WHAT part of no does Alex Salmond not understand. At the referendum the country democratically gave a resounding no vote, so why do the SNP not get on with the job of governing this country and sort out the mess they have made of the NHS, police, education and others in the last seven years.

Ian Stewart, via email

I LIVE in an area where there's lots of parks and grass and are well kept by the council grass cutters. However, why do they leave the cuttings to blow away in the wind and make such a mess? They should deploy the people who are on community pay back and there's plenty of them to rake them up, bag them and sell them as fodder to local farmers and the money made could be given to local charities.

Now that would be a real community payback in my opinion.

John Kerr, Coatbridge, via email

I WAS delighted to see the picture of Class 1B at Hillhead Primary from February 1953.

I was in Mrs Hamilton's Class 1B at Hillhead Primary in February 1955 and a lot of those in the photo look very familiar.

I wondered if your picture might have been 1955 rather than 1953.

Perhaps five-year-old kids in the 1950s wearing school uniforms all looked similar.

Thanks for showing the picture anyway. It brought back lots of happy memories from 60 years ago. I can assure you it does not seem that long ago.

Keep up the good work.

Brown McMaster

WHAT an insult to the people of Glasgow, and Scotland, that city councillors, and who knows how many more council employees, have not paid their council tax. The very fact that these people, more than anyone, are aware of the dire state of the council coffers and have the audacity to sit and pontificate on how to penalise the poor to pay their taxes, is deplorable.

With immediate effect, Nicola Sturgeon and Gordon Matheson should make it a condition of employment that all council, and indeed, any other public sector employees that council tax is paid "up to date" and call in any outstanding tax within 48 hours. Sorry, no mercy for dodgers.

In the meantime Evening Times, keep up the good work of exposing these miscreants.

FMK, East Kilbride, via email