32 FEATURE
5TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SPONSORED BY
3 MARCH 2022
From the front line… Probably best not to travel right now, especially up north. BY JACQUELINE CURZON
Apologies to readers for any typos or disjointed text, but I’ve been in hospital for several weeks running, and not entirely on top-gun form. Access to news has been slightly limited. It was shocking to discover that the DfE is recommending that students without a pass at GCSE Maths or English should be ineligible for tuition loans to go to university. Hold it right there. Did I just write University? Back it up….. I know of youngsters denied a place in their school 6th form for failing one or other of these. One has to ask how could any self respecting university even consider offering a place to such an unqualified individual. School is surely the place to acquire basic skills, not a higher institution charging £9k plus a year, although it’s a scandal that schools all too Jacqueline Curzon readily want to pass the responsiPHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY bility for late academic catch-up to ‘crammer’ colleges or inferior court within the next week. Elsewhere a colleges to then upskill these struggling students, rather than risk jeopardising bank robber escaped after threatening their ranking in the league tables. Relevant staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland in offenders, take note! Kilmarnock Road. The man, in his late 40s, Various news articles from Scotland have made off with a three figure sum. Police reached my radar. A Trade Union leader are appealing for information about this has urged Glasgow City Council to sell a faincident in the Shawlands area of the city, mous Salvador Dali painting worth millions and are keen to speak to anyone who may for funds towards Glasgow’s equal pay bills. have private CCTV or dashcam footage GMB general secretary Gary Smith, said the from the area. council should sell the painting currently A recent article by Professor Mark Woolhouse, Professor of infectious diseases at housed in Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and put the University of Edinburgh, summarised the money towards any outstanding equal succinctly what went wrong in our first year pay liabilities. In 2019 the council agreed a of covid. Here is a summary in my own settlement of more than £500 million with words. nearly 16,000 current and former employees, however the union says the council are 1. We needed to have acted much faster stalling on the settlement and urged chiefs once we had information from China about to “flog the Dali’ in order to meet the bill. the outbreak, certainly much earlier than The Dali was painted in 1951 before being March, for expedient action would have purchased by the City of Glasgow in 1952 resulted in less drastic intervention. and is worth an estimated £60 million. 2. Border controls and international travel Glasgow City Council say they will only bans should have been instigated immediately to delay the epidemic and allow time ‘know the cost of settling claims once we for preparedness, with the NHS building up have a deal.’ testing capacity. It was much less effective A long-standing murder case appears to thereafter. being close to resolution. Iain Packer (49) 3. Much more should’ve been done more has been charged with the assault, abduction and murder of Emma Caldwell (27) quickly to protect the most vulnerable, back in 2005. Packer allegedly assaulted especially the elderly and the immuno Emma, who was reported missing and her suppressed rather than waiting until the body then found in woodland near Biggar, development of vaccines and enforcing South Lanarkshire one month later. Packer, - effectively - devastating isolation on from Airdrie, made no plea to the murder those who were most at risk, given their charge at a private hearing at Glasgow vulnerability. Sheriff Court, but is also accused of numer4. School closures proved largely unnecesous further charges including 11 charges sary and should’ve been reversed quickly, of rape, assault and abduction against a or better not implemented at all. number of women. He was remanded in 5. Other social distancing measures should custody pending further examination by have been relaxed more quickly and Sheriff Mark Maguire and will appear in replaced by Covid safe protocols such as
face coverings, ventilation, physical distancing and self-isolating where warranted. 6. More should’ve been done to support those asked to self-isolate, with test-for-release measures adopted earlier. 7. He said we were far too slow to accept that this was never going to be over in a matter of weeks, but that we had to learn to live with a virus for the foreseeable future, so our response needed to be proportionate and sustainable. 8. Lastly we should not have ignored the wider ramifications for mental health, education and the general well-being of society. Yet the dice were always loaded in favour of suppressing novel coronaviruses at all times and practically every single cost. A good bit of news is that facemasks are to be ditched from the classrooms following an announcement by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Secondary school students and teachers are no longer required to wear them in the classrooms, however they will still have to wear them when moving around the building, in communal areas such as corridors. Those who wish to continue to wear the mask will be ‘fully supported’ to do so. Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville hailed the move as a positive milestone, saying ‘the last two years have been really tough for the children and young people.’ Tough - certainly for children told to keep their coats on and doors and windows open, to sit one metre apart in class, stay two metres in the playground. These revised guidelines now also apply in public buildings and spaces, with face covering guidance remaining in close spaces, on public transport and in healthcare settings. Isn’t it great to see common-sense restored?! Nicola Sturgeon‘s government launched a controversial Covid 19 vaccine passport mobile app, despite being warned it may break data protection laws, the information watchdog has disclosed as it issued a formal reprimand. The UK ICO raised concerns with the Scottish government and NHS National Services Scotland after only being provided with the app’s details three days before was launched. After reviewing the app, the commissioner raised several concerns with the SNP-Green coalition government, particularly an ‘unlawful’ deal with the software developer to let it access users passport pictures and details, designed to give the firm access to private information to help improve the facial recognition software used in the app. Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tory shadow covid recovery minister, said the commissioner’s findings ‘could put the tin lid on a fiasco and shambles that shames the SNP.’
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A Scottish government spokesman said people’s data was held securely and used appropriately ‘at all times.’ Of course. I have something a little more light-hearted, if shocking. Wind Farms have been paid to refrain from producing up to 50% of the electricity they are capable of generating, according to research which has led MPs to warn that ‘inappropriate decisions’ on wind power are forcing excess costs onto consumers. An analysis found that in 2020 three large windfarms in Scotland received a total of £24.5 million to fail to produce about half of their potential output. Researchers said that these ‘constraint payments’ which were ultimately added to consumers' bills, were being fuelled by a high concentration of onshore wind farms in Scotland, often leaving the electricity grid unable to cope on windy days. The renewable energy foundation charity that publishes energy data said the problem will continue until there is more than sufficient interconnection between Scotland and the centres of demand in England. As an example of the wastefulness, £7.7 million is the amount in constraint payments handed to the operator of a 23-turbine scheme in Scotland. In another case SSE, operator of 33-turbine Strathy North wind farm in the Highlands, was paid £5.9 million to avoid producing 68% of the site’s capacity. Alistair Philip-Davies, chief executive of SSE said ‘wind will end up generating most of the energy of the country’s needs.’ A Government spokesman said constraint payments remain the most efficient way for National Grid to keep Britain’s lights on, and are only used when there is excess supply. A spokesman for EDF renewable said it ‘had to respond to National Grids constraint requests, in order to manage the system and keep the lights on.’ Boo - whoo to National Grid. Around £400,000 worth of Nike footwear was stolen from a lorry parked at a motorway service station. Police reported around 4000 pairs of the high-value trainers were taken from the vehicle in Abingdon services Interchange on the M74 services. It happened last week between the evening of Wednesday and Thursday. Police Scotland said the vehicle and two others parked nearby were damaged during the theft. We seem to get the optimism entertainment from theft reports up north, be it whisky, shortbread or trainers, usually where ‘unattended’ trucks fall prey to petty crime. In this case an appeal was made for anyone with dashcam ‘footage’ to come forward. If they can’t even look after their trucks, how will they look after a start-up economy and an Independent Scotland! Next week an update on the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. In the meantime, keep safe. Love Jacqueline x
