Strike ballot on cover for train drivers
BY LAURA PATERSON A TRANSPORT union is preparing a strike ballot in a row over train driver cover on ScotRail services.
The TSSA claims ScotRail changed contracts for driver team managers so they have to cover train drivers’ shifts.
The union said this has implications for other workers and called for Transport Secretary Michael Matheson to intervene.
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “ScotRail wouldn’t need to force driver train managers to cover shifts if they had employed enough drivers in the first place.”
ScotRail said: “We’ve been hiring qualified and trainee train drivers. While this recruitment and training takes place, our driver team managers will drive trains to avoid cancellations.” BY MARK JEFFERIES AS fish and chip shop owner Ian Beale in EastEnders, actor Adam Woodyatt knows his plaice.
But now 51-year-old Adam is going for gourmet glory in Celebrity MasterChef.
But will he stand a chacha-chance against Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse, 28, or former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, 31?
Fashion queen Dame Zandra Rhodes, 78, also has designs on the title, as do ex-boxing promoter Kellie Maloney, 66, Love Island star Dr Alex George, 27, The Only Way Is Essex favourite Joey Essex, 28, DJ and lawyer Judge Jules, 52, Radio 1 DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams, 39, and heavyweight boxer Dillian Whyte, 31.
The big question is, how will they fare against The Chase quizzer Jenny Ryan, 37, Motown star Martha Reeves, 77, retired football hero Neil “Razor” Ruddock, 51, and runner and exmarine Andy Grant, 28?
Weather expert Tomasz Schafernaker, 40, reckons they’re all living in cloud cuckoo land if they think they can rain on his parade.
But he’ll need to watch himself against Gogglebox star Dom Parker, 55, comic Josie Long, 37, French actress Elizabeth Bourgine, 62, and actor Mim Shaikh, 27.
Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford, 32, will tell the lot of them to take a running jump as he aims to add the MasterChef title to his trophy haul.
John Torode, 53, and Gregg Wallace, 54, will set the 20 celebrities challenges over the six-week series.
They will include a pairs task in which two stars must cook an identical dish without seeing each other.
They will also make Tomasz Schafernaker and Zandra Rhodes meals for diners at venues such as London Zoo, and try to impress past winners, who have included comic Ade Edmondson, 62. BBC commissioning editor CarlaMaria Lawson said: “This Celebrity MasterChef has all of the right ingredients for a series full of entertainment, pressure and fun. “We have a brilliant variety of different characters and there will be some surprises along the way as they are put through their paces.” The series will be shown later this year.
CARLA-MARIA LAWSON BBC EDITOR ON LINE-UP