The latest reminder that Scottish devolution is only symbolic:
LNER is a train company company owned by the UK government. It provides services in Scotland, and it has decided it can ignore Scottish law.
As of today, England has ended all restrictions that were in place to stop the spread of Covid, even though the plague numbers are so high the US is advising its citizens not to travel to the UK.
This is not the case in Scotland, which still requires mask-wearing and social distancing on trains. But LNER has decided Scottish law does not apply to it in Scotland, declaring, “We have made the decision to operate under English guidance, with regards to social distancing on cross border services, to provide consistency to customers.”
Yet again, Scotland gets what England votes for, to the extent that a transport company can decide to break the law.
I had a window seat on the flight to Iceland, and, as we passed over mountains, cities and ocean, I was almost overwhelmed by the absurdity of human arrogance, the small meanness with which a few people in a few offices arbitrarily decide where a person is allowed to go. There are more than six million known (to us) species on land and in the air, and more than two million in water. Land, water and air are indifferent to any idea of ownership held by us tiny creatures, and so is love.
Nicola Sturgeon says tomorrow’s election is the most important Scotland has had in decades. While we expect hyperbole from politicians, especially close to an election, she is not exaggerating. It might be the most important Scottish election ever.
When it comes to disgracing oneself in public, Alex Salmond is a hard man to beat, but Mr Galloway is up to the challenge. Now the leader of the All For Unity party, yesterday he wrote on Tw****r:
“Peter Bell, Barrhead Boy, Robin McAlpine, James Kelly, Jeggit, Stuart Campbell, Iain Lawson, and me – I could go on with a dozen more – these were the writers to whom pro-Independence people turned in their hundreds of thousands to escape from the diet of unionist propaganda they were fed from the BBC and papers. These bloggers and independent journalists were, along with the All Under One Banner marches, the heartbeat of Independence.”
Oh, those were the days. And then he moves from pitiful to insane:
“I regard this election as just the start for Alba. I look forward to participating in democratic debate that shapes its policies.”
This is up there with his recent prediction that Joanna Cherry would replace Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister within a year. Or was it six months?
In the last two days, more than 3500 people have signed the petition to save Maryhill Library. And now Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken claims there are no plans to close it, just to change its location to the other side of Maryhill Road.
I have yet to hear from any of the gentlemen addressed in this post, so today I dared to make some of what Andrew Baddon, election assistant to Bob Doris MSP, called “political social media posts.”
I am addressing this letter to you because I live in Maryhill, Glasgow, so you are my MP, my MSP and my councillor respectively. Like you, I am also a member of the SNP, and so I was disturbed by an email I received today from Andrew Baddon, election agent for Mr Doris, part of which said:
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