THAT our public sector no longer has enough money to perform its functions should be little surprise. The UK is now a lot poorer since, among other misguided policies, successive governments have sold off to foreign entities, or otherwise destroyed, much of the country’s productive and wealth-creating capacity.
It is inevitable that savings will have to be made and/or productivity much improved if our key public services such as health and education are to function effectively. One area ripe for reform is Scotland’s state-funded ferry sector. CalMac "major" ships are grossly over-manned at around 30 crew per ship, of which a dozen or so provide catering or retail services. Why this lavish provision for a 50-minute crossing, for example, when on the three and a half hour state-owned ScotRail service between Inverness and Edinburgh, not even a cup of coffee is provided?
By comparison, the similar-sized Norwegian ferries serving the three and a half hour open Atlantic crossings to Lofoten Islands have crews of 12 or 13, with a kiosk providing adequate catering. Bearing in mind that each CalMac ship has two and a half crews this amounts to some 300 personnel providing a superfluous level of service when at a time of full-employment the onshore hospitality sector is crying out for staff. Again, to compare Norwegian practice with CalMac, most Norwegian ferry terminals are unmanned, as compared with the inefficient labour-intensive situation at say Oban or Brodick.
Taken all together, if run on more productive lines, our state-funded ferry sector could shed some 500 staff with little diminution of service amounting to a saving of some £20 million annually. And that is before we consider the introduction of more cost-effective vessels, operating methods and tendering that have long been advocated, but have been studiously ignored by officials. It’s time to tackle this sacred cow.
Roy Pedersen, Inverness.
Read more: Send the Ferguson ferries to the Hebrides and give Arran Turkish pair
What's happening to humanity?
I’M going to sound like the moaning old git I am, but when I went to school pupils’ behaviour was generally satisfactory and teachers’ jobs were much easier simply because of the implied threat of corporal punishment backed by the fact that if you “got the belt” your parents were more likely to add to your punishment rather than run to the school and berate the staff for molesting their little paragon of virtue.
It is however pointless discussing unacceptable behaviour at school in isolation from what is happening in the rest of society. We have a generation raised on violent computer games who seem to think stabbing each other is acceptable behaviour. The retail sector is currently suffering an increase in the level of theft, some of it happening blatantly in public by organised gangs. My local Lidl recently had its window deliberately smashed by a group of schoolkids who were ejected from the store for stealing; they disappeared without retribution.
Frontline workers in all sectors of our public services are having to deal with rising levels of assault and abuse. It is impossible to go for a walk or go shopping without encountering morons who either have no idea of the basic rules of politeness and social conventions or care for nobody other than themselves.
I suppose their attitude is symptomatic of a self-absorbed society that tolerates an increasing number of its citizens having to rely on charity food banks to feed their children and a government that was happy to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of the elderly “who had already had a good innings” simply to protect the economy and the interests of shareholders, a government that sat and tacitly endorsed a genocide taking place. Monkey see, monkey do.
It’s not global warming we need to worry about, it’s a progressively inhumane Humanity.
David J Crawford, Glasgow.
Time to lobby the ministers
CAN any parent fail to be appalled at the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) which found that just over a third of school staff had experienced general verbal abuse from students in the previous seven days, while 16 per cent had had to deal with physical aggression, and 11 per cent saw physical violence towards themselves or other staff? In addition, 43 per cent had experienced physical violence between pupils in the classroom in the previous week.
Given that nothing changes in this country until it becomes impossible for things to remain as they are, I urge every parent of school-age children to email Jenny Gilruth (cabsecforES@gov.scot) and demand immediate meaningful action on this situation. I also urge the same parental action regarding Natalie Don, Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise (ministercypkp@gov.scot).
Doug Clark, Currie.
From pulpit to petrol
HOW strange, but interesting, to read of the demolition of the Eglinton Toll Mactaggart and Mickel house (“Remember when ... The best-known house in Glasgow was demolished", The Herald, November 28), in 1966, a new garage and filling station to come.
Once home to Victoria UF Church, March 1929 saw a major fire engulf the building, and a long-time focal point was lost. The house’s appearance there in 1931, is new history for me; its replacement remains, I think.
Diversity to say the least.
Brian D Henderson, Glasgow.
Read more: Forget Curriculum for Excellence it must be no pain, no gain
VAR: something has to change
HAVING seen some really silly VAR decisions in Scotland and England this week I am more and more convinced that the system needs either radical overhaul or scrapping.
In most of the decisions the referee initially made the correct decision only to have his head turned (towards the monitor) by VAR.
W MacIntyre, East Kilbride.
Sign up for our Letter of the Day email.
Hogwarts hogwash
I HAVE enjoyed travelling on the Hogwarts Express with my grandchildren from New Zealand, a lovely experience much enjoyed by all generations present on the trip. And nobody tried to open the doors while we were travelling ("Warning that loss of Jacobite train would ‘decimate’ tourism", The Herald, December 28).
Being on a steam train reminded me of my own teenage years, commuting into school in Glasgow by train. Nobody opened the doors unsafely then either. So who are we trying to protect by insisting on controlling the doors on what is clearly a historic train? How many accidents have there been?
Niall Young, Montrose.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel