From the Guardian today:
Members of the biggest rail workers’ union are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members from 14 train operators would walk out on 26 August and 2 September, both Saturdays.
The 14 train operating companies affected by the new strikes are:
- Avanti West Coast.
- Chiltern Railways.
- Cross Country Trains.
- c2c.
- East Midlands Railway.
- Greater Anglia.
- Great Western Railway.
- GTR (including Gatwick Express).
- LNER.
- Northern Trains.
- South Eastern.
- South Western Railway.
- TransPennine Express.
- West Midlands Trains.
See that? No Scotrail. Is that a mistake? Check the Daily Record. Nothing there?
Not one Scottish media outlet is reporting this.
Once more the elderly and vulnerable who watch the UK News just before the Scottish News might worry about the trains to Ayr from Glasgow being cancelled and call off a visit to the weans.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
With the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe etc … and the World Cycling Championships in Scotland at the minute , how many visitors depending on rail transport may be misled by the lack of proper reporting of these strikes ?
They more than any local will be dependent on the MSM for information – unfortunately for them !
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There is a knock on effect though. Last strike affected LNER trains availability and I had to stand for an hour and a half from Dundee to Edinburgh. The train was already full when it left Aberdeen.
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£Billions wasted on HS2, Trident and Brexit could could have been spent on improving the rail service in Scotland. For shorter journeys. To improve conductivity and improve the economy.
People who need to know about transport just need to look up the internet or make a phone call. Instead of being taken in by the MSM owned by tax evading non Dom’s and BBC Westminster controlled lies, Most people too savvy to be taken in. They can still take the bus. Bus passes. Many do. Bus passes cannot be used on the Trams for people out with Edinburgh. Subsidised transport. More buses are needed.
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Well said all
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The absence of reporting that trains in Scotland are unaffected by strikes – thus avoiding a relatively positive story about Scotland – is ‘balanced’ by the main page of the BBC News website’s Scotland page having this headline: ‘Roads closed as cycling event reaches final stages’.
Avoid the positives, emphasise the negatives!
The first four paragraphs and the caption below the upfront picture all refer to road closures, in one case closure that have already happened. Two later paragraphs also focus on road closures. But all are generalised references to closures: they are not providing public service info on times and locations.
It’s just negative framing – it’s disrupting daily lives – of an event that is unique; has been watched by many people on TV and at the venues; has brought international attention to Scotland, and it’s a huge event that has been run very well. In addition to the sports bodies involved, congratulations are due to the Scottish Government, to Scottish local authorities, and to Police Scotland.
But don’t forget: ”Roads closed as cycling event reaches final stages’! The Black Abut is alive and well in Scotland.
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O/T Some more good news on sport and more good news about Scotland’s young people.
The Commonwealth Youth Games (4-11 August 2023) have just finished in Trinidad & Tobago. These were the seventh games and attracted c.1000 athletes and para athletes between the ages of 14-18 to participate in seven sports.
The final medal tally is worth reporting: Scotland’s team finished third with 28 medals in total behind England with 49 and Australia with 64. Given relative population sizes, that’s noteworthy!
Scotland won 12 gold medals to England’s 16. And Scotland’s young male athletes won 8 golds, the highest number of any competing nation! Now that’s newsworthy!
See https://results.trinbago2023.org/#/medals/standings/ALL
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The BBC in Scotlandshire, lying by omission for 100 years.
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In their attempts to deter Scots/visitors travelling by train will no doubt be used by the unionist media to show that the step to nationalise the ScotRail was a massive and expensive mistake.
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The BBC in Scotland is really on form today! In the Scottish Business section of the BBC News website there is this headline about economic development at Bowling in West Dunbartonshire: ‘City Deal approval for £44m project at former Clyde oil terminal’.
The article includes this paragraph: ‘The Glasgow City Region City Deal is an agreement between the UK government, the Scottish government local authorities to fund major infrastructure projects.’ (sic)
So this is an agreement involving ‘the Scottish government local authorities’? It actually involves the Scottish Government AND Scottish local authorities. Just a slip of the finger on the keyboard?
And in the very next sentence: ‘The Bowling development will get £12m from the UK government through the deal.’ And the rest of the finance, the £32m?
The Glasgow City Region City Deal involves Westminster and Holyrood each investing £500m in additional grant funding to the city and its surrounding areas. Glasgow and neighbouring councils are supplementing this by borrowing £130m.
So despite equal funding from the UK and Scottish governments overall, the former is only providing 27% of the funding for this West Dunbartonshire project. Why? And where’s the rest coming from?
Why is BBC Scotland choosing only to highlight the source of 27% of the finance but not the other 73%? Would voters in West Dunbartonshire and indeed elsewhere in Scotland not be interested in what the Scottish Government is investing?
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£Billions going south. A pittance coming back. £Brexit losing £Billions. Scotland did not vote for it. The £12million has gone down and come back.
Scotland raises £74Billion +. Scottish Grant on average £30Billion + pays for education, SNHS, Police, social services, etc.
Pensions / benefits on average £20Billion. £24Billion left to pay for all Westminster unionist poor, bad decisions. Scotland losing £Billions on Brexit, Trident, HS2, Hickley Point, Westminster bureaucracy etc. Decided by Westminster unionists. All Westminster poor bad decisions. A total failure.
Scotland loses £3Billion on tax evasion. UK Gov tax laws not enforced by UK Treasury. Scotland cannot borrow £6Billion pay for by growth. Scotland pays £1Billion more for Trident and the military. Scotland has lost £Billions because of Brexit not voted for in Scotland. Another con.
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