Chaos in Scotland.

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Fox3WheresMyBanana
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1441 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Tue Sep 06, 2022 5:38 pm

=))

New keyboard, please.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1442 Post by CharlieOneSix » Tue Sep 06, 2022 5:58 pm

OFSO wrote:
Tue Sep 06, 2022 4:30 pm
I've just read that the two new ferries, which will be delivered Any Time Real Soon, are too long to fit in some of the harbours which they will service.
What has really happened is that there have been continuing delays in completing the over £130m project to get the Arran and Western Isles infrastructure ready to handle them... so it's really a case of the ferry terminals being too short rather than the ships being too long. :D ....Still a cock-up whichever way you look at it.
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1443 Post by OFSO » Tue Sep 06, 2022 7:11 pm

Thanks. I suspected nothing could be that bad...

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1444 Post by FD2 » Tue Sep 06, 2022 10:49 pm

Scotland today - man 'buzzing' after being given dream job! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/0 ... appointed/


Period dignity officer role scrapped after furore when job went to a man


International figures including former tennis ace Martina Navratilova say it is 'ridiculous' not to have put a woman in the role
By Daniel Sanderson, Scottish Correspondent 6 September 2022 • 6:59pm


A period dignity officer role has been scrapped by a group which claimed it faced “threats and abuse” after controversially handing the job to a man.

The appointment of Jason Grant as period dignity regional lead officer in Tayside sparked worldwide controversy and fierce opposition from people who believed the job should have gone to a woman.

The post involved the distribution of free period products to schools and colleges and also discussing menopause issues.

Mr Grant was hired in August, on a salary of between £33,153 and £36,126 per year, by Tayside’s period dignity working group which includes representatives from local colleges and councils.

However, the group said the role was being axed following a backlash from figures which included the former world number one tennis player Martina Navratilova.
'Threats and abuse'

A spokeswoman for the group said: “It is regrettable that given the threats and abuse levelled at individuals in recent weeks, the period dignity regional lead officer role will not continue.

“Meanwhile, support will continue to be provided to the colleagues and students who have been subjected to personal attack. Their safety and wellbeing is of paramount importance.


Even Mr McToad has criticised the move but has carelessly mentioned the word 'woman' though I'm not sure he could 'define' the word. :))

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, was among those to speak out against the appointment, which involved SNP-run local authorities in Dundee and Angus.

“I think it is important that we do have officers in place to ensure that women are supported as much as they should be,” he said.

“I think it is important we get the policy right, that we implement it, and that as a principle it would be far better that women are in these posts rather than anyone else.”

Asked whether Mr Grant would now leave the organisation or be redeployed to another job, the working group declined to comment.

It has also refused to answer questions about the recruitment process that led to Mr Grant’s appointment.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1445 Post by CharlieOneSix » Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:05 pm

Westminster's Mini-Budget! Come on Nicola, how are you going to respond to that?!! The 1p reduction in Income Tax doesn't apply in Scotland. Nor does doing away with the highest rate of tax for the most wealthy (I don't understand that one), nor do the cuts in house stamp duty. We already have a 41p income tax rate in Scotland compared to the 40p rate in the rest of the UK, plus different lower rates. Scottish Income Tax rates already cost me £1800 a year more for the privilege of living here - but I'm retired. We already have problems convincing Doctors, Hospital Consultants, etc, etc, to move to Scotland whey they pay considerably more tax than they do in the rest of the UK. A one year golden handcuff payment incentive doesn't really cut it. I await the SNP's lily-livered response to the increase in the block payment to Scotland and how it will be applied north of the border. The effect of cutting basic rate income tax for the rest of the UK is a boost for Holyrood of £340m over next financial year and the year after.....
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1446 Post by CharlieOneSix » Fri Sep 23, 2022 4:50 pm

Sturgeon's reported plans on BBC News website for high rate income tax in Scotland:
Scotland's first minister has hinted that she is unlikely to match income tax cuts for the highest earners elsewhere in the UK.
Cue departure of Doctors, Consultants, and successful business owners back to other parts of the UK. Why on earth would they stay?
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1447 Post by CharlieOneSix » Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:09 pm

More Scottish taxpayers money down the black hole of bail outs. First Prestwick, then Ferguson Shipyards, now £12m goes down the tube with Stoneywood Paper Mill.

https://news.stv.tv/north/troubled-ston ... nistration
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1448 Post by ricardian » Sat Sep 24, 2022 5:30 pm

The Western Isles have voted SNP for the last few General Elections whereas Orkney & Shetland have never voted SNP, our MP and our MSP are LibDem.
Our MSP is Liam McArthur recently remarked:
While local authorities across the country continue to be short-changed, the disparity in the Scottish Budget settlement between the three main island authorities is glaring. The recent rise in Orkney's population has only made this worse, with Orkney receiving around £370 per head less than Shetland and almost £700 less than the Western Isles. Scottish Ministers must look at practical ways to address this inherent unfairness and put all island authorities on a more level playing field.
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1449 Post by Woody » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:25 am

When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1450 Post by Woody » Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:32 pm

When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1451 Post by Undried Plum » Mon Oct 03, 2022 6:46 pm

Jeez, now she's considering nationalising energy companies. Well, her track record on nationalising Ferguson Shipyards and the ferry fiasco should have us trembling in our boots.

More than two dozen energy retail firms have gone bust in the last couple of years. Such a firm, run by the SNumPties, would quite certainly fail, but that's not the real problem with the wee twunt's idea of controlling retail prices.

She doesn't understand that Inflation is not caused by rising retail prices.

Inflation is caused by too much money sloshing around the system at a time of high velocity of money. I=M*V

In the darkest days of the 1970s the then socialist government tried to control inflation by trying to control retail prices by diktat. They set up a Ministry of Prices. Shirley Williams was the Minister who had the power to dictate all retail prices right down to the last tin of baked beans on supermarket shelves. They made no attempt to address the fundamental cause of Inflation. Money (of the fiat variety) is created out of thin air by the creation of debt. The biggest debtor in the UK is the government itself. Wee Nippy is an enthusiast for infinite expansion of national debt.

The ghastly new PM is little better. She's cutting taxes (though now no longer abolishing the 45% band) at the same time as hugely jacking up government spending at a time of huge Retail Price Inflation (12.3% and rising). Any two of those three things might possibly be achievable, but never all three at once. That's not a uniquely Scotland-impacting thing, so perhaps a wee bit off topic.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1452 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:04 pm

I'm not convinced they are that stupid.
It's that they think enough of the voters are, and history seems to back that up.

If socialists reduce government spending, they become conservatives, and they aren't as good at it as real conservatives. Guaranteed never to get elected again.
If they control prices, they'll fail, but they will of course blame that failure on the rich / big employers, etc. Usual suspects.
Then they just wait for the next conservative government to restock the national coffers, fail due to "events, dear boy, events", and the socialists can be re-elected...and spend the conservative savings (again).

Problem for the last 12 years is that the conservatives are now socialists also. Government spending has continued to increase, with the "conservatives" beating the socialists at their own game of handing out money to buy votes.
In fact every government in the world (except possibly Norway and Switzerland) has given up on ever repaying debt - they have to to compete with the others doing it.

Spoiler: This does not end well.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1453 Post by FD2 » Mon Oct 03, 2022 8:58 pm

I blame Boris' wife. ;)))

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1454 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:25 pm

Blame Boris's mother - if only she'd made her man wear a condom!

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1455 Post by Undried Plum » Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:58 pm

Fox3WheresMyBanana wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:04 pm
In fact every government in the world (except possibly Norway and Switzerland) has given up on ever repaying debt - they have to to compete with the others doing it.
They are the only(?) two countries in the world who have a wealth tax and successfully benefit from it.

They are also two of the loveliest countries in Europe.

Co-incidence? You decide.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1456 Post by FD2 » Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:57 am

Caledonian Sleeper to be Nationalised


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... -sturgeon/


It will be interesting to read about travellers' experiences when the SNP has been running the service for a couple of years. After all they have been very economical with the ferry contract and will want to keep financial expenditure under tight control. They have also been very good at keeping the Scotrail drivers' pay bill to a minimum. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61457827 =))


London to Scotland Caledonian Sleeper to be nationalised by Nicola Sturgeon

Scottish government to end Serco contract seven years early
By Oliver Gill, Chief Business Correspondent 5 October 2022 • 6:40pm

Nicola Sturgeon is to seize control of the Caledonian Sleeper, paving the way for the nationalisation of the train service that runs from the Scottish Highlands to London.


The Scottish government said that it would take over the line in June 2023, ending a contract with Serco seven years early. Ministers claimed services on the Caledonian Sleeper would be improved by being brought into public ownership.

Jenny Gilruth, Scotland’s transport minister said that she had served notice on Serco to terminate its contract on June 25 next year.

An attempt by Serco to renegotiate its contract had been “rejected on the grounds of not representing value for money to the public”, Ms Gilruth said.

The ousting of Serco came despite the SNP member of the Scottish parliament admitting that the company had “broadly, delivered well and significantly improved Caledonian Sleeper services over the last seven years”.

Ms Sturgeon has already nationalised ScotRail after kicking Dutch firm Abellio off the railways north of the border earlier this year.

Fiona Hyslop, the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs, said the Caledonian Sleeper decision “presents another opportunity to bring Scotland’s railways into Scotland’s hands”.

She added: “It is unfortunate that a deal has not been reached to continue the contract with Serco, but these contracts need to deliver value for money for the Scottish public.

“The Scottish government has already successfully brought ScotRail under public ownership and doing the same with the Caledonian Sleeper presents an opportunity to continue to improve the service provided to those travelling overnight between Edinburgh and London.”

Ms Sturgeon has frozen fares across Scotland’s railways while also caving into trade union pressure over pay rise demands since ScotRail was nationalised this spring.

Serco has run the London to Scotland service since 2015. Like many other services across the country, a subsidy payment to Serco was required to balance the books on the line.

Union leaders urged Ms Sturgeon to confirm that the operation of the Caledonian Sleeper would not return to private hands.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, said: “This decision is welcome, but we need a copper-bottomed guarantee that the Sleeper service will return to public hands for the long term, after what looks like an attempt by Serco to squeeze yet more from the taxpayer.

“The Scottish government seems to have left the door open to the return of Serco or other privateers, it should be slammed firmly in their faces.

“More private sector failure on Scotland’s railways is not an option. Our railways must be run in the interests of passengers, not profit.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1457 Post by Woody » Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:54 am

I’ve got no experience of this service, but SERCO haven’t got a great record of providing services in other areas.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/hom ... ing-start/
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1458 Post by barkingmad » Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:58 am

Fox3WheresMyBanana wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:25 pm
Blame Boris's mother - if only she'd made her man wear a condom!
Apparently Boris's mum's man had the right intentions, judging from his literary output;



But possibly he was drunk at the time and slipped the prophylactic onto a nearby banana as he recalled the demonstration in the SexEd lessons at skule? :)) =))

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1459 Post by G-CPTN » Sun Oct 16, 2022 7:44 am

Does the enduring presence of Sturgeon as leader indicate stability or stagnation?

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1460 Post by Undried Plum » Sun Oct 16, 2022 10:59 am

Neither.

It indicates stupidity among the electorate. It also indicates the appalling lack of alternatives. Somewhat similar to Westminster in that regard.

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