Trump puzzle

It has been reported that First Minister Alex Salmond has written to the Chief Constable of Aberdeen asking for an explanation surrounding the circumstances as to why film makers Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney were arrested while making You’ve Been Trumped.

This begs the question: why has it taken Mr Salmond more than two years to ask the question? After all, he would have been well aware at the time of the circumstances surrounding the arrests.

Mr Salmond then goes on to suggest the film was made from a certain point of view. The film portrayed situations which very few, if any, other media outlets were making available to the general public.

However, Mr Salmond neglects to mention that in the documentary he does in fact get the opportunity to reflect his views about the development.

I am not a “political animal” so have no axe to grind over Mr Salmond or the Scottish Government but it is my belief that the First Minister chose only to act after the widespread public condemnation – following BBC2’s broadcast of the documentary– of the Trump organisation, Grampian Police, local and national governments, and the local press.

R T Smith

Braeside Terrace

Aberdeen

You’ve Been Trumped let us all see that, for a short time, Alex Salmond allowed Donald Trump to exploit him by allowing him to despoil a uniquely beautiful landscape of special scientific interest and to harass those principled homeowners who would not sell out to enable this man to realise his philistine fantasies.

Salmond has now been shamed by this film into demanding that the chief constable of Grampian explains why he allowed his force to become, in effect, a subsidiary of Trump’s security operation. It is to be hoped that his spine has now been sufficiently stiffened to  go ahead with the wind  farm which threatens to break Mr Trump’s heart by destroying his very own version of  Brigadoon.

John W Elliot

Bishopton, Renfrewsire

Anne Raitt (Letters, 25 October) must realise that the Trump documentary was a very partisan piece of propaganda and it should be remembered that it was Labour’s Jack McConnell who first courted Donald Trump and encouraged him to come to Scotland.

The development has the overwhelming support of the local population of Aberdeenshire and the planning decision to approve the excellent golf course, which created 150 local jobs, was taken by the independent non-political chief planning officer for Scotland.

Calum Stewart

Montague Street

Edinburgh