhead Jail was where the famed safe-cracker Johnny Ramensky was frequently imprisoned.

Johnny was known as Gentle Johnny or Gentleman Johnny because he never used violence on his escapades either on a targeted safe owner or when arrested by the police.

He was famously parachuted into occupied France to use his skills as a safe-cracker on behalf of the British forces and indeed earned the Military Medal for his exploits.

Johnny would frequently escape from prison, usually at night, and the prison claxon would sound out. Local residents, according to my friend, would look at each other and say "Johnny's out", at which they would unlock their back door and leave food on the kitchen table and a few pennies to aid his escape.

The authorities wouldn't bother to search for him but would go straight to his home and wait for him. He'd always thought that Peterhead was too far for family to travel to, so he would simply go home and see them. The police would wait for an hour or two, pick him up and take him back up the road.

Going back to the missing monkey, has anyone looked at his lock-picking skills?

Brendan Keenan, Glasgow.