SOME of last week’s English papers contained pictures of Sir Jim Ratcliffe celebrating the UK America’s Cup win in sailing. They appeared to think of Sir Jim as one of the nation’s good guys. But are not his investments in football, cycling and sailing a form of sports-washing?
I say this because he is arguably, at this time, the most hated man in Scotland because of his casual indifference to the fate of the oil refinery workforce in Grangemouth.
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In shutting the refinery down without a by your leave, this billionaire capitalist has followed through on his threats of 2013 when, in the course of a dispute with the Unite union, one of Sir Jim’s tactics was to lock the gates of the plant.
Not long afterwards he argued for fracking as a means of resolving Grangemouth’s difficulties. Sir Jim is not a national treasure, as the English press seem to think.
Alastair McLeish
Edinburgh
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