Why must they insist on this needless humiliation of trans people
If this does go to the legal action threatened by Sex Matters, we will see how the Scottish courts decide between the privacy and dignity of trans employees and the insistence by Sex Matters that everyone has to always be treated as the sex on their original birth certificate – effectively an insistence that trans people, as such, do not exist. Of course trans people do exist, and this action by Sex Matters will only serve to make their lives more difficult, without benefiting other users of Scottish Government facilities.
Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh.
Read more letters
We sorely need another McCrone Report on education
Zealots who want CCA to cut Israeli links are part of the problem
What have they done? We'll all rue the cost of Labour rebels' actions
It's not all doom and gloom
Reading your front page lead headline today ("Ambulance waiting times rise for critically-ill Scots", The Herald, July 7) I would like to reassure your readers it is not all like this.
Three months ago I took a heart attack while using the leisure facilities in a hotel near Glencoe. The hotel staff, the two ambulance crews that appeared – the first in 10 minutes – and the receiving crew at Raigmore were a combined chain of life-saving training and professionalism.
Four and a half hours after my incident I was wheeled out of the coronary care unit 80 miles away with two stents fitted.
Spirited driving up the A82 and use of modern tech sending my ECG readings direct to the consultant's phone allowed me to bypass the hospital front end and be taken straight for an angiogram.
This was not chance. This was thought-through procedures of cardiac professionals working in concert with ambulance crews.
I will be forever grateful to the paramedic who worked with me over that two-hour journey keeping me engaged and conscious.
John Collins, Port Appin, Argyll.
Elle Duffy: Fidelma MKII?
Last week and this, the erstwhile sharp and witty Fidelma Cook's columns came to mind when I was reading The Herald Magazine. Why? Because Fidelma uniquely and intimately invited her readers into her life. We felt we were there with her in La France Profonde. Latterly, we journeyed with her through her last months of life, which was an intensely moving and courageous journey. With large glass of the ruby red stuff in hand, Fidelma incisively held forth in her unmistakeable voice on the felicities and infelicities of life. Irreplaceable – that's what she was. We missed her terribly when she left us.
I suspect, however, that The Herald has finally found a new and distinctive voice – a very different voice from Fidelma's cutting edge. This is a much gentler voice, a warm and very genuine voice which, week by week, is drawing us ever closer into the writer's life and experiences. I refer to Elle Duffy's down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is columns from the Isle of Rum which have become a 'must read' every weekend.
We are constantly drawn into the exigencies and joys of life on Rum, and we can only admire the very practical and philosophical way that Elle and Coinneach have adjusted to their massively-changed lifestyles. They've done what most of us only ever dream of doing. And now we learn that there is a third tiny life interwoven in this unfolding story ("There's no maternity ward on the island...", Herald Magazine, July 5). Congratulations, Elle and Coinneach. A whole new set of challenges to face. We, your readers, look forward to the journey – yet another bumpy challenge on Rum. Thank you for taking us on the ride.
Katie Allstaff, Aberfeldy.
Columnist Elle Duffy writes in The Herald Magazine about her life on the Isle of Rum (Image: Newsquest)
What a racket
Why does the BBC employ Martina Navratilova as a commentator? Every year we have to suffer her incoherent ramblings bearing little or no constructive commentary.
For such an important occasion as Wimbledon the BBC should have pulled out all the stops and employed its best tennis commentators.
Neil Stewart, Balfron.
Once is enough
Why do players get two serves in tennis? Surely one is enough to get the game started?
Alistair Johnston, Hamilton.
Brighter outlook
Your Shakespearean scholar correspondent Derrick McClure (Letters, July 5) might have brought a glimmer of hope to the general doom and gloom by quoting the whole of the first line of Richard III: " Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious by this sun of York."
David Miller, Milngavie.
Off the menu
Cameron Munro (Letter, July 7) reminds us that not getting a menu in a restaurant is far from being a new thing.
I remember being in a restaurant in Paris several years ago. After being shown to my seat I seemed to be waiting an inordinate amount of time to be shown the bill of fayre. When I asked, very politely I may add, if I could see it, the maitre d' replied in the most curt of fashions: "Did sir come here to eat or did he come here to read?"
I don't know what it was I had but, to be fair, I do remember it was rather tasty.
Gordon Fisher, Stewarton.
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Kath Sansom, founder of the Sling The Mesh campaign, said: 'It's not good enough. Five years ago, Baroness Cumberlege laid bare the systemic failures that caused irreparable harm to women across the UK. 'Yet here we are in 2025, and the Government has dragged its feet on the most critical reforms. 'Women are without compensation and still being failed by a healthcare system that was supposed to protect them.' MP Sharon Hodgson, chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for First Do No Harm, said: 'To have this little progress five years on from the publication of the report is hugely disappointing. 'Five years ago today, things felt hopeful. The review marked what we thought would be the beginning of real systematic change, the start of building a system that listens to women when they report harm – an end to defensiveness and denial. 'Yet progress can only be seen in three out of the nine changes she proposed, with one still ongoing – leaving five completely untouched. 'Crucially, thousands of women and families who were irreversibly harmed through no fault of their own are yet to see compensation. 'Money will not make up for all they have endured. However, it would at the least remove the financial burden placed on their lives – helping them to navigate the physical, mental and financial impact these scandals have placed upon them and their families. 'Five years on, the time for excuses is over. We need action now and I call on my Government to implement all the recommendations, including updating the House on a timeline for compensation as soon as possible.' Rebekah Smith, Epilepsy Action's chief executive, said: 'It is a scandal that as far back as 35 years, thousands of women with epilepsy weren't being told about the risks involved with taking valproate in pregnancy when evidence was mounting. These women have had to live with the reality of that for decades and the huge emotional and financial impact it has on their lives. 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A commissioner was appointed, but following the Government's 10-year plan for health last week, it has been confirmed that this role will be transferred into the MHRA. Ms Sansom said: 'Moving the Patient Safety Commissioner role to the MHRA silences the patient voice instead of strengthening it. 'It strips away independence, undermines trust, and betrays the very women this role was created to protect.' Earlier this month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that patients do not need 'ventriloquists' from arm's length bodies to speak for them, and more weight should be given to the likes of MPs and councillors. Mr Streeting suggested the patient safety landscape is 'cluttered', with NHS leaders receiving 'competing and contradictory instructions' from different organisations. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'The harm caused by pelvic mesh continues to be felt today. Our sympathies are with those affected and we are fully focused on how best to support patients and prevent future harm. 'This is a complex area of work and the Government is carefully considering the Patient Safety Commissioner's recommendations in full. 'Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron met patients affected and has committed to providing a further update.'
