Letters: Show food bank families it’s the season of goodwill

What a pity that some families have to rely on such generosity from charities while others think nothing of squandering obscene amounts of money on “must-have” presents for their children.

It puts me in mind of soup kitchens which were set up when many went hungry during the Great Depression in the 1930s. That was the best part of a century ago, and yet we have clearly learned little or nothing.

There is enough food to go round if we just make a little more effort. Too many shops, including supermarkets, throw out food which has reached its sell-by date and even with big discounts can’t be shifted. Yet this is for the most part perfectly good and nutritious food.

It’s time the greedy made an effort to help the needy.

Kate Colquhoun, Northfield, Edinburgh

Fracking fears are simply groundless

May I put G Fraser’s mind at rest over fracking (Letters, December 20).

The anti-fracking brigade regularly put out scare stories. Fracking has been going on in America since 1940 and their energy prices are now half of what they were four years ago.

Their prices are only a quarter of European levels, so what is not to like?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology stated: “With 20,000 shale wells drilled in the last ten years, the environmental record of shale-gas development is for the most part a good one.”

Americans are most likely to take legal action against businesses, but none has been taken against fracking developers.

Earthquakes? A number 9 bus going past Mr Fraser’s house in Stockbridge will create more of a tremor. There are at least 120 years of shale in the UK.

As for wind turbines being “more kind to the environment”, Mr Fraser really needs to get out more and see the concrete, pylons, roads, cables and the 145-metre high turbines all subsidised by the electricity consumer.

Shale gas could prevent the installation of more than 4000 large wind turbines.

Frack on, I say.

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow

Teachers are out of the ordinary

While finding your article “The Great Divide” (News, December 19) very interesting, especially as my home lies within the most affluent area of the city apparently, my mood changed rapidly as I read Councillor Gavin Corbett’s comments.

He said he was surprised to find that his Craiglockhart ward was as well-off, as there are plenty of residents with “pretty ordinary jobs like teachers”.

Teaching is not an ordinary job – it’s an all-degree profession with a probationary period and hours of continuing professional development each year of a teacher’s career.

Exactly what qualifications are needed to become a city councillor?

Valerie Bierman, Colinton Road, Edinburgh