“TECHNICAL glitch” is the Tory way of saying “The dog ate my homework” (Home Office blames ‘technical glitch’ as Afghan calls sent to washing machine firm, August 25). If they had wanted it to work properly, they would have made sure it did. It looks like they just couldn’t care, especially as they say “We would urge people to not call the line to chase for updates as this is causing further delays”.
Why is it even necessary for people to call up repeatedly to chase updates? Oh yes, their lives could be in danger and the Home Office has put them on hold for 30 minutes then disconnected them as seems to happen when there are “technical glitches” with these call centres.
Sandy Walker
Posted online
COUNCILLOR Andy Doig of the Scotia Future party was absolutely correct to highlight the UK/Nato/USA relationship, and its public perception.
Clearly nuclear missiles, made and maintained in the USA, and guided by USA-controlled GPS, necessitates a close relationship between the controller of the missile platform (UK) and the effective operational controller of the missile delivery system (USA).
READ MORE: Scotland must think carefully about whether Nato is military alliance for us
The close relationship between the citizens of the USA and UK remains close, but at a corporate and governance level, the nuclear arsenal relationship is now more dangerously unbalanced than ever.
Such a relationship can be relatively benign but adding the likes of Trump (unhinged) and Johnson (dishonest to the point of incompetence, and dysfunctional) to this relationship sinks it to near fatal levels, and largely takes Nato down with it.
Brexit adds to the general woes and somewhat reduces the close defensive relationships across the EU and its nations, and their collective impact potential, internationally.
The alternative to Nato for an independent Scotland as an EU nation state would necessarily be EU-centred, with a highlighted UN role. Closer defensive/interventionist relationships may develop sufficient to reassure the citizens of Scotland that they remain safe, potentially even safer, within such an EU umbrella of nations.
Replacing Nato with an EU/USA relationship may well be one of those matters Mr Michael Russell muses as being for after indyref2?
Stephen Tingle
Greater Glasgow
THIS (Ian Botham sums up everything that’s wrong with Brexit Britain in 10 seconds, August 24) reminds me of a TV clip not too many years back when Englishman Guy Martin, motorbike and general mechanical TV celeb, answered a question which resulted in him stating that Ben Nevis was the highest mountain ... in England.
I hurled verbal rocks at the TV there and then. The ignorance is staggering, and I can attest to that, having taught in English schools way back. Happily, some pupils with at least one Scots parent would helpfully fix it for me without my intervention.
Botham is just another poorly educated English duckegg and can be safely ignored. Difficult though, when that sort of mindset is still commonplace in England. My take, from experience, is that it originates in the family home and is helped to perpetuate by ignorant “teachers” teaching what they themselves were badly taught.
Nordic Scot
Posted online
DOMINIC Raab complained that the need for his urgent return from holiday to London only became apparent later with hindsight (Dominic Raab claims he didn’t paddle-board as Kabul fell as ‘sea was closed’, August 25).
He also claimed the importance of making that phone call to the Afghan minister would have made no difference as the Afghan Government was collapsing. But this is something he only became aware of with hindsight. At the time when he was first asked to make the call, he should still have thought that the call might save lives.
Why are there so many leaks, undermining Raab, said to be coming from the Foreign Office? Is No 10 Downing Street demanding that there must be an inquiry so that any whistleblowers at the Foreign Office can be hunted down?
Howard Jones
Posted online
THIS biased man is the one that’s absolutely crazy (Tycoon Sir Ian Wood says it would be ‘absolutely crazy’ to stop drilling for oil, August 25). Current UK oil extractions are not amongst the least polluting, and current UK output is largely exported at present – so domestic consumption is more than satisfied, and this will be the case as production and consumption are both forecast to decline over the next decades. Renewables will fill the gap, including, increasingly, green hydrogen.
Clearly, the desire of this Unionist is to keep money flowing into the trough. The point he misses is that Scotland’s balance of payments, if calculated separately from the UK, is fine and will continue to be so. It is the UK balance of payments that will suffer. Scotland needs to be independent NOW, for its own sake and to help the planet.
Tim Warner
Posted online
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