10 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Another Mackintosh opportunity missed: What is wrong with Glasgow?
Instead the ex-school has been sold to the Catholic Church for storing its archives; a use that many other vacant buildings in the city could well have performed ("Council approves sale of Mackintosh building in museum plan", The Herald, January 13). No other could perform the function advocated above.
And it just gets worse. I recall the horror I felt some years ago returning from Glasgow Airport on the motorway vantage point to see that Scotland Street School, always a delight for a returnee, had been obliterated from view by a huge car park, adequate space for which (and not blocking the view) lay a hundred yards to the east. Now, it seems, we are to have the castellated battlements of the rear of the Art School when (if ever) restored to its original glory, similarly blocked to view from Sauchiehall Street by a further unsightly Lego block of student flats, the multiplication of which the council seems to think is the economic future of the city ("Plans approved for student accommodation on O2 ABC site", heraldscotland, June 17).
Does it require an imagination bypass to become a Glasgow councillor? At a time when many fine Glasgow buildings have been demolished after years of neglect this missed opportunity over the Martyr's School ranks as the unkindest cut of all.
Ian R Mitchell, Glasgow.
Read more letters
Don't sell Prestwick Airport
I have been reading a number of articles in The Herald of late about Prestwick Airport. After some calamitous years, it was bought by the Scottish Government representing the people of Scotland for £1 in 2013. Following investment of public money, under current management it has been substantially turned around as a business and is not only profitable but has rapidly acquired increasing numbers of new clients in the air cargo business, importing goods from the Far East, and exporting Scotland's produce. Management have been innovative in establishing remarkable turnaround times for unloading and loading cargo, have extended their warehouse capacity substantially and increased manpower requirements with more secure Scottish jobs. Prestwick is also a hub for tourism with more and more tourist flights.
The Scottish Government is now planning to sell this profitable, strategically important, Scottish infrastructure asset to a private buyer, or consortium.
Possible scenarios under privatisation could be that profits are sent overseas, shareholder dividends are prioritised over investments in the business, and one where Scottish jobs could be at risk.
This may not be a wholly fashionable point of view, but why do we, as a nation, perpetually sell off our national infrastructure assets to private consortia, especially overseas, and enrich them? And then we have to pay to use the assets. Are we content to have less and less control over these assets and not learn lessons from organisations such as Thames Water? I am a realist, I understand how this works and know that loss isn't inevitable, but it lurks.
Karen Hansen, Glasgow.
Section 28 revisited
As the 25-year anniversary of the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland approaches, it has prompted me to reflect how this has impacted my life growing up as a gay man.
This dreadful law, ushered in by Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s, prevented schools from teaching or discussing LGBTQ+ issues. This meant that generations of LGBTQ+ children missed out on an inclusive education, which contributed to the discrimination and stigma many experienced at the time. The disastrous impact of this can still be felt today, as those who survived it can attest to.
Thankfully, I do not remember this era because on the day of repeal, I was three years old. I'm grateful to the campaigners who fought tirelessly for the repeal, which meant that I was able to go to school without a dangerous law in place that treated me like a second-class citizen. Every child deserves the best start in life, regardless of who they are.
Fast forward to my mid-20s: I led a Pride workshop for an LGBTQ+ group in a secondary school, which comprised teachers wearing rainbow lanyards, students of various identities and their allies. Together, we explored queer role models and learned about our shared history. As someone born somewhat in the middle of being too young to feel the full effects of Section 28, but too old to feel the future benefits of repeal, it was bittersweet but comforting to see tangible progress.
Whilst the repeal is a cause for celebration, it cannot be lost in the context of today's anti-trans movement. As a community, we've been here before: the hatred and stigma towards gay men is being regurgitated decades later, only this time towards the trans community. I will always be a proud trans ally because I refuse to go back to a time which sought to erase members of my community from public life.
History does not look kindly upon legislation like Section 28, nor should it. It should, however, be a reminder to us all that when the law is unjust, harmful and cruel, that law can and must be changed.
Christopher Clannachan, Equality Network, Edinburgh.
Prestwick Ariport (Image: Christian Cooksey)
Walter Scott? Jings, crivvens
Your scholarly correspondent Robin Dow questions what proportion of the reading public actually read Walter Scott back in the days of his putative popularity (Letters, June 17).
Back in the days of my passing Higher English, the first few pages of several of Scott's books had put me off further reading to the extent that I ignored the alternative "home reading" question in the examination paper and survived.
My staple diet for Sundays was Oor Wullie and The Broons.
David Miller, Milngavie.
