Really dear green place
GLASGOW students are the most hard-up in the UK.
RBS found university and college goers get just £786.60 a month from part-time work, savings and cash from parents – but have higher bills and spend more on nights out than those in other cities.
The Scots city where students could afford most was Aberdeen. Scotland’s fire chief Alasdair Hay has been at the eye of a storm after the Record revealed his intended root and branch revolution of the service. Hay’s motives are founded in a family tradition of providing public service. JAMES MONCUR met the man behind the brigade THE UK’s fire service have been placed under the microscope in recent weeks, with 999 crews putting their lives on the line trying to rescue people from the Grenfell Tower inferno.
The Manchester concert bombing also tested officers to breaking point.
Working in such circumstances puts a huge amount of pressure on those who are tasked with keeping the public safe.
So it’s no surprise to hear the boss of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service saying the two things that keep him awake at night are the safety of his staff and getting the job right.
Chief officer Alasdair Hay, 55, has worked his way up through the ranks. He spent the best part of 30 years on the pumps and kicking down burning doors until he was promoted to the top job in 2012.
His wife Caroline is a nursing manager at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and their eldest son, 32-year-old Graeme, is a Colour Sergeant in the Parachute Regiment.
Middle son Steven, 31, is an electrician, while his youngest lad, James, 25, is a firefighter.
Alasdair has faced some tough times during his career – from the bin lorry tragedy in Glasgow’s George Square to dealing with a massive proposed restructuring.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Record last week, he unveiled his future vision for Scotland’s unified fire service, and insisted his review was based on ensuring it flourished in a changing society.
He said: “When I was a small kid in Causewayside, in Edinburgh, I loved standing and looking at the firefighters at Lauriston Fire Station – all I wanted to do was drive big red lorries very fast through the streets and be a hero.
“It sounds embarrassing now but at the time when I was a young boy