Herald letter: The Most Important Issue We Face, possibly.

WE NEED ACTION ON OBESITY

IT is worth considering the major public health issue which underlies Uzma Mir’s article on childhood obesity (“I won’t do the shame game: How to teach children to think about weight”, The Herald, June 22) and Joanna Blythman’s related piece last Saturday on nutrition and the risks of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) “There’s a reason why children are getting fat – and it’s nothing to do with calories”, The Herald, June 19). Scotland is facing not just one pandemic – that of Covid-19 – but also one of metabolic disease and obesity. Indeed, part of our vulnerability to Covid has been its interaction with obesity and related morbidity: if you are obese, your life is more likely to be endangered if you contract Covid.

This is all in addition to the diabetes and stroke time bombs which are ticking within us. Scotland needs action on diet, nutrition and on its food culture, and that action needs to be radical and swift if lives are be saved in the same way as they have been through the smoking ban.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.

Herald letter: Labour’s Smoking Ban.

THE DEBT WE OWE JACK MCCONNELL

THE late former Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan was once asked what he thought his greatest achievement had been. In response, he declined to mention his service in the Great Offices of State (PM, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary) and instead referred to his time as junior transport minister in the Attlee Government when he had introduced cat’s-eyes to Britain’s roads and thereby saved countless lives.

Scottish Labour can look back in the same way. Was its greatest achievement at Holyrood free elderly care? Or free bus passes for all over-60s? Or even saving Scotland from the ruin of independence in 2014?

No, it was the smoking ban, introduced by First Minister Jack McConnell and Health Minister Andy Kerr. Scotland owes them a great debt.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.

Herald letter: Freedom Under the Rule Of Law. (Or not.)

PROFESSOR Adam Tomkins deserves a fair deal of praise for his column regarding the use of emergency powers (“Emergency powers are for emergencies: When the risks change so must the law”, The Herald, June 16). It is the tendency of governments to wish to retain such powers for as long as possible after the emergency in question has passed, and of course the SNP Scottish Government is no exception to this rule.

Moreover, the Covid emergency has created a further threat to liberty: in a liberal democracy under the rule of law, everything is permitted, excepting that which is specifically prohibited. In contrast, since March last year, we live in a society where everything is prohibited, excepting that which is specifically permitted.

What is surprising is that so many of the population have not noticed this fundamental change in our rights, and it is alarming that so many welcome its imposition by Nicola Sturgeon.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow.