Nicola out to ban all drivers... except her chauffeur
AFEW years ago, when the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was about to open in Glasgow, I had a number of concerned health workers get in touch. They all worked at other medical facilities around the city and their jobs were being transferred.
The hospital had been built with 7,000 fewer parking spaces than staff – on purpose – to try to get workers to use public transport. A website had been set up to guide them on their new commute.
One nurse logged on and was told that as she lived in East Kilbride and her shifts started at 7am, she should get a bus the night before and stay overnight in a bus shelter. Ludicrous.
There are all sorts of reasons people might need to drive to work – poor public transport, inconvenient shifts, needing to drop three children at nursery or school before going to the office, or simply having to visit customers or clients each day.
If you fall into one of these categories – or are a police officer, firefighter, social care worker or teacher – you may soon be charged up to £400 for going to work.
Why? Because the SNP and Greens did a Budget deal to punish drivers. Last week, Nationalist MSP John Mason told the rural economy committee only ‘the elite’, such as bosses and directors, drove to work in cities. Now, Mr Mason has never been accused
of troubling Mensa’s first team, but even for him this was a spectacularly stupid observation and one quickly slapped down by the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
Even the unions recognise how regressive a flat tax such as this is and how much it will disproportionally hit poorer workers.
Attempts by opposition MSPs to gain exemptions for emergency workers and those with unsociable hours were given short shrift.
It has become an article of faith for the SNP to make this happen. So members who have previously been outspoken have found themselves quickly whipped into line.
ONE such is MSP Richard Lyle, who repeatedly criticised the idea, saying he ‘did not agree with the unfair tax as a motorist’. It turns out being a motorist plays second fiddle to being a Nationalist. Mr Lyle performed a screeching U-turn, allowing the plans to pass the committee stage by a single vote – his.
Was he bullied into submission by the SNP hierarchy in order to ram the flagship Budget tax grab through? Who knows. But following First Minister’s Questions last week, observers of parliamentary business will have been left with the clear feeling that, as Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t drive, she doesn’t want anyone else in Scotland to drive either. Except, of course, her Government chauffeur.
THE Scottish parliament has been besieged by Extinction Rebellion protesters over the past week. They set up tents in Holyrood’s gardens, picketed every entrance and glued themselves to tarmac outside the car park. They also blocked roads across Edinburgh city centre. While many – myself included – might have some sympathy with their general environmental message, their methods meant public transport was rerouted, the police helicopter was deployed and what seemed like half of Police Scotland, complete with ageing vans, were occupying the bottom of the Royal Mile. I can only guess at the increase in the carbon footprint.