TO my mind this spat with LNER over following English laws and guidance while their passengers are travelling though Scotland could well be a crunch point in the process of Westminster surreptitiously nibbling away at the edges of our parliament’s powers. It is on a par with Murdo Fraser advocating that Mancunians should ignore the legal ban on travel to Scotland a few weeks ago.
To allow any person or organisation to flout a Scottish law on the basis that their organisation is based south of the Border could be the wafer-thin edge of the wedge. Just imagine if a major business, with all its operations in Scotland but a head office of three or four top officials in London, decided that their “English-based” business would follow only English law, using this case as precedent. Where then would be the power and credibility of Scots law?
READ MORE: LNER ends social distancing on trains in Scotland due to 'English guidance' on Covid
In my opinion we have already allowed this to happen more than once, without our notice. How else can insurance companies, for example, be allowed to treat the affairs of Scots customers only under English law.? Even that the Supreme Court can be considered “supreme” in cases of Scots law is surely a breach.
This current instance is an infringement, yet again, of the terms of the Treaty of Union, which protects in perpetuity the independence of Scots law. It must surely be time for our Scottish Government to take a firm stand, and insist on Scots laws being observed in Scotland by whoever comes within our borders.
P Davidson
Falkirk
IT’S bad enough that the Tory government ignores our devolved parliament and government whenever it suits it to do so, but it’s getting beyond a joke when a private company – LNER – decides to do likewise!
It should be made abundantly clear to LNER that if they want to operate in Scotland they have to follow the Scottish guidance and legislation regarding Covid rules. They can’t arbitrarily say that they will follow the rules of another country as if England’s laws have some sort of supremacy over Scots laws. It’s bad enough that LNER were already advised of this but decided to simply ignore it.
READ MORE: Transport Scotland in row with rail firm over 'unacceptable' distancing move
It’s time the Scottish Government came down hard on such companies – stop their trains, fine them for every single passenger breaching Covid rules – and make an example of them. Either we have the power to implement Scots law or we are no more than a mere colony of England!
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
LNER is a train company owned by the UK Government. It provides services in Scotland, and it has decided it can ignore Scottish law.
As of Monday, 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 extend that a transport company can decide to break the law.
Greum Maol Stevenson
Glasgow
I SAW your coverage of LNER. I just arrived at Glasgow Central by train on the Avanti West Coast 11.10 from Euston. There was one short announcement made on the train while in north-west England that passengers travelling past Carlisle would need to wear masks, though this wasn’t reinforced after Carlisle itself. But arrival in Glasgow announced the need to wear masks.
I would say the vast majority of people at Euston and those boarding the Glasgow train were wearing masks. A sign at the entrance to Euston said to wear masks as it is also an underground station and Transport for London have mandated this.
The train was socially distanced in terms of reservations, though obviously tickets were booked before there was certainty about the living of regulations in England. I felt they were behaving sensibly, but what will happen in future is the big question.
Mike Picken
Paisley
BORIS, Rishi and Sajid are isolating as the rest of England is free to spread the rampant virus. Perhaps the new variant that’s bound to emerge should be called the “threedumb’ variant in honour of the three foolish, selfish, callous politicians who are experimenting with our lifes. We need away, Nicola.
Robin MacLean
Fort Augustus
WITH her new job in mind, I see that Ruth Davidson has decided to style herself as Baroness Lundin Links. Am I being cynical in thinking that in her case, “Baroness London Likes” might have been a more appropriate moniker?
Jim Finlayson
Banchory
I HAVE often lamented the poor numeracy displayed in the press these days but I think that your Friday edition takes the biscuit (MPs took free Euro 2020 tickets from gambling companies, July 16) Scott Benton, MP for Blackpool South, is accused of accepting hospitality to the value of £14,006,394.60.
Anyone can make a mistake. That is why schoolchildren are taught, when using a calculator, to ensure that the answer makes sense. A moment’s reflection would have avoided embarrassment, not only for Mr Benton, but also for your editorial team.
Donald Smith
Crieff
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