Better Together? Scotland is Better Than This!

It really baffles me how anyone in this country actually believes that we are Better Together. I can't get my head around it. The best of both worlds they say. I don't think we have the best of any worlds. 

We are one of the most unequal countries in the western world; we have 1 in 3 children born in Glasgow living in poverty; we have one of the lowest life expectancies; we have increasing numbers of people relying on food banks just to feed themselves from week to week, we have western Europe’s biggest nuclear weapons arsenal situated about 30 miles for our largest city, and for 27 of the first 65 years of the post WW2 years we have been ruled by Westminster Governments Scotland didn’t vote for. But we have best of both worlds they say. 

Waken up! Is there anybody actually voting No in September? Why would that be?

 

All I’d say is if you’re planning to vote No and you’re NOT a billionaire businessman, a UK government minister or a Scottish Labour MP (who doesn't really give a **** about his constituents), it might be worth wondering why that is.

SCOT goes POP!: UK government proposes military occupation of an i...

SCOT goes POP!: UK government proposes military occupation of an i...: One of the best teachers I ever had was a history teacher at Anniesland College. When he was explaining for us the significance of the West...

Does everyone have a car in Aberdeen? I think not!

As someone from the central belt of Scotland who doesn’t know Aberdeen well I found the coverage of the Aberdeen Donside by-election virtually non-existent, and as usual STV did better than the BBC (until its results coverage that is which was very poor indeed). Hopefully it was much better locally to the granite city.

I found the campaign very odd. It seemed to consist of everyone sitting in TV studios talking about a roundabout, roads and being left out in the cold by the Scottish Government investment wise.

The transport question was particularly odd as not one participant talked about anything other than roads. Does everyone have a car in Aberdeen? I think not!

As someone looking in the priorities for transport in Aberdeen and Inverness would be as follows…

1. Aberdeen road bypass. 
2. Extending the dual carriageway sections of the A9 to make it continuous from Perth to Inverness. 
3. Improvement of train services to every half hour between Aberdeen and Inverness and reopening of stations to improve rates of usage. 1 train per hour to be express, second to be stopping. 
4. Doubling of single train line between Stirling and Aberdeen, and/or reopening of Angus link from Perth via Forfar to Aberdeen with resultant improvements to train services which are badly needed so there are half hourly services from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. 
5. Replacement of semaphore signals with coloured light signalling equipment north of Perth and Dundee at least as far as Inverness. 
6. Reopening of Deeside railway line at least as far as Banchory, with a view to reopening remaining line to Aboyne and then Ballater. 
7. Reopening of rail line to Peterhead.
8. Reopening of rail line to Fraserburgh. 

As far as I am aware 1 and 2 and at least part of 3 is all ready planned, but I would strongly agree that is odd that Aberdeen as Europe’s oil capital city has been left out of major transport projects until now.

Perhaps however this is partly due to the preoccupation of the local political parties with roads that seemed to come across from the recent media coverage (what there was of it anyway).

If the Scottish Government was permitted by its own people to gain control of all the economic levers available to it I believe the above would become of greater importance than they are now. Vote Yes in next years independence referendum!

FIRST GLASGOW SIMPLICITY MAKES JOURNEYS MORE COMPLEX

My response to the recent alterations in bus services across Glasgow has been to try to avoid using the bus at all.

Avoid using the bus at all

As someone who is ill and therefore cannot walk far, the main reason for using the bus before was that it went closest to my final destination without the need to change routes in the city centre.

This for the majority of my journeys is now not available and therefore First Glasgow Simplicity has made journeys more COMPLEX not simpler!

COMPLEXITY NOT SIMPLICITY

I have therefore been getting the train instead. Although it does involve a longer walk at one end at least I know that I will get there, and I know the time of arrival which was not always the case with the bus. And I do not need to try to coordinate two buses at different bus stops in the city centre which is virtually impossible.

Coordination of two routes in city centre virtually impossible

It has also proved to be slightly cheaper overall although I no longer have the freedom of having my bus pass at hand for additional journeys.

First Glasgow have removed two of the main reasons to use their services in this latest gimmick to save money i.e. the comprehensive coverage of their route network, and the simplicity and ease with which you can use it.

Re-regulate the bus services

It is a far cry from the bus services pre-deregulation. These were there to serve the public not provide profits for the companies which provide them. Perhaps under independence if the Scots vote for it we may have the chance to re-regulate our bus services once more. Vote Yes!