Why Saving Marham is a Lost Cause
There is a big campaign in Norfolk to keep the Tornado base at Marham open.
Itb won’t work, as there is an election in Scotland and the Lib Dems will make sure Lossiemouth is saved.
The Ugly Face of Scottish Football
Scottish football seems to going to be hit by a referees strike this weekend according to many reports like this. There has been this comment from John Hughes, a former manager of Hibernian and Falkirk.
The game is in a little bit of chaos. It needs bringing together and I sympathise with the referees because they do get a hard time.
But managers are also open to criticism, that is part and parcel of the job.Referees need to be accountable and there has to be more transparency in what goes on behind the doors at Hampden.
But one thing I will say, if referees are getting phone calls to their home or work place, or their kids are getting a hard time at school, then that is not on, that is way below the belt.
After all, it is just a sport.
I heard a bit last night on Radio 5, where it would appear completely outrangeous claims have been made to employers as well, with even claims of religious bigotry.
Obviously, these critics don’t agree with the last part of John Hughes comment.
An Edinburgher Makes Peace with Glasgow
Gavin Mackay successfully makes sausages in South Korea. He had a bit of a problem with the seasoning and eventually found one in Glasgow. This he admitted is very unusual for a man from Edinburgh, as ne’er the twain shall agree!
Will Britain Dance In Time to the Scottish Nationalists?
Parliament is discussing going to Central European Time today, so the BBC has a piece about the possible change from Scotland. A professor from Edinburgh University has said that Scots are generally in favour of the change to lighter evenings, but that the SNP has called the change ludicrous.
Let’s hope that every other politician feels that way about their stand.
But I’ve always felt that this very sensible move, which has so many positive energy, business, job and leisure implications will never happen, as it is in effect a vote for something that makes us closer to Europe.
Airdrie to Bathgate
Modern Railways also has an article about the opening of a new electric railway between Airdrie and Bathgate, which effectively creates a fourth link across Scotland’s central belt between the two main cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I’ve read the article in detail and it states that a new station is being built at Drumgelloch to serve just 3,700 local inhabitants. This really shows how different rules starve East Anglian stations of money. Bury St. Edmunds for example has a population of 35,000 and the best thing that could be said about the station is that it compliments the Abbey Ruins. Haverhill has a population of 22,000 and no train station at all.
I think East Anglia could take a leaf out of Scotland’s book and reinstate the line between Sudbury and Cambridge. But that will never get done in my lifetime, despite the fact it could probably be done for a lot less than Airdrie to Bathgate.
The only thing we get is other areas’ hand-me-downs and a virtual busway.
An Exhilirating Ride
The full video of my cab trip from Edinburgh to Inverness is just too long, so here’s a shortened version of just a few minutes as the HST runs northwards from Perth at 90 mph, through the trees.
I’ve also selected this section, as it shows how the journey brings the conversation out of the two drivers in the cab.
Why Politicians Should Keep Their Sticky Fingers Out of Government Projects
The aircraft-carrier fiasco is a classic project, where politicians have tried to be all things to all men and quite a few women as well.
Surely, if France can make do with just one carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, then why do we need two. And surely, we should have an Anglo-French aircraft manning both,as quite a few projects between the two countries work well.
But that more affordable option would have been bad for NuLabor in its Scottish heartland.
The Scots are good at many things, but over recent years they have shown that they are not very good at politics with an English dimension or one with a great amount of project mangement.
I’ve just read this piece from Robert Peston’s blog. The highlight for me was a comment from Wee Scamp, who as you see describes himself as a non-voting Scot.
As a non Labour voting Scot I am quite sure that Gordon Brown set up the carrier contract to ensure Scotland – and particularly Glasow – would vote Labour in the May election.
My logic for believing this is quite straightforward. Most importantly, the design of the new carrier is very badly flawed in that they’re not nuclear powered, do not have an angled flight deck and aren’t equipped with either a catapult or arrestor gear. In other words they are limited to using VSTOL and/or helicopters but couldn’t carry a conventional jet and will be limited in range due to their dependence on needing a refuelling tanker or access to dockside refuelling facilities.
In other words, if we really needed these carriers they would have been properly designed. In fact though they are just a job creation exercise and Brown couldn’t have really cared less what they were or weren’t capable of.
Indeed, politically the only error he made was ensuring the contracts can’t be broken. If they had been then both carriers would have been cancelled and the boost to Labour would have been huge. Not surprisingly though he couldn’t even get that right.
Yet again Prudence shows himself to be an even worse Prime Minister than Lord North.
The Cost of Going Green in Scotland
I was given a complimentary Scotsman on the sleeper, although I might have preferred a Scotswoman.
The headline of Going Green will push Scots fuel bills up £100 caught my eye.
The reason is that Alex Salmond wants to go to 100% of renewables by 2025. It may be a laudable aim, but to do it with just wind, wave and tidal is not in my view a good idea, as there is just so much back-up to provide. Especially, as nuclear will not be used for much longer in Scotland.
Let’s hope when the policy all goes pear-shaped that we don’t have to bail them out!
A Train for the Highlands
We have a rolling stock crisis in the UK, with not enough of the right kinds of trains. One manifestation is that we’re still using obsolete Pacers, as I found on my way to Scunthorpe.
Between Inverness and Kyle of Lochlash and between Mallaig and Fort William, the trains were not in bad condition, but they were too small and overcrowded, as I suspect they are on many branch lines and especially those to places worth a visit, like say Great Yarmouth.
Alan Williams in his column in Modern Railways, says that there are surplus diesel locomtives in good condition and quite a few rakes of Mk. 3 coaches. He advocates using these to replace the Pacers. I wouldn’t, but would use them to replace the trains I rode in Scotland and other scenic and other lines to release fairly modern units to kill off the Pacers.
If you take the Scottish Highland routes, they could be developed into a tourist attraction in their own right. How about?
- Wi-fi evetywhere.
- Perhaps a Dining/Buffet Car in Summer. Aren’t there some Mk 3 ones about?
- At seat trolley service.
- Low density seating.
- Wide windows for the view. What would Health and Safety say?
- Bicycle racks
The Anonymous Widower 