Trump is out to destroy the rules-based world order
I cannot help in the situation we see unfolding in the Middle East, where western involvement has a record of leaving turmoil and bitterness behind it, contemplating the words of Burns: 'forward tho' I canna see, I guess and fear.'
Jim Sillars, Edinburgh.
Read more letters
Dreading our rail future
Is the long-running rail rumour to be proved right? That the replacements for our current long-distance fleet are to be Class 222 Meridians? The transport stars seem to be aligning that way.
Let me pour scorn on these 222s, as well as asking the question: why are we in Scotland being landed with such shoddy trains for service on what should be our premier lines?
These 'new' long-distance trains are actually third-hand, having passed through Midland Main Line and East Midlands Railways.
What's their quality? 'Cramped, noisy, smelly. They're crap.' These five dismissive words belong to a noted planning director, someone well acquainted with railway work.
My own experience with Class 222 Meridians is of incessant racket from vibrating underfloor engines, chemical toilets that stink, a body shell that severely restricts passenger space, and a general air of the thoroughly shabby. I was stuck in Derby Station for an hour last year, and it proved deeply depressing seeing these contemptible trains in action. Actually using them proved worse, starting with basics such as lack of luggage space.
When ScotRail introduced the current long-distance fleet of HSTs (High Speed Trains), there were grouses that they were half a century old. True, but thanks to their design, these same trains have proved themselves winners down two generations. They're sturdy, fast, quiet, right for the job, and possess legroom, bike spaces, luggage areas and real toilets. Their style and speed engender pride in our nation.
Yet ScotRail and its inept overseer Transport Scotland now bleat that HSTs are 'expensive to run and maintain'. If this is true, why were HSTs acquired in the first place?
Away back in 1989, a most awful fleet of trains designated for Scotland's long-distance work was rolled out, the utterly contemptible 158s and 170s (the latter were initially christened Turbostars, a name scarcely worthy of The Beano). It took 34 years of campaigning to rid ourselves of this rubbish. Throughout, Transport Scotland proved blind and deaf to the fact that the same type of train serving what should be our premier long-distance routes of Glasgow/Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness was actually the same Dinky toy that trundled the commuter service to Cumbernauld.
So who in Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government is responsible for considering these Meridians? Why might the leadership of our nation settle for the cheap and nasty? If Class 222 Meridians are so wonderful, why is East Midlands Railways so keen to get rid of them?
A final question: has our nation become Glaikit Scotland, a land of numpties so lacking in gumption that we'll meekly accept long-distance trains foisted on us that utterly lack in every area of real rail quality?
Gordon Casely, Crathes.
Just picture, a lot of rubbish
This might help Jane Lax (Letters, June 18) picture what 600,000 tons of waste looks like.
A ton of waste is one cubic metre so if Jane can imagine a pile of used nappies, tattie peelings, empty baked bean tins and other sundry detritus that is about four miles long, 30 feet high and 30ft wide she won't be far away.
Although she should be, because the pong will be something else.
Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.
Scotland's ban on sending municipal waste to landfill is due to come into effect at the end of the year (Image: Colin Mearns)
A waste of effort
I write in response to Catherine Hunter's recent article ('Call for more education on recycling as Glasgow rated among worst for action', The Herald, June 12).
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment expressed. However, I recently visited Dawsholm Recycling Centre, where I carefully distributed the material I had brought in the appropriately designated areas only to see a bulldozer move the garden waste and mix it with the non-recyclable material.
I note in your article that a Glasgow City Council spokesman had said that 'substantial investment is being made in improving recycling services in Glasgow'. Perhaps, in addition to educating the public, the council should pay attention to what is happening on its own premises.
Ian Watson, Glasgow.
Heartbroken
Several correspondents have written of the delights of Walter Scott. At school, every couple of months, we had to read a book and write a critical review.
Returning from a family weekend, in Glencoe, halfway down Loch Lomond side, my normally laid-back brother announced in a panic-stricken voice that he had to hand in a book review, first period on Monday and he had not read the book.
"What book?" my mother asked. "Heart of Midlothian," wailed John.
David Hay, Minard.
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The Guardian
31-07-2025
- The Guardian
Rail fares rose by 5.1% in Great Britain over past year, data shows
Rail fares rose by 5.1% across Great Britain over the last year, with cheaper advance fares increasing by almost double the rate of inflation, official data has shown. Campaigners said passengers were being priced off the railway after the price of tickets surpassed the government cap on regulated fares, which account for about half of rail journeys. The Department for Transport capped the increase in regulated fares in England and Wales – including the season tickets and urban anytime fares which account for just under half of all journeys – at 4.6% in March 2025, while Scotrail capped fare increases at 3.8% in April 2025. But according to figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), unregulated long-distance advance fares went up by 5.9% and advance fares on trains in south-east England went up by almost 10%. The ORR said overall fares across Great Britain increased by 5.1% in 2025 compared with a 3.2% inflation in the retail prices index (RPI) in the year to March. Inflation as measured by the more usual accounting method, the consumer prices index (CPI), was 2.6% in that period. The government decided to set regulated rail fare increases at 1% over the RPI inflation rate in July 2024, a rise of 4.6%. The cost of rail travel has in some years risen below the cap, with the industry saying that cheaper advance fares set by operators offered more affordable options. However, those fares are now rising faster than regulated fares, the figures released on Thursday show. Ben Plowden, the chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'Rising rail fares are putting people off using the railways and making rail travel unaffordable. The government must make fares and ticketing reforms a priority under Great British Railways to help tackle inflation-busting fare rises and make rail travel more affordable for more people.' The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: 'I understand that passengers are frustrated rail fares keep rising despite unacceptable levels of delays and cancellations, which is why this government made sure this was the lowest increase in three years, and below the growth in average earnings. 'We inherited a railway that was not fit for purpose, and I know it will take time for trust to be restored. 'My number one priority is getting the railways back to a place where people can rely on them and, through public ownership and the creation of Great British Railways, we'll be putting passengers at the heart of everything we do.'
The National
30-07-2025
- The National
Tech expert ‘called paedo' in Home Office meeting on Online Safety Act
The legislation, which came into force on July 25, mandates that websites verify users' age – often using facial recognition or photo ID – before granting access to adult content such as pornography, violence, or material on self-harm and eating disorders. Heather Burns, a tech policy specialist and author of Understanding Privacy, told The National the UK Government and Ofcom had been on a 'full-scale media blitz … really hammering down on the lines that this is about children and it's about pornography'. However, she said: 'It's not. It applies to any service provider anywhere in the world whose services could theoretically be accessed in Britain. It applies to a bare minimum of, the last figure I saw was 60,000 companies. 'What we're seeing over the past week is six years of narratives collapsing into reality in real time.' 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ITV News
25-07-2025
- ITV News
A75 improvements: Dumfries and Galloway villages could be bypassed as £3m pledged
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