Apologise for Trump course

In 2008 members of Aberdeenshire Council and the Scottish Government were involved in granting a planning application which was submitted by the Trump Organisation for the development of a golf course on the Menie estate.

The council supported the destruction of an irreplaceable nature conservation site on the basis of unlikely and exaggerated promises of jobs and investment which have never materialised. They then refused to rule out using its powers of compulsory purchase to obtain residents' homes on behalf of Mr Trump, causing great distress. Approval of this controversial application must now be regarded as regrettable from the vantage point of the last couple of years.

We deserve an apology. This would require to be not just a token gesture but more of a promise that lessons will have to be learnt from this sad episode.