Letters: New Forth crossing infringes neighbours' human rights

We have lived here for 21 years, having moved out from Trinity in Edinburgh because we liked Queensferry and found a nice house with a lovely view across the Forth. However, we are possibly going to have to put our house on the market, and move to who knows where just to get away from the constant building noise and dust and pollution.

Surely our human rights are being infringed as the powers-that-be – who obviously don't live in this area – have made this decision and not taken any notice whatsoever of our protests.

I can only hope the funding required to build the new bridge is not forthcoming.

Name and address supplied

SNP tried to put brakes on trams

JENNY Wales seems to have lost touch with reality in her comments questioning SNP opposition to the tram proposals (Interactive, 16 March).

The SNP has consistently opposed the tram project, but in government forms a minority administration and in the City of Edinburgh Council only has 12 councillors out of a total of 58.

The Scottish Parliament passed Bills for Edinburgh Tram Lines 1 and 2 in March 2006. The SNP opposed the Bills on the grounds that the business case did not stack up, but was defeated.

After its election in May 2007, the SNP government restated its opposition to the tram proposals due to its costs.

The tram scheme was, however, favoured by all the opposition parties, but limited to a financial cap from government of 500 million.

In June 2007, MSPs voted in favour of pressing ahead with Edinburgh's trams, with 81 votes for and 47 (all SNP) against. And in October 2007 the tram network received backing from the majority of city councillors when they voted to approve TIE Ltd's Final Business Case for the scheme at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council.

All 12 SNP councillors voted against the recommendations.

The SNP has consistently opposed the tram project, and had the SNP not been in coalition in the council, doing its utmost to try and achieve the best outcome in challenging circumstances, the current financial issues the tram project is facing would be considerably worse. Alex Orr, Bryson Road, Edinburgh

Pupils fear loss of school bus passes

MY CLASS (primary seven) has just heard that we might not be getting the bus passes that we need for when we go to high school.

When we heard about this we were very sad and also angry because we need them and it's also a health and safety risk because anything could happen to us if we started walking to school.

Some of us are scared about it too, because someone has been hurt at a Musselburgh park and it is right beside the high school.

We need to get people to see how much we need this bus pass.

It's also costing us more money that we just don't have because of the credit crunch. So please help us make people aware.

Danielle Ratcliffe, primary seven, Wallyford Primary School

Politics longs for fewer men in suits

MARGO MacDonald is right when she points out the dominance of men in the image-obsessed election to come (Election needs a woman's touch, Evening News, 17 March).

Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron are bad enough without adding in Nigel Farage of UKIP and Nick Griffin of the BNP. But surely Margo would agree that the increased parading of leaders' wives is hardly a counter-balance?

In England, the leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, is tipped by the polls to become the first Green MP, in Brighton.

Even if voters don't share a vision of a greener, fairer future, would it not be nice to have just one fewer man in a suit?

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

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