We sorely need another McCrone Report on education
Then there is the need for a guaranteed (and centrally funded) level of staffing for our schools. My generation was brought up in the era of the famous Red Book. This was a very detailed set of calculations prepared by the then HMI that enabled schools and local authorities to work out a customised staffing for each establishment. On top of a basic staffing entitlement based on pupil numbers, additional staff allocations were funded by the Government to support, for example, probationary teachers and what were then referred to as 'remedial pupils'. A Government determination to re-establish agreed national staffing levels for our schools with additional allocations for indicators of deprivation and the integration of special needs youngsters would do much to restore confidence in a service that currently is under siege.
A commitment by the Scottish Government to establish these major inquiries as a matter or urgency is not going to bring about any significant results before next year's elections for the Scottish Parliament, but it would set out a clear direction of travel which might remove some of the current pressure and hold out promise for an education system better suited to the challenges of the 21st century.
Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.
Read more letters
Stop the gangs to stop the boats
What would be your response if, sitting at home one day content that your home was secure, a young man broke in? Would you put him up in your spare room, give him food and pocket money, and in the coming days arrange for him driving lessons and visits to leisure centres? Or would you possibly try to restrain him and definitely call the police?
Astonishingly, our Government favours the former response to the migrants breaking in to the UK illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats, whilst pontificating that the numbers are 'clearly unacceptable" ('Record number of migrants crossing English Channel for first half of year", The Herald, July 2). No wonder these migrants keep coming in ever-increasing numbers. When will the Government accept that paying the French police and trying to 'smash the gangs" simply doesn't work?
One sure way to stop this migrant invasion would be to deter them from attempting to cross the Channel by making that crossing pointless. Why does the Government not legislate that anyone arriving here illegally will be disqualified automatically from staying, killing both the migrants demand and the gangs' business?
Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.
The lesson of Dounreay
Charles Scott (Letters, July 2) says he is not part of the pro-nuclear lobby. Unfortunately he displays the same head-in-the-sand attitudes with regard to financial and environmental costs of this dirty industry.
The decommissioning of Dounreay, which has been under way for years, is not expected to be completed until at least 2070. Also, the highly dangerous waste produced will need to be stored for thousands of years. Such legacies would be even more of a "major mistake by our Government".
David Hay, Minard.
• In his plea for atomic power, Charles Scott writes of the need to "reduce harmful emissions in the (energy) sector".
Well, if radioactivity isn't harmful I don't know what is. Two miles from my abode the irradiated hulls of submarines still have to be kept well away from the public, and power stations produce lethal waste which has to be guarded for many decades if not centuries, either on-site at Torness or at Sellafield, both of which are potential war targets. But of course for most folk these places are far away, someone else's problem.
George Morton, Rosyth.
The decommissioning of Dounreay will last decades (Image: PA)
Are turbines elegant symbols?
In a consultation document for the proposed Torfichen wind farm – 18 turbines, 180m high near our World Heritage Site of Edinburgh – there is a very revealing comment: "...particularly given user experience is a subjective concept with some users viewing wind turbines as incongruous and intrusive structures in rural locations, whilst others consider them to be elegant symbols of sustainable energy provision".
Should we not have a serious discussion as a nation to see how many members of the public see turbines as symbols as we continue with a planning system based on the Scottish Greens' manifesto? During the SNP/Scottish Greens pact the Government voted for the two National Parks and National Scenic Areas to be protected from wind farms but 'where impacts are localised and/or appropriate design mitigation has been applied, they will generally be considered to be acceptable". The developer in the above case considers the effect "localised for national planning purposes"; "the significant landscape and visual effects would only extend out to a maximum of some 5.6km".
For comparison, the Glasgow Tower is 127m tall.
Celia Hobbs, Penicuik.
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