Letters: Shopkeepers, the Royal Mile is not just for tourists

ON walking up and down the Royal Mile a number of times, I could not miss the changes that have happened. Unfortunately these were not for the better and they do not benefit the community that lives in the area.

The first thing I noticed was the number of shops selling tourist tat, cards and scarves. On looking at them, I thought they must have all been using the same wholesaler.

This was because most of the shops were selling the same goods, which made the Royal Mile look like one of the cheapest resorts in Spain. The amounts of advertising and street clutter did not make it look any better.

My next thought was how long would they be there before they closed down again? Anyone who knows the Royal Mile and its annual cycles will know times can be quite bleak there.

Does no-one realise that there are still people living in this area, and could they not start catering for them by selling goods that people need? There are no supermarkets; butchers, bakers or candlestick makers in this area any more.

But one thing we can be sure of is there are tat shops by the bucket load. When will some businessman realise that catering for the community living in the area at the right price could have benefits for the tourists also? Any shop that is selling food in this area is already charging rip-off prices and I do not expect the tat shops to be any different.
Andrew Murphy, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Police officers to serve the public
I FOUND the letter "Watch out for the PC police officers" (News, 27 June) of great interest as after doing some research I discovered that Chief Inspector David Lyle of Lothian and Borders Police was taken off front-line duties to look after gay officers in 2008 but would continue to be paid his £50,000 salary by the government and all eight Scottish police forces – in other words by the taxpayer.

As he is general secretary of the Gay Police Association and their co-ordinator for Scotland, and in addition is also vice president of Eurogaypolice, would it be possible for these organisations to pay his salary?

Then the money saved could go on officers to protect and serve the general population.

John Smart, Christian Crescent, Edinburgh

Our mail service is posted missing

THIRTY years ago I regularly bought by mail order. Often I received my goods within 48 hours of posting off my order.

Now only using mail order occasionally, I find it can take ten days or more for a package to travel 400 miles by Royal Mail.

I've often wondered if the Royal Mail has a warehouse somewhere where items of mail are stored for several days. I see from the Evening News of 22 June ("Mail bosses disciplined after post is dumped in trailer") that whilst the Royal Mail may not have a warehouse to store mail, I was not far off with my assumption.

It's also interesting that the time of delivery can vary by up to four hours from one day to the next. Understandable if the postman arrives four hours later in the days before Christmas, but compared with, say, mid-June, a mystery on a day-to-day basis. No wonder private mail firms are taking so much of their business.
David Crawford, Cochrane Street, Bathgate, West Lothian

Don't bank on vow from Government
IT wasn't that long ago that the Government assured us it would end the culture of greed in the City which fuelled the economic crisis. So how come it approved a near-£10 million incentive package for Stephen Hester of taxpayer-supported Royal Bank of Scotland?

Have we learned nothing at all? Even in a buoyant economy such a pay award would be questionable, but at a time when RBS is laying off staff and relying on our money to bail it out, this deal is obscene.

At least now we realise the value of a government promise and know we can't bank on it.
J Hill, Stenhouse Avenue, Edinburgh

Trident is nothing but status symbol
PUTTING the future of Trident into a review seems like a gimmick to hold on to votes and remove political pressure. Pressure must be put on Westminster to cancel Trident immediately. "Deterrent" was always a myth – Trident is about political power status.
Andrew J T Kerr, Castlegate, Jedburgh

School can be proud at the end of an era
I WAS privileged on 30 June to be in the audience at Tynecastle High School's end of the school year concert and award ceremony. This is the last ceremony in the old school before the staff and students move over to the other side of McLeod Street to the new school next year.

It was a magic evening! The school orchestra played their hearts out and the solo clarinet performance was wonderful as was the solo singing.

Donnie Munro, of Runrig fame, was the guest speaker and also presented all of the certificates of distinction, prizes, special awards and the dux award.

All of these students should be proud of their achievements, and I would just like to wish them and all of their fellow students as well as the school staff the very best for the future and to thank all of them for a most enjoyable evening.
Liz Henderson, Whitson Walk, Edinburgh