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The Herald Scotland

The CalMac ferries are just fine. The port is another story

I don't recognise Mr Robertson's picture of sacrificing passenger space on that vessel for crew quarters – there are ample seats all over offering a high standard of comfort and fine views. The CalMac vessels also offer catering and capacity – both appreciated and needed by islanders. There are good reasons for crew quarters and no good ones for changing arrangements. The trade union and employers should be proud of the service offered by Cal Mac staff despite all the difficulties not of their making. The crews, despite Roy Pederson's claims, have strong links with the communities served and relationships are excellent. Just because macro-level infrastructure planning and execution has been messed up over the past 10-plus years is no reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I won't claim to speak for everyone on Arran, but I can assure your readers that the main cause of concern here just now is the need to return services to Ardrossan – for reasons well rehearsed already in your columns. Whether the Ardrossan service will last through the period of the summer timetable after its resumption this week with the return of the Caledonian Isles, and whether it will continue in the winter, is open to speculation. There is far more at stake here than ferry design. Colin Turbett, Shiskine, Isle of Arran. Read more letters CMAL again? Why on earth? This SNP Government should rightly be proud of its addition to the Oxford English Dictionary: "behemothitisation: the act of imposing on an organisation an over-large asset consuming excessive consumables in order to deliver a reduced service to the customers who depend upon it at an inordinate cost to the taxpayer ." Is CMAL really being allowed to supervise the design and construction of yet another ferry ("Procurement process for two new Northlink ferries launched", heraldscotland, June 6)? Has this SNP Government learned anything? When will it put economic efficiency ahead of virtue-signalling and the maintenance of incompetent quangos? The Northlink contract should be put out to tender by a suitably qualified and independent civil service five years before award. It should be for 15 years and include the supply, operation and maintenance of brand new ferries by the successful operator, ensuring reliability and reduced costs. Crew numbers should be left to the bidders, allowing additional and significant savings. The current model, of which the Glen Sannox is a prime example, requires the succesful contractor to operate and maintain an unsuitably over-large and inefficient vessel and now the Scottish Government through CMAL is extending its vice-like grip on inefficiency and excessive costs northwards. After awarding a £1 million-per-month, five-month extension to Pentland Ferries to charter the MV Alfred, the overall cost of the two Glen ferries now exceeds £1 billion yet there has been no inquiry as to why. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes continues to pontificate whether a further £35 million (two-thirds of the original budget) cost should be spent to finish the nine-years-late Glen Rosa. Why? It is an obvious, in her face decision. When shall we see proper governance by this excuse for a Scottish Government? Peter Wright, West Kilbride. We need a forensic inquiry Forensic science will be shutting down at Dundee University in 2026. The work currently undertaken there will fall into another lab. This additional work on existing Scottish forensic labs will undoubtedly result in longer reporting times for regular forensic cases, especially the detection and measurement of drug-driving blood samples. We are already aware that in the recent past, as the six-month analysis deadline approached, samples from Scottish cases were shipped to English labs so that justice can be served. Scotland hopes one day to be a proud independent nation. Will we be relying on England to help us run our justice system? Dundee carries out important drug testing in Scottish prisons. Here we have the Scottish Government losing valuable resources which will impact justice for victims of drug driving. Is this also work that will be lost? Dundee University has forensic science resources that are respected all over the world. This really is a case of saving a penny and watching the future disappear. Duncan Carmichael, York. We must stop the boats Ian McConnell asks 'who should we listen to on immigration policy ("Island of strangers? So who should we listen to on immigration policy?", The Herald, June 6)? I would suggest that it is first necessary to agree that there are two distinct types of immigration – legal and illegal – and that each requires a separate and quite distinct policy. His piece comments only on the former. To complete the picture in a follow-up piece, he could cover the arguments, pro and contra, on the continuing massive level of illegal immigration. The main source of that is the unchecked invasion of thousands of mainly young men by small boats across the Channel, with 50,000 expected this year alone. Does he agree with Keir Starmer (and me for what it's worth) that it is the duty of the Government to stop these small boats, and if not why not? At the same time, he could clarify his general comment dismissing what he called The Prime Minister's 'utterings" on immigration as 'populism" as if that was a dirty word. Is it his opinion that despite reflecting the popular views of ordinary people, Keir Starmer's utterings should be ignored in favour of the contrary views of Mr McConnell as presumably one of the self- appointed elite who knows better? Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop. Migrants are good for Britain Tackling the far-right is not done by pandering to them. That simply increases their power, whilst damaging one's own society, as has been the case in the UK. The lesson from across Europe and the rest of the world is to take them on. Their arguments are without validity, and as empty as their promises. Maybe, if we argue for what we believe in, next Christmas there might be more to be cheerful about. Migration helps the economy and makes us all better off, and always has done. Immigrants make up about 40% of the NHS staff. Doctors, nurses, care staff, porters – they keep the NHS running. Far from hampering your chances of getting treatment, they are actually making sure you get it. Anne Wimberley, Edinburgh. Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Image: PA) A failing Speaker In my opinion it is high time to question the actions of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. He is arguably the worst Speaker ever to hold this high office with many of his decisions being controvertible to say the least, for example the refusal to allow an SNP debate on Gaza on opposition day in 2024, with the House descending into chaos. He also seems unable to facilitate a sensible Prime Minister's Questions where he allows Sir Keir Starmer to blatantly refuse to answer all questions put to him by the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, which in itself, renders the session totally pointless,. He also seems to think it acceptable to squander taxpayers' money on jaunts around the world. Since 2022 it is reported he has spent around £250,000 between flights and hotels, none of the flights being economy and staying only in the best hotels. Why has it been necessary for the House of Commons Speaker to enjoy overseas trips to, amongst many other far-flung places, Singapore, Gibraltar, Canberra, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Tokyo, Delhi, Brazil, the Cayman Islands and his latest jaunt to a conference in the Caribbean, where the cost of hotels he stayed in were up to £900 per night and not ending there, when he also charged £5,500 on private plane flights to St Maarten and Antigua islands, neither of which were on his official itinerary? At a time when there is supposed to be a squeeze on public finances and the current cost of living crisis is causing so much pain for many families across the UK, where heating their homes and putting food on the table is the number one priority and the idea of a holiday just a pipe dream, why is it that public purse is being used to fund such extravagance? It is time to bring the curtain down on these jaunts and use the money saved to contribute towards the reinstatement of the winter fuel allowance to needy pensioners. Christopher H Jones, Giffnock.