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Sunset from my window as winter arrives <\/p>\nI have tried to read \u201cA Short History of Time\u201d several times but have never made it past the first couple of chapters. <\/p>\n
Stephen Hawking is very clear about the science but I just can\u2019t get used to the idea that time can change depending on where you are. \u00a0It\u2019s another unsettling moment when the clocks go back an hour this weekend. Is it summer time or winter time?<\/p>\n
The leaves are still on the trees. It\u2019s lighter in the mornings but sunset comes sooner than you think. In the north of Scotland it\u2019s an hour sooner than in the south of England.\u00a0 And every year there\u2019s a public debate over whether we should ever leave the security of Greenwich Mean Time. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunset from my window as winter arrives <\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a week in which time has seemed to stand still. \u00a0The news is about things which happened some time ago. Do you remember when Scotland tried to take a lead over the disposal of plastic bottles? \u00a0The Deposit Return Scheme was supposed to begin in August 2023 but it was scuttled by the Westminster government who wanted Scotland to wait until an all-UK scheme was ready. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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PHOTO \u00a92024 The Edinburgh Reporter<\/p>\n
This week one of the firms involved, Biffa Waste Services, is taking The Scottish Government to court, wanting \u00a3166 million in compensation. They had bought \u00a350 million worth of vehicles and machines for recycling millions of plastic bottles and tin cans and they expected to make over \u00a3115 million in profit over the first 10 years of the scheme. \u00a0The Scottish Government says it wasn\u2019t to blame for the collapse and the company knew the risk they were taking.\u00a0The story may have a happy ending when the UK recycling scheme comes into effect in 2027. But in the meantime Biffa\u2019s machines are lying idle and millions of plastic bottles and tin cans are littering our streets and countryside. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Scottish Government is in another argument with the UK government, this time over who should pay the \u00a324 million security costs for President Trump and Vice President Vance\u2019s visits to Scotland in July and August. Last time Trump came, in 2018, the UK paid the costs. \u00a0This time, the UK Government says the trips were private and is refusing to even split the costs. While the four-day visits involved a lot of golf, there was also a lot of public business done, with Keir Starmer and John Swinney spending time with Trump discussing trade and international affairs. Whoever wins the argument, tax-payers will be paying the bill, which raises the question: did we really need 7,000 police officers to guard two men playing golf? \u00a0I\u2019d say it was an over-reaction and a misjudgement of the risks involved.<\/p>\n
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Black Lives Matter Usher Hall Sheku Bayoh posters<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s another waste of public money. The Bayoh Inquiry has taken three years and \u00a350 million of public money and still there is no conclusion. In fact there is no one leading it, after the chairman, Judge Lord Bracadale, resigned this week. The case involved the death of a black man, Sheku Bayoh, in Kirkcaldy in 2015 while he was being arrested by the police on suspicion of carrying a knife. \u00a0<\/p>\n
You would suppose that a quick investigation by the independent Police Investigation Review Commissioner would establish if the six police officers involved acted properly and were not racially motivated. \u00a0But this has not satisfied the Bayoh family who mounted a high profile campaign to have a full public inquiry. During the course of the inquiry, Lord Bracadale met the family privately to reassure them of the inquiry\u2019s independence, but this has brought a challenge from the police in the form of a Judicial Review. \u00a0This in turn has resulted in Lord Bracadale deciding he had lost the confidence of both sides.<\/p>\n
The Justice Minister, Angela Constance, will now have to find a new chairman, not an easy task. But more widely she will have to make the inquiry system quicker, less expensive and more robust against judical reviews when one of the parties wants to halt the inquiry in its tracks.<\/p>\n
Just to add to the gloom of winter, we had a shocking report this week from the Scottish Health Survey of 5,000 adults and 2,000 children.\u00a0 It found that half of those questioned reported having a long-term health condition. Some 31 per cent suffered from obesity, 26 suffered from mental health problems, 18 per cent of adults had asthma, 8 per cent had diabetes and 7 per cent were still suffering from long-covid. \u00a0Not much wonder the NHS is struggling.<\/p>\n
But I wonder how much of the above is due to poverty and how much to our unhealthy lifestyle, both of which we can do something about. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n