ANOTHER Saturday so another demonstration in George Square. Many years ago I regularly came into the city centre on a Saturday to shop and perhaps even have some lunch. In the time of my late mother we would visit the likes of Goldbergs and Lewis’s department stores, even occasionally What Every Woman Wants. Christmas was a magical time, with long queues of children to see one of several Santas on offer.

In recent years those shops have closed – as have many others. Braehead and Silverburn are the new temples of retail therapy. However, I wonder what the resultant fall in the takings of the remaining shops was this Saturday in comparison with an average sunny September Saturday. I for one had decided I would not venture anywhere near the city centre, let alone George Square, when the latest in a long list of protests, counter-protests and marches were announced.

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It was not worth the risk, I feared it would be all too easy to get caught up in any disorder. The thought of a trip to Helen Street police station in the back of a van followed by at least one overnight bed-and-breakfast stay was less than appealing.

I understand this was at least a three-cornered event. A dangerous mix of Scottish nationalists, Unionist anti-immigration protesters and supporters of immigration (legal and illegal), most also with strong views on the horrific situation in Gaza. The resultant news headlines seemed to say “Angry scenes as thousands attend rival demonstrations in Glasgow”. I think a better headline might be “Millions don’t turn up to Glasgow demonstrations”.

In all it was a bit of a powder keg, requiring the attendance of a large number of police at no doubt a substantial cost. On the whole it passed without major incident or injury but I begin to wonder how long this good fortune will last. There is no end in sight to Gaza, immigration or the question of Scottish independence so presumably these demonstrations will be with us for the foreseeable future. Sadly they will have absolutely no effect on the outcome of any of these situations.

I noted that the SNP leader of Glasgow City Council and at least one government minister attended. The right to protest is a valuable one and not to be removed lightly but I do wonder if the city council should consider if they need to be held on a regular basis and in the city centre.

Glenda Burns
Glasgow

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MUCH attention has been paid, and rightly so, to the intention of the Chancellor to cut the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners which, as a result of the Barnett consequentials, means that we in Scotland are being subjected to similar cuts. And we, quite rightly, are furious about this further attack on the lowest-remunerated and most vulnerable of groups in our society.

However, that is only the thin end of the wedge. As I discovered last week, support that may previously have been available through my local council has all but evaporated due to cuts in its budget. So things like kitchen aids, bath and bathroom aids or wet rooms and walk-in showers are no longer available.

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If you add to that the incoming energy price rises, the increasing food costs etc, these mean that the “heating or eating” debate is becoming more of a reality and the ones to suffer most are pensioners on the lower end of the pensions scale. And in spite of what you are being told, pensions are not benefits. Benefits are allowing non-doms to store their riches offshore. Benefits are selling oil licences to the already wealthy. Benefits are allowing arms manufacturers to sell weapons to be used against innocent people. And don’t get me started on the obscenity that is the nuclear deterrent.

If governments need to save money, let them look first at their spending on items that benefit no-one except their chums. When they have run out of ideas they can get back to me. I have more suggestions.

Chick McKenna
Dumfries

“What will happen in farming?” wonders William Rose in the Sunday National (The future of farming, Seven Days). He sees robots operating machines controlled by “farmers” sitting at a desk. Fewer “hands-on” workers make way for electric machinery, drones and super foods. What gained, what lost?

Brose for breakfast and a morning’s ploughing with a pair of horses with seagulls at your heel sent field mice running for cover. More than that, it gave us the companionship of living creatures. The dung from byre and stable went on the land and our diet was simple and organic. An orra loon’s life of fresh air and healthy appetite kept us all fit and ready for a tattie shed dance on a Saturday night.

Pure nostalgia, you may say. The transition to tractors moved away from the smell of a freshly turned furrow to the puff of diesel fumes and artificial fertiliser. Given the demanding lifestyles of today there seems no way back.

Do the young of today long to work outside, close to nature? Few are the jobs which offer them a chance. Farming is fast becoming an industrial operation. Like much else, the basic appeal of age-old skills is being taken over by AI.

Iain R Thomson
Strathglass