Your letters to the Helensburgh Advertiser this week

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THE correspondence between Mr McCormick and myself on these pages is fast approaching Norse Saga proportions.

My purposes in this letter is to draw a line under it for my part and provide a postscript to those who have been following the exchange of letters in this letters column.

My colleagues on the Community Council are a robust bunch and would, if the need arose, keep me well within the boundaries of our statutory remit to represent the views and interests of the Helensburgh community.

As the convener, I am answerable to my fellow councillors and the Helensburgh electorate.

Furthermore, a unanimous vote held at a recent Helensburgh Community Council meeting confirmed that the letter I wrote was completely non-political and re-iterated our enthusiastic support for the many virtues of Helensburgh and its citizens.

I am aware, more than most, of the requirement for armed services' public impartiality in political matters. Mr McCormick's charge that I would hazard this impartiality is a shoddy, underhand claim that has no basis in fact.

I have never met Mr McCormick, but this duel of letters will not overcome his self-confessed inability to understand my original letter of some 240 words.

He has declared himself the convener of the SNP Dumbarton Constituency Association. I would therefore offer him the courtesy to meet face-to-face to resolve such misunderstanding.

Norman Muir (Convener, Helensburgh Community Council)

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THE latest newsletter from our Liberal Democrat councillor Aileen Morton dropped through my door this week.

Among the news of local initiatives, Ms Morton reminds us that the council tax is expected to increase in the next fiscal year, as the nine year freeze on council tax is ending, and the increase will be greater for those living in houses with band E,F,G or H.

I take issue with Cllr Morton's emotionally charged comment that 'local people won't see the full benefit of these rises as the SNP plan to confiscate council tax money paid by residents in Argyll and Bute and give it to other councils'.

Readers should be aware that some of the money accrued by increasing the top rates of council has been earmarked to support schools in their efforts to close the attainment gap between wealthier and poorer pupils, an entirely laudable aim in my opinion.

That attainment gap exists in schools in Argyll and Bute as much as in other parts of the country. Education can provide a route out of poverty and it is rightly at the heart of the SNP programme for government.

Wealth inequality is a blight on our society and any attempt to use taxation to take a little more from those who have plenty and use it to support those who are less well off is to be welcomed.

I would remind Cllr Morton that the last Liberal Democrat manifesto proposed raising income tax by 1% for everyone in Scotland, a measure which would have hit those in lower income brackets much harder than the wealthier members of our society.

Finally, as someone who is fortunate enough to live in a house in one of these higher brackets, I am happy to see my taxes being used to support education. On the other hand, I am not happy to continue to contribute to the abomination which is Trident nuclear weapons.

Eleanor Hunter, Helensburgh

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THE local SNP branch is clearly following lessons from the Donald Trump school of politics when it comes to their latest letter-writing campaign.

Two recent letters from local SNP members, including the convener of the local constituency organisation, have been so full of distortion that even the President-Elect himself would be impressed.

Firstly, their claim that I have been approached about a job at NHS GGC is completely untrue. MSPs are barred by law from serving on health boards anyway but that is not even the point.

The only job I am interested in I applied for on May 5, 2016 and got– that is to be the MSP for this area. I am proud to serve the people here and will continue to do so for as long as they will have me.

I know Graeme McCormick very well and, as a solicitor, frankly I thought he would have known better than to promote such libellous nonsense.

Secondly, the SNP is well aware that elected councillors make up a tiny minority on the board and Labour members have already voted twice to oppose cuts at the Vale. On each occasion they were defeated.

What Graeme doesn’t tell you in his letter is that two thirds of the health board membership is directly appointed by the SNP Health Minister and the SNP Government reserves the right to block any major cuts.

It’s time for the SNP to end the misinformation campaign and start working together along cross-party lines to persuade the Scottish Government to call in the proposals and stop the cuts to local health services.

Jackie Baillie MSP (Labour, Dumbarton)

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A SHORT cut-out-and-keep summary of the letters penned by local SNP supporters in 2016 for your readers’ information:

Before the election - “There will be no cuts at the Vale, Labour is scaremongering.”

After the election - “Yes, there will be cuts at the Vale, and it’s all Labour’s fault.”

Christopher Fagan, Helensburgh

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I NEARLY choked on my cornflakes when I read the nonsense being peddled by Mr Mccormick and Mr Blackwood about the Vale of Leven Hospital.

The SNP are trying to blame everyone but themselves for the cuts to local maternity services. The fact is that any decision on major service changes in our NHS must be taken by the SNP Government.

The SNP Health Secretary confirmed this herself on September 28 during a parliamentary debate on the Vale of Leven Hospital, when she said: "I will be guided by what the Scottish Health Council and Health Board say but, ultimately I will decide whether the matter is to be subject to ministerial decision."

Surely they think it is better for her to take the decision rather than the Health Board?

Liz Ruine, Helensburgh

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I HAD rather hoped that the European Union would be the beginning of a World without wars, 28 countries living peacefully together and just 169 countries to go.

After all, all the countries in the EU have all fought each other, but since the Union was formed, they have been at peace. Now that we are going our separate ways, we are forming the old separate Nationalistic groups ready to fight each other once again.

Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, two world wars never did us any harm, and anywa,y we now have lots of mobile phone pictures now to remind us how of how our dead and broken friends and ruined buildings used to look before they were destroyed. Thanks Nigel.

R.L. Mackie, Helensburgh

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ON behalf of Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust I'd like to thank the team behind Helensburgh Winter Festival for providing such a great opportunity for local groups to publicise their work. The Tree Trust was able to substantially increase our membership and tell many more folk about what we do to conserve and maintain the town's unique collection of street trees. In challenging times where resources are spread ever more thinly we do appreciate this opportunity to engage with townsfolk and to seek their support. Thanks again Winterfest and please keep up the good work!

Yours sincerely

Iain Duncan (Convener, Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust)

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DESPITE rhetoric to the contrary, Nicola Sturgeon hasn’t delivered much for hardworking Scots since becoming SNP leader.

Nonetheless, having promised us that her new Westminster MP’s would shake up the system, to give credit where it's due, they certainly have managed that.

Or at least they have in terms of their expenses with our taxpayer-funded Westminster pot well and truly shaken, stirred and milked.

Of the top 10 expenses claims for last year, eight nationalist SNP MPs feature. Former SNP leader and radio show host, Alex Salmond, topped the list and managed to claim £48,000 whereas his Aberdeenshire predecessor claimed just £13,000. No wonder he wanted to get back to Westminster.

Sadly, even our own MP, Brendan O’Hara has come in at number seven on the list of 650 MPs, with a £38,000 expenses bill. That is nearly three times that of the MP he replaced. One wonders if Argyll and Bute has seen a threefold improvement as a result?

Perhaps I've not been looking hard enough. Clearly, however, the politics of grievance is an expensive business and Ms Sturgeon must be so proud of her achievement.

Angus Young, Helensburgh