Anne Keenan
In praise of Mallaig

Fond as I am of the Scottish Review, I must chastise Kenneth Roy for his criticisms of Mallaig.
     I live almost 20 miles from Mallaig but, every so often, I forego the misery of shopping in Fort William and head north up the new road with its magnificent views over to the Small Isles and the Cuillins of Skye. I buy fresh and smoked fish from Andy Race and the Jaffey family, both of whom sell their excellent products far and wide from Mallaig. The newly re-furbished Co-op sells fresh bread, vegetables and plenty of wine for the yachties and me. The idiosyncratic little bookshop can hold me spellbound for ages and I ate the best haddock and chips in my life at the Marine Hotel many years ago. Clarissa Dickson Wright disagrees with me; she hailed the fish and chips in Mallaig's The Cabin as her best ever.
     I am most incensed about his comments on our wee sprinter train. Readers of the Scottish Review may remember my testament to this train which came back for me on a cold winter's morning. This was no story; I was that woman, this was the 'pathetic two-carriage Scotrail job' and I will be grateful to that driver until my dying day. My niece is a trade union official in London. She has been copying that SR piece to her colleagues. She tells me that would never happen in any big smoke. It happens here and that driver probably lives in Mallaig.
     Why did the good citizens fail to respond to his earlier slights, all those years ago? Well, maybe they were just too busy. Like most fishing ports, Mallaig is a place of extremes. One minute all is hustle and bustle, the next it is silent as the grave. Fishermen work hard and play hard; I'm certain many bicycles go astray for a whole variety of reasons. But I suspect they always come back, just like my train. We just have to have patience and wait a little.
     As for Jeremy Clarke of the Spectator? Well I have some sympathy for a man who chooses to spend his February birthday in Mallaig.  He needs some advice. My birthday is in February but you won't find me in Mallaig. Maybe the Applecross Inn or the Anderson in Fortrose or at home with my man, but not Mallaig. It was just not designed for birthdays in February. Yes, it has fabulous scenery, but, as a wise man once said, 'You can't eat the scenery'.

Miller Caldwell
Kidnapped in Raploch

Further to Islay McLeod's recent photo series on Raploch, although I became the regional reporter in Dumfries and Galloway, I started as an educational social worker in Stirling. In 1981 I had a distressed boy in my office fearing parental wrath. Derek was left in the care of the guidance staff whilke I went to calm his parents and make his representation. When I arrived at the Raploch home, my intervention backfired. Derek's father barricaded me inside. He would not release me until his son returned. I was held captive for four hours, returning home after 7pm. My wife Joyce thought I was working late but I had eventually negotiated Derek's safe return and with agreement on both sides, I chose to drop a potentially certain kidnap offence, for fear of retribution on me as well as Derek. In another home I was asked not to come into the lounge unless I walked round the room. The explanation was that the floorboards had been fueling the fire in the room.

Sheila Hetherington
In defence of non-doms

The status of 'non-doms' is a subject rarely off the lips of our politicians and political commentators today, the implication being that to hold non-dom status is to deprive the UK taxpayer of money justly earned and owed to them. (Presumably non-doms are not required to pay duty and tax twice over?)
     My own view would be that tax should surely be paid in full to the revenue of the country in which income is earned. If income is directly generated within the United Kingdom, this country is obviously entitled to demand a fair and substantial tax contribution. In the case of Lord Paul, however, my understanding is that this source would be, for the most part, India, and in Lord Ashcroft's case, several Caribbean countries. By what right (I ask out of ignorance and in search of enlightenment) do we demand that taxes arising from these enterprises be diverted towards this country, which has in no way earned them, whilst the country which has provided the space, labour and ingenuity to generate the income gains little or no reward?
     Despite our present grave financial difficulties, Britain remains a relatively wealthy country. I would be ashamed and outraged if it were true that we might be willing to deprive other nations of justly earned income that could surely improve the lives of some of the poorest people on earth.