IT’S great that we have, in Scotland, a government prepared to take control of a failing private transport system and bring it into public hands.
Encouraging, too, to read in The National Nicola Sturgeon saying: “We have a duty now that the railways are in public ownership to demonstrate to people that it brings advantages – not just in the principle of public ownership, but in the practical experience of that as well.” (FM: We must prove we were right to nationalise railways, April 2).
But is that enough? When we also read Lesley Riddoch’s shocking catalogue of wrong decisions and poor management that have beset the construction and running of ferries (Ferries row misses real issue – vessels are unsuited to the islands they serve, Mar 31) people may have their doubts about the government’s involvement in another of our transport services.
The First Minister lists issues that the new ScotRail needs to address: affordability, service, reliability and accessibility in a post-pandemic situation, but how can we be sure that improvements will happen? And how can people get involved and make changes that work for the travelling public?
READ MORE: 'Historic occasion': Nicola Sturgeon reacts to ScotRail nationalisation
There will be a national conversation this spring for staff, passengers and communities to have their say in how ScotRail should work. And then? Will the rail network revert to top-down decision-making? It needs more than consultation tacked on to existing structures. When it comes to changes and actions taken, will we see a shift in power away from appointed individuals towards the people who use, care and pay for the network?
So, let’s welcome the Scottish Government’s railways initiative. But we must avoid on the rails the kind of mistakes made by Calmac and the government on the water. Inflexibility and lack of public involvement mean that passengers have to, as Riddoch says, bend themselves to accommodate the service, when it should be the other way round.
Paul Bassett
Glasgow
IT is not surprising that the “Devolved nations reject Gove’s boast over co-operation” (Apr 2) in the Intergovernmental Relations Review booklet that appears to have produced by someone wearing rose-coloured spectacles regarding the leadership provided by the UK Government.
It comes as no surprise, to those who will be paying back a total of more than £400 billion, that as the UK Government is the only one in the UK with borrowing powers it provided this historic level of support to the devolved governments throughout the pandemic.
READ MORE: 'Disconnected' Tory Chancellor is turning off voters as cost-of-living crisis starts to bite
What does come as a surprise is the claim that apparently the UK Government bought and shared vaccines across every part of the UK; during the pandemic it appeared to be that the four devolved bodies responsible for health services in the UK had collectively decided that it would be to their advantage for the UK Government to purchase vaccine from the limited quantity available internationally on their behalf and distribute it on a population basis.
The other sections on the United Nations climate change conference COP26, City and Growth Deals and the British Irish Council continue reporting that intergovernmental relations are extremely harmonious.
Perhaps Michael Gove should have asked someone in each country to produce a single-page review of the good and bad points they had observed and published that, leaving the public to decide whether or not intergovernmental relations are working to their advantage.
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
IT’S interesting that Chase bank from America is offering great rates online for UK customers. Perhaps this will be food for thought for our own UK banks that are closing down in towns all over the country!
Where do these UK banks think their next generation of customers is going to come from? My three children all started saving with my local bank (thankfully still open, AT THE MOMENT!) only because of loyal patronage to the bank from us as parents. This American bank should be a wake-up call to the UK banks that they shouldn’t assume family loyalty extends to an online branch and that they will continue to thrive and survive.
As to the bigger picture, might it not be an idea for local branches to open again as multi banks, that is, one branch under the umbrella of say four different banks and thus sharing costs, and each bank having its own dedicated staff members? I fear if this does not happen the UK banking sector will die under the threat from global banks.
Steve Cunningham
Aberdeen
I HAVE just read the comments of Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, who has announced that oil and gas will meet the UK’s needs for the next 50 years. She obviously didn’t read the Unionist script that oil would run out by 1989, and again we were told in 2014 it would only last ten years (just weeks before the “discovery” of three more massive oil finds). I hope you can use her announcement to smash any fear stories for indyref2, and expose the lies we have previously been fed.
Bruce Curtis
via email
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