Author: Administrator1
‘More on hydrogen buses’ by reader Alasdair Macdonald and further comment by Broadbield
Administrator1
Source:: John Robertson ‘More on hydrogen buses’ by reader Alasdair Macdonald and further comment by Broadbield The average age of buses in Glasgow is 10 years (cf Lothian buses, municipally owned, at arms’ length, is 4 years). So, not many hydrogen powered buses there, or even mildly green ones. Glasgow is to become a Low Emission Zone at the end of this year and the city government has been criticised by environmental groups for a ‘lack of ambition’. One of the main sources of pollution is diesel powered vehicles, of which buses are a major… Read the […]
NHS England outperforms NHS Scotland……in making huge profits (>£120 million!) from car parking including that from disabled patients. SNP Government abolished charges in all but three, where they could not do so, in 2008
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Source:: John Robertson NHS England outperforms NHS Scotland……in making huge profits (>£120 million!) from car parking including that from disabled patients. SNP Government abolished charges in all but three, where they could not do so, in 2008 (c) bbc.co.uk All English hospital trusts charge staff and patients for car parking. Around half of them charge disabled people for parking in disabled spaces. Only three Private Finance Initiative hospital car parks in Scotland at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee charge. A study reported in the Guardian today said: ‘Overall, the study found that NHS trusts netted £120,662,650 in 2015/16 in car […]
‘Scottish electrical apprenticeship numbers rise to nearly pre-recession heights’ as Scotland’s youth unemployment falls to 5th best out of 29 European countries
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Source:: John Robertson ‘Scottish electrical apprenticeship numbers rise to nearly pre-recession heights’ as Scotland’s youth unemployment falls to 5th best out of 29 European countries (c) westcollegescotland.ac.uk According to the Scottish Business News Network: ‘An air of confidence in Scotland’s electrical sector has led to the fifth year-on-year increase in the number of apprentices attracted to the industry, according to SELECT, the industry’s campaigning trade body. A combination of greater employment opportunities, and increased optimism regarding future employability has meant a 6% increase in electrical apprenticeship numbers, with 750 people signed up to begin apprenticeships or adult training schemes […]
Scotland to get a National Investment Bank to help grow the economy and do what the big banks have failed to do
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Source:: John Robertson Scotland to get a National Investment Bank to help grow the economy and do what the big banks have failed to do You’ll remember the trillions Gordon Brown gave to the big UK banks and his expectation that they would use at least some of that to lend to new and growing businesses. They didn’t. They stashed it away to make their accounts look good and, of course, gave themselves bonuses. Announcing the commitment to a Scottish National Investment Bank, the First Minister neatly summed up the rationale for having one: ‘A significant constraint faced by […]
Not good news for Scotland. As expected, Scottish fishing fleet to be sold out in Brexit deal
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Source: John Robertson Not good news for Scotland. As expected, Scottish fishing fleet to be sold out in Brexit deal © en.wikipedia.org My initial prediction that access to Scottish fishing waters would be given as part of a Brexit deal to save greater priorities for the Tory government – Nissan’s sales in the EU, London’s Financial sector, the soft border for Ireland and whatever for Gibraltar – seemed to be contradicted, at first, in statements like: ‘Theresa May to announce UK will reclaim its waters for British fishermen’ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/24/theresa-may-announce-uk-will-reclaim-waters-british-fishermen/ However, my initial reaction looks more plausible after UK Environment […]
Scotland’s revenge porn laws to be more effective
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Source: John Robertson Scotland’s revenge porn laws to be more effective As well as a much more severe 5-year maximum sentence compared to the English 2-year maximum, the Scottish law has the crucial additions of penalising the threatened as well as actual disclosure of intimate images and the reckless as well as intentional causing of fear, alarm or distress to the victim. These differences have been praised by Dr Samantha Pegg of Nottingham Law School as enabling the Scottish version to avoid the pitfalls in the English system. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/law/how-scotland-has-improved-revenge-porn-laws-r5pgkhn7r Scotland’s Justice Secretary Michael Matheson made this point clear: ‘There […]
Ruth Davidson continues to split the Tories over the Winter Fuel Allowance and may damage their vote, hopefully.
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Source: John Robertson Ruth Davidson continues to split the Tories over the Winter Fuel Allowance and may damage their vote, hopefully. (c) Reuters Here’s the Daily Express headline: ‘What is good in England is not in Scotland’ Davidson refuses to back May over winter fuel Based on a Sky News interview, the Express report hits home effectively with comments like these: Amid Conservatives’ slump in the polls, Ruth Davidson distanced herself from the policies, saying Scotland is exempt from the cutbacks. The Scottish politician said she disagreed with the Prime Minister on a number of issues “behind closed doors” […]