The naivety of the pro-euthanasia lobby astounds me. Do these people really believe that in this materialistic and morally bankrupt world euthanasia would remain voluntary?

In my opinion future governments would see this as the ultimate answer to the pensions crisis, cost of care for the elderly and disabled and also use it to cut the cost of the NHS as people could be despatched early to the grave.

I hope people waken up to the realities of the euthanasia debate and realise that instead of going along the path of assisted suicide we should be investing more in healthcare and the hospice movement to give people real dignity as they approach death. Michael McCartney, Rothesay

Flower display danger THE council's floral displays in Glasgow are beautiful, but did any of the Parks Department bosses stop to think about the positioning of these lovely and costly arrangements?

In some spots, particularly at road junctions, the positioning of flower troughs and planters poses a danger to pedestrians. Three examples on the South Side; on the corner of Trefoil Avenue and Kilmarnock Road; the corner of Coustenholme Road and Kilmarnock Road, and on the corner of Langside Place and Algie Street, where pedestrians' views are restricted to see oncoming cars, vans etc.

I feel that if the Parks Department don't move quickly, a member of the public will be injured. Name and address supplied

HSE report concerns I write to express the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) deep concern about your reporting of an interview with me (Evening Times, July 16) which indicated that on the day a public inquiry was later due to report on the ICL Plastics explosion we had ruled out disciplining any of our staff.

I spoke to your correspondent about a wide range of topics on June 26 and made clear I could not make pre-emptive comments about the explosion ahead of Lord Gill's report.

I said in that interview that we accepted errors had been made but, in remarks I did not wish published before the inquiry report was issued, said unless it brought to light any new evidence of which we were unaware our view was that there would not be a case for disciplinary action against HSE staff.

This falls short of the way our conversation was reported and is misleading in being silent that the interview took place three weeks previously. Your article misrepresented the HSE as seeking to pre-empt Lord Gill and as being insensitive to the distress of the bereaved families in denying any responsibility. Judith Hackitt CBE, Chairwoman, Health and Safety Executive, London

In at the deep end I CAN'T believe Renfrewshire Council wants to close the swimming pools in Elderslie and Johnstone (Evening Times, August 4). I'm only in my early 40s but I remember when these pools opened in the early 1970s and they were both state-of-the-art facilities. The Johnstone pool in particular, where the water level lapped the rim of the pool, was brilliant, and light years ahead of the old Storie Street baths in Paisley or the Victoria Baths in Renfrew.

If, as the council claims, the facilities are now to be closed due to the poor state of the buildings', one has to wonder which council department was responsible for their maintenance and upkeep?

As it is, Renfrewshire has few enough facilities where people of all ages can exercise and enjoy themselves, so why rush to close these two popular and relatively modern swimming pools? Leslie Walker, Paisley WRITE: Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB. Please include your name and address. E-MAIL: letters@eveningtimes.co.uk Please include postal address. TEXT: key in the word 'etletters', leave a space then send your comments to 88010. Max 160 characters. Please include your name or initials and where you're from. Texts cost 25p at all times. HOT TOPIC: Gangs causing trouble across Glasgow

THIS isn't only a problem in outlying areas of the city. I was confronted by a gang of 30 youths just up from GFT in Garnethill, and even at 11am they were drinking, swearing and tried to block my way. It's intimidating. Jim, Glasgow

Don't act like a ned I was brought up in Easterhouse and went out clubbing in the city centre and knew people from loads of different schemes and areas of Glasgow.

If you don't act like a ned, and treat people the way you want to be treated, you rarely get any hassle.

The first step is actually getting out there and meeting new people and changing the mindset of the schemey punters. Stevie, Glasgow

We're all affected it isn't just youths who are adversely affected by youth disorder in Glasgow - we all are.

And it's about time something was done about it before this city goes further down the drain. LB, Glasgow

Scared' kids or thugs?

I JUST bet the teenagers who say they are scared to leave their own turf for fear of attack are the same wee diddies who will chase, intimidate and attack anyone they don't know who strays into their scheme. What goes around comes around. Fraz, city centre

Heads in the sand I live in the typical cesspit council scheme where if you approach neighbours about any problems regarding neds or nightmarish neighbours you get the "Nah, I don't want to know" or "Cannae somebody else dae something aboot it, pal?" patter. This is the mentality of what we're up against. Aly, Knightswood

Sponging off taxpayer If you have to get out of bed at 6am and work 10 hours a day to pay for your house then you'll look after it and your neighbourhood.

But if you're sponging of the taxpayer, you'll not give a fig. Wild Wadi, Kirkintilloch

Just as frightened GOOD to know that the wee neds are just as scared of each other as the rest of us are of them. Magyar, Shawlands