Let the train take the strain – it was a famous slogan used in marketing campaigns to encourage people to use our railways.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of Scots hop aboard our railways to travel to work, to see family or simply for a good day out.
It’s a service that has frustrated many commuters over the years – cancelled trains, late trains, skipped stops – but it was still always seen as a lifeline service.
And after years of mismanagement of our railways by the private company Abellio, and a more than decade-long campaign by Scottish Labour, on April 1 the SNP finally brought our railways into public ownership.
This was not meant to be an April Fools’ Day joke.
Let me be clear, I continue to support the public ownership of ScotRail but that should mean a better, not poorer, service for passengers.
This week, the new Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth announced swingeing cuts to rail services around our country.
Under the SNP’s plans, the number of services will be savagely slashed from 2150 weekday services to only 1456. This is the biggest cut to train services in more than half a century.
Stations across the country will be left with no services, leaving communities stranded and cut off from services and cities.
Inter-city services and suburban rail lines will be facing cuts too. Live in North Berwick but work in Edinburgh? Forget working late or going for drinks on a Friday – your last train is now at 7.40pm.
Fancy taking in a concert at the Hydro in Glasgow before going home to Stirling?
You’ll need to leave before the show starts to get the last train at 7.50pm. How many young people who live in the suburbs will be forced to spend half their wages on a taxi to get home from a late-night city centre shift?
These cuts will savage our creative and cultural industries, cut job opportunities for thousands of young people and make life less joyful for thousands of Scots.
Not only that, this savage cut to services will force thousands of Scots back into their cars, leading to far greater pollution and hitting commuters in the pocket.
The people of Scotland are facing both a cost-of-living crisis and a climate crisis.
But the SNP-Green Government’s response to this is to hike rail fares and cut rail services – the greenest form of transport. You would expect the Greens in Government to be raging … not a word.
So much for a fairer, greener Scotland. The SNP and its Green colleagues seem to be content with accelerating decline and hitting Scots in the pocket.
Over the next few weeks, you will hear SNP ministers parroting Tory lines – telling you that these cuts are due to train drivers and their union. There is no industrial action, there are no strikes.
This is nonsense – for years there has been a recruitment crisis on our railways and the Scottish Government has refused to act.
As per usual, the SNP chases the headline and doesn’t do the hard work. Maybe it should spend less on press officers and recruit more train drivers.
We should be cutting the cost of commuting, halving rail fares and encouraging more people on to public transport – it would save families money and help confront the climate emergency.
We don’t need to go off the rails with the SNP – let’s get back on track with Scottish Labour.
We must bring end to culture of cover-up
There is a culture of secrecy and cover-up at the heart of the SNP Government.
After 15 years in power, there is a growing sense of entitlement and arrogance.
Just last week, the First Minister refused to disclose the outcome of an investigation into claims of bullying by a former minister.
After the allegations against an ex-FM and bullying findings against UK Government ministers, we need to restore trust in politics. And that must start with complaints being handled transparently.
But the SNP is refusing to come clean with the people of Scotland over these serious claims against a government minister, despite rightly calling for claims against Tory ministers to be made public.
The public deserve to know the outcome of this investigation as a matter of transparency.
We have seen cover-ups when it comes to the awarding of government contracts, shameful cover-ups when it comes to the deaths of children in hospital and now cover-ups of bullying allegations.
It has led to hostility to journalists and to anyone who dares ask a difficult question of the FM.
Why does Nicola Sturgeon think it’s one standard for her and another standard for everyone else?
Ice to meet you
I love being out and about around the country. It’s great to meet people and hear new ideas. It’s also a great opportunity to see beautiful parts of Scotland and find hidden gems where I can return to with my kids.
Be sure to take a trip to Burntisland and when you are there I recommend the banoffee ice-cream at Novelli’s – with sprinkles and a flake of course!
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