LESLEY Riddoch’s assessment of the Thatcher legacy struck a strong chord with me (Thatcher love-in is an outrage and a warning that Labour are not the answer, Mar 21). I always found the woman abhorrent – I remember her “no such thing as society”, her “Sermon on the Mound”, her “we in Scotland” when interviewed by Kirsty Wark.
I took note of Riddoch’s remark that in the world, only England, Wales and Chile have privatised water and sewage. Chile of course underwent Thatcherism on steroids under the regime of Pinochet, the brutal and murderous dictator who was one of Thatcher’s heroes, let’s not forget.
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I was appalled at the time by most of what she did, but my most vivid personal memory was of driving into Edinburgh during the miners’ strike. My route was by the main road through Bilston, which was lined on both sides for more than a mile by what seemed to be thousands of police. It was a deeply disturbing experience, and clearly intimidating by design, also to those of us not connected to mining.
Rachel Reeves and David Lammy may have been small children during Thatcher’s heyday, but some of us do not forget.
Robert Moffat
Penicuik
ANYONE in Scotland toying with the truly appalling notion of voting Labour at this year’s (sometime) General Election need only read Lesley Riddoch’s excellent and thorough demolition of Labour politicians heaping praise on the legacy of the abominable Thatcher!
Two words epitomise the Thatcher years! “Hell” and “hopelessness”! Scotland must never return there!
If the faintest praise you could manage for Starmer’s party was “at least they’re not the Tories”, think again! Now they are the Tories – in their worst manifestation!
Drew Macleod
Wick
THE Tories are patting themselves on the back and triumphalising the news that inflation is down. Rishi is sending his ever-dwindling band of supporters out to tell us the plan is working and they are the party to trust with the economy. I don’t know what world he is living in, although the cost of living matters not one iota to him as he has so much money that everything is irrelevant.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, prices are still rising and just this week my local filling station put up the cost of unleaded by 2p a litre. You won’t hear the government comment on this as they are raking in every wee bawbee they can get their grubby paws on.
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It is of course the ordinary person in the street who is getting fleeced every day, and all the Westminster bubble is worried about is when the election is going to be. How depressing it all is.
Humza is fixated on getting rid of all the Tories in Scotland. He needs to get his priorities right as I would think, as I have said before, that is just not going to happen. So Humza, how do you explain getting rid of the Tories as your top priority while throwing away a seat in the Western Isles because you have not got the nous to let Angus MacNeil have a free run at it? I would say that is a priority.
Am I being cynical or are the SNP waiting on Angus to say he is not going to run! I think we deserve an answer to this and a reason why the SNP are taking this stance. Can you imagine the fanfare and ballyhoo when Torquil Crichton, a man who put the boot into the SNP on a more than regular basis, is pictured leaving Stornoway for the hallowed Houses of Parliament? That is not going to be a pretty sight for indy supporters.
Sometimes you have got to do what is right, so I look forward to an answer in this paper from a senior SNP politician explaining what in heaven’s name they are thinking on this matter. Or is that just too much to hope for?
Old John
Ayrshire
YOU can’t pull the wool over our eyes! My reaction to the revelation that inflation has fallen to 3.4%, the lowest figure since October 2022, when it hit the dizzy heights of 11.1%, the highest for 40 years. Inflation running at 3.4% is certainly not dropping the cost of essentials for the average household, it is merely slowing down the increases, but as witnessed on my last visit to the supermarket, the prices are still inflation-bustlingly high.
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Food costs continue to rise and rents have increased by almost 10%, the largest annual rise since records began in 2015. And what about mortgages and fuel costs? Slight decreases, but nothing to write home about. And for those on benefits, many through no fault of their own with long-term health conditions, this drop in the inflation rate will just be yet another headline, because their daily financial struggle to keep warm and eat healthily will continue.
As the Conservatives will be no doubt shouting this cut in inflation from the rooftops as the country awaits the Westminster election, I am sure those who have suffered the consequences of the Conservatives crashing the economy or those assisting in their local food banks will view the picture somewhat differently.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
ALL the froth and false outrage I see in this paper anent a royal photo which has been slightly touched up is both childish and tiresome; it was yards of newsprint on a non-event. People taking photos frequently tidy them up a bit, I often do and so apparently does the Duchess of Rothesay – so what? Boring republicans seize on this totally pointless nonsense in the hope if making some mileage. I suggest they find better ammunition than this, or even better stop wasting everyone’s time.
R Mill Irving
Gifford, East Lothian
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