The SNP : FFA / OIL Revenue Sham Exposed At Last : The Dream Is Dead

[rob murray]

No, that will never happen. If I thought it would fund the services we need here, I would happily pay for prescriptions. Something as basic as hematology, is a 220 mile round trip. Caithness has an ageing population, surely they should'nt have to be made to endure that trip for the most basic of procedures.

Again good point, Im not to up on medical services delivered locally..... issues problems etc but Ive glanced at the NHS thread on here and there is some interesting stuff on there, you should take a look, and your right, an aging population like most of the country.....minimising travel inconvenience should be top of the agenda, puuting the needs of patients first as fard as is possible, and of course more local control and say in services, I maybe wrong but it seems that the health agenda is driven by NHS Highland ( Inverness ) ?

[cptdodger]

Again good point, Im not to up on medical services delivered locally..... issues problems etc but Ive glanced at the NHS thread on here and there is some interesting stuff on there, you should take a look, and your right, an aging population like most of the country.....minimising travel inconvenience should be top of the agenda, puuting the needs of patients first as fard as is possible, and of course more local control and say in services, I maybe wrong but it seems that the health agenda is driven by NHS Highland ( Inverness ) ?

I would say you are right (about Inverness) Everything is centralized at Raigmore, one of my Consultants told me he offered to come to Wick once a month to hold a clinic, he was'nt allowed. Cost aside, he is a Gastroenterologist ( I will let you look up what that covers!) but suffice to say, for some, a lengthy journey as not always advisable.

As you will have gathered I am a mere incomer (I've been called worse!) so my opinion probably does'nt count, however, you are right in what you say about the whole of the UK has an ageing population, but where we differ to a large majority of the rest of the UK is once Dounreay goes, a lot of people will move South, they will have to because what will they do here? Thurso will eventually go back to what it was pre Dounreay. Now if this area cannot maintain, or attract young families to the area, all you will be left with, is an ageing population, and the money the NHS invest here (Caithness) will reflect that.

Now I might be completely wrong and the SNP has something up their sleeve to replace Dounreay with another employer which will maintain the employment level we see at Dounreay today, but I can't see it.

[rob murray]

I would say you are right (about Inverness) Everything is centralized at Raigmore, one of my Consultants told me he offered to come to Wick once a month to hold a clinic, he was'nt allowed. Cost aside, he is a Gastroenterologist ( I will let you look up what that covers!) but suffice to say, for some, a lengthy journey as not always advisable.

As you will have gathered I am a mere incomer (I've been called worse!) so my opinion probably does'nt count, however, you are right in what you say about the whole of the UK has an ageing population, but where we differ to a large majority of the rest of the UK is once Dounreay goes, a lot of people will move South, they will have to because what will they do here? Thurso will eventually go back to what it was pre Dounreay. Now if this area cannot maintain, or attract young families to the area, all you will be left with, is an ageing population, and the money the NHS invest here (Caithness) will reflect that.

Now I might be completely wrong and the SNP has something up their sleeve to replace Dounreay with another employer which will maintain the employment level we see at Dounreay today, but I can't see it.

We are all "incommers" eh ! Your opinion counts 100% you live in Caithness, I mean technically Im a Caithnessian, lived there for 36 years and been out over 20 years, living down south in Ross shire ( to some on here Im an exile and in Ross shire Im an incommer lol lol lol ) Totally agree with Dounreay run down concequences...realistically the only thing that would have replaced Dounreay is....another nuclear site and thats not on the agenda for the SNP. A wee while back about 2 years ago when renewables was the big thing...Scotland was going to be..."the saudi arabia of renewables" : HIE along with other agencies in propoganda endorsed by the scottish government, issued a weighty newspaper insert all about how the Dounreay run down would be harmonised along side renewable "opportunities"...nowt to worry about.... jump from one local job to another, well given "problems" with wave and tidal devices, theres little chance of that, the off shore wind farm ( Beatrice Filed ) can create jobs mostly based in Wick as the supply base but a couple of thousand dounreay jobs ( and the local supply chain providers as well ) wont be replaced by this project..I mean I really hope it comes off as Wick needs a major lift and I hope that the Meygen firth tidal project comes off to as that will create jobs. The way I see it, people say over 50 could basically retire live on Dounreay pensions with wife or themselves working part time..Tescos etc, younger people at Dounreay with sought after skills will up and go, and we will have a diminished aging population, between 1955–58 Thurso’s population expanded from around 2,500 to about 12,000, as the nuclear plant attracted skilled migrants from all parts of the United Kingdom. By 1960, it dropped back to around 9,000, after a lot of the initial Dounreay construction crew left the area.

See the attached url http://www.gov.scot/resource/0042/00425985.pdf and read through the pdf : a new vision for Thurso...but look at the footer it actually says..a new vision for Wick and Thurso...I will leave you to make up your own mind on the "vision"

[cptdodger]

See the attached url http://www.gov.scot/resource/0042/00425985.pdf and read through the pdf : a new vision for Thurso...but look at the footer it actually says..a new vision for Wick and Thurso...I will leave you to make up your own mind on the "vision"

Everything in that PDF is relevant, will it happen, I doubt it. As I said on another thread, I think it was Liz asking why the Orkney's have lovely roads and so on, and loads of tourists unlike Caithness, well sad as I am I worked out how many tourists they would get from the cruise ships if all were full in July alone, 31,229 tourists pumping money into their economy. Scrabster, on the other hand has five Cruise ships due in this year. They are missing a trick there.

As for renewables bringing jobs to the area, it did'nt happen. I worked in a hotel in Thurso last year, and at certain times there was not a room to be had in the area (I know I phoned just about anybody I could think of!) that was not due to tourists, but workmen either working on the windmill things, visiting Dounreay or the substations. We had people staying for months doing this, their companies paying bills that ran into thousands of pounds. So even if there was jobs available to the local area, they either do'nt want them, or they are not being advertised.

The thing is you can explain it better than I can, I know what I am trying to say, it just does'nt come out right!

[rob murray]

Everything in that PDF is relevant, will it happen, I doubt it. As I said on another thread, I think it was Liz asking why the Orkney's have lovely roads and so on, and loads of tourists unlike Caithness, well sad as I am I worked out how many tourists they would get from the cruise ships if all were full in July alone, 31,229 tourists pumping money into their economy. Scrabster, on the other hand has five Cruise ships due in this year. They are missing a trick there.

As for renewables bringing jobs to the area, it did'nt happen. I worked in a hotel in Thurso last year, and at certain times there was not a room to be had in the area (I know I phoned just about anybody I could think of!) that was not due to tourists, but workmen either working on the windmill things, visiting Dounreay or the substations. We had people staying for months doing this, their companies paying bills that ran into thousands of pounds. So even if there was jobs available to the local area, they either do'nt want them, or they are not being advertised.

The thing is you can explain it better than I can, I know what I am trying to say, it just does'nt come out right!

Lol lol lol....I'll try : incomming work men will be working with companies who hold supply contracts with Dounreay or windmill suppliers / installs and maintenance work, so unless a local knows who these companies are and has a skills set that is in demand and is prepared to work all over ( incoming workmen will be going where their companies put them ), then there are limited opportunities for locals, thats why jobs arent advertised, there is very little need for locals to be directly involved. The PDF is at best fanciful and at worst a complete waste of public money sure theres some "cool" post industrial ideas based on creative industries / arts etc....but thats always going to be small time and attractive to "arty people"....not decrying it, but its hardly going to make a dent in post Dounreay employment is it ? Renewables.............I will forever poke the scottish goverment and Salmon in particular over Renewables ( wave and tidal, plenty of wind....from the nats ) as its not happening primarliy because of below

Some Renewables Problems
1 The industry is in start-up format and is heavily capital intensive, which puts off investors, companies have been initially grant funded to try and secure private investment, and private investment usually comes in“groups” ie no single investor involvement
2 the withdrawal of grant funding for private companies which acts as a‘push’ mechanism in the absence of private investment,” has also now pushed away private investment
3 no technological design consensuscurrently exists that the industry can unite around : ie competition in the industry defers any sharing of product design / knowledge, they are all re-inventing the wheel so resources are wasted
4 Companies can raise capital but nowhere near enough to produce fully workable devices (see 1 2 3 above )
5 The Danes took over 20 years to dominate wind energy markets with a serious government led strategy that resolved these issues ........so over to you then scottish government...solve the problems then we may get the promised jobs....but get a move on eh !!

[rob murray]

I would say you are right (about Inverness) Everything is centralized at Raigmore, one of my Consultants told me he offered to come to Wick once a month to hold a clinic, he was'nt allowed. Cost aside, he is a Gastroenterologist ( I will let you look up what that covers!) but suffice to say, for some, a lengthy journey as not always advisable.

As you will have gathered I am a mere incomer (I've been called worse!) so my opinion probably does'nt count, however, you are right in what you say about the whole of the UK has an ageing population, but where we differ to a large majority of the rest of the UK is once Dounreay goes, a lot of people will move South, they will have to because what will they do here? Thurso will eventually go back to what it was pre Dounreay. Now if this area cannot maintain, or attract young families to the area, all you will be left with, is an ageing population, and the money the NHS invest here (Caithness) will reflect that.

Now I might be completely wrong and the SNP has something up their sleeve to replace Dounreay with another employer which will maintain the employment level we see at Dounreay today, but I can't see it.

Talking about centralisation....did you read this in the courier more centralisation ( sneaky cuts in our services ) ...... THE planned closure of Police Scotland call centres in Inverness and Aberdeen should be delayed until an investigation is carried out into the deaths of a couple left in their car for days following a motorway smash according to a former police chief. One-time NOrthern Constabulary area commander Matthew Reiss said the reason for JOhn Yuill and Lamara Bell not being found for more than three days after they crashed their Renault clio on the M9 at Stirling on July must be established.

[cptdodger]

I'll be honest with you, I was trying to be polite about the PDF, to me it was an just an exercise in let's show the locals we are trying to do something, then they will leave us alone sort of thing. There is just nothing sustainable in it, well not without a lot, and I mean a lot of investment. But, they have to get the basics right. I come from a retail background which included 24hr opening, and I mean 24 hour, from 8am Monday morning until 10pm Saturday night (this was England) now I'm not by any means suggesting the little shops do this, however I remember the ship "The World" docked just outside Wick a couple of years back and the shop owners bemoaning the fact no money was spent in the local shops. It's a bit difficult when a lot of the shops still close at lunch time, and basically close when they feel like it. The same can be said for Thurso, when the cruise ships and coaches are in, to my knowledge there is no late night opening (usually Thursday in other places) very few shops/cafes open before 9am, and even less open on a Sunday, even on the run up to Christmas.

There is a lot of people say Tesco's took the trade away from the little shops, or should I say, independent retailers. Well that could be because Tesco's are there for the convenience of the customers, they do'nt close at lunch time, they are open until quite late in the evening. If you close your shop at 5pm and people do'nt finish work until 5 or 6 pm, where are they going to go? Also, the internet is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

While people will say, this is the way we do things like it or lump it, that's fine, but do'nt moan when the tourists whip over to Orkney as fast as they can and spend money which should have been in the shopkeepers pocket, over there.

[rob murray]

I'll be honest with you, I was trying to be polite about the PDF, to me it was an just an exercise in let's show the locals we are trying to do something, then they will leave us alone sort of thing. There is just nothing sustainable in it, well not without a lot, and I mean a lot of investment. But, they have to get the basics right. I come from a retail background which included 24hr opening, and I mean 24 hour, from 8am Monday morning until 10pm Saturday night (this was England) now I'm not by any means suggesting the little shops do this, however I remember the ship "The World" docked just outside Wick a couple of years back and the shop owners bemoaning the fact no money was spent in the local shops. It's a bit difficult when a lot of the shops still close at lunch time, and basically close when they feel like it. The same can be said for Thurso, when the cruise ships and coaches are in, to my knowledge there is no late night opening (usually Thursday in other places) very few shops/cafes open before 9am, and even less open on a Sunday, even on the run up to Christmas.

There is a lot of people say Tesco's took the trade away from the little shops, or should I say, independent retailers. Well that could be because Tesco's are there for the convenience of the customers, they do'nt close at lunch time, they are open until quite late in the evening. If you close your shop at 5pm and people do'nt finish work until 5 or 6 pm, where are they going to go? Also, the internet is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

While people will say, this is the way we do things like it or lump it, that's fine, but do'nt moan when the tourists whip over to Orkney as fast as they can and spend money which should have been in the shopkeepers pocket, over there.

The convenience of the customer ?? Aye that 'll be right, good points made though, the PDF......spot on, an exercise in wind / ticking boxes / self indulgent waffle ( mostly ! ) Arts / creative industries, yep, but remember the customer is king as you rightly say

[cptdodger]

Talking about centralisation....did you read this in the courier more centralisation ( sneaky cuts in our services ) ...... THE planned closure of Police Scotland call centres in Inverness and Aberdeen should be delayed until an investigation is carried out into the deaths of a couple left in their car for days following a motorway smash according to a former police chief. One-time NOrthern Constabulary area commander Matthew Reiss said the reason for JOhn Yuill and Lamara Bell not being found for more than three days after they crashed their Renault clio on the M9 at Stirling on July must be established.

That was just outside Stirling, I read the Courier online and this was in it - http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/sco...paper-1.889692. God knows what the sergeant did with the bit paper, but he certainly did'nt pass it on. What a horrible, horrible preventable tragedy, it was bad enough that poor soul lying next to her dead/dying boyfriend for three days, but what if they had had their children with them, it just does not bear thinking about.

They are going on about enquiries into this and that, why do'nt they just ask the Sergeant why he did'nt pass it on? Those families need answers now, not in six months time.

[rob murray]

That was just outside Stirling, I read the Courier online and this was in it - http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/sco...paper-1.889692. God knows what the sergeant did with the bit paper, but he certainly did'nt pass it on. What a horrible, horrible preventable tragedy, it was bad enough that poor soul lying next to her dead/dying boyfriend for three days, but what if they had had their children with them, it just does not bear thinking about.

They are going on about enquiries into this and that, why do'nt they just ask the Sergeant why he did'nt pass it on? Those families need answers now, not in six months time.

Yes its a terrible, terrible unbelievable tragedy, there's more going on here than meets the eye though : BBC news today : a high abentee level has been a regular occurence at the call centre ie 10% absentee rate
"A 10% absence rate is completely unacceptable in a high pressure environment where people's lives depend on calls being handled quickly and efficiently.
"Service centre staff are already overburdened from excessive centralisation, but the sheer number of vacancies and lost advisor hours are only putting them under more strain."
"The buck stops with the Scottish government on this and the public will no doubt wonder why it is constantly on the back foot with Police Scotland."

Willie Rennie is calling for, quite rightly,a wider review into the operations of Police Scotland. Given the circumstances, I dont want to get involved in the politics, and the above ARE NOT MY words...in case some troll trys it on. Full report is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...ntral-33547375

[cptdodger]

Yes its a terrible, terrible unbelievable tragedy, there's more going on here than meets the eye though : BBC news today : a high abentee level has been a regular occurence at the call centre ie 10% absentee rate
"A 10% absence rate is completely unacceptable in a high pressure environment where people's lives depend on calls being handled quickly and efficiently.
"Service centre staff are already overburdened from excessive centralisation, but the sheer number of vacancies and lost advisor hours are only putting them under more strain."
"The buck stops with the Scottish government on this and the public will no doubt wonder why it is constantly on the back foot with Police Scotland."

Willie Rennie is calling for, quite rightly,a wider review into the operations of Police Scotland. Given the circumstances, I dont want to get involved in the politics, and the above ARE NOT MY words...in case some troll trys it on. Full report is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...ntral-33547375

I worked for BT in a call centre in Dundee, the worst thing that could happen there was either their line or Broadband was delayed. I could not take the stress of working in a call centre whereas you make one mistake and lives are lost. I have no objection to them carrying out a review of Police procedures and so on, if this was the catalyst to get things in order, carry on, but as I said, it cannot be a long drawn out affair. Those families must be in utter torment.

[rob murray]

I worked for BT in a call centre in Dundee, the worst thing that could happen there was either their line or Broadband was delayed. I could not take the stress of working in a call centre whereas you make one mistake and lives are lost. I have no objection to them carrying out a review of Police procedures and so on, if this was the catalyst to get things in order, carry on, but as I said, it cannot be a long drawn out affair. Those families must be in utter torment.

Yes an unbelievable issue, the issue must be resolved and very quickly for the peace of the family.

[Mr Z]

Just another angle on the tragic accident. When you report an accident you are asked to stay at the scene until emergency services arrive. Help them with condition of any casualties over the phone or has that all changed in the last few monthsI know it's not the fault of the person who reported it but you think he/she would have checked in the car or asked by person on other end of phone if there were anyone involved. Like stated earlier this is a strange one in many ways

[cptdodger]

Just another angle on the tragic accident. When you report an accident you are asked to stay at the scene until emergency services arrive. Help them with condition of any casualties over the phone or has that all changed in the last few monthsI know it's not the fault of the person who reported it but you think he/she would have checked in the car or asked by person on other end of phone if there were anyone involved. Like stated earlier this is a strange one in many ways

As I said before, I have been following this in the Dundee Courier, as it happened outside Stirling on the A9. Now, I do'nt know what the circumstances of the person that made the call were, however this was a post on the Facebook Page -

"The caller didn't see the car leave the road. If they had, they'd have called 999 instead of 101 (although as reported in the 'Sunday Times', even that wouldn't have been guaranteed to result in immediate attention).

Accounts I've read say that the only way to have seen the spot would have been from the flyover. And to have reached it from there would have required a 20 mile round trip before stopping on the hard shoulder."

So from that, I would imagine the person only saw the car, and reported it.

[BetterTogether]

Well worth a read a report discussing the FFA/ FFR position of the Current incumbents of Holyrood.


http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7722

[golach]

What price oil now Eck?


http://www.theguardian.com/business/...t-time-history

[rob murray]

What price oil now Eck?


http://www.theguardian.com/business/...t-time-history

Yep and today, right now Brent crude is $48.08 a barrel....but its all crap...oil is just a bonus isnt it an added extra to a world economic powerhouse, so who cares eh ? Interesting that Fergus Ewing is now saying the UK government intervention etc is helping save the day.....read below :

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish energy minister, confirmed that his SNP administration supported the UK government’s tax cuts and subsidies. He said those changes would eventually see the sector return to better health.“The fiscal reforms from the UK government, which the Scottish government has long called for, will encourage additional production and investment that will boost government revenues in the coming years,” Ewing said. Recent data suggested production was increasing, adding to the potential for higher tax receipts in future.A senior Conservative party source said the UK government was likely to forgo billions of pounds in taxation and in tax incentives for the sector to help it survive the slump in prices and the financial challenges posed by decommissioning old platforms.
“Once again, this demonstrates the benefit of pooling resources and sharing risks across the UK and how the UK and Scottish government working together can best support one of our major sectors in the years and decades ahead,” he said.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s public services spokeswoman, said it was “remarkable” that the sector had effectively cost taxpayers money for the first time, adding that it raised challenging questions for the SNP’s promises during the independence referendum.
“The dramatic collapse in the oil price, and the devastating impact this would have had on our ability to pay for schools and hospitals, shows we made the right decision to keep Scotland in the UK and reject the SNP’s fantasy economics,” she said. “The SNP government need to be transparent about Scotland’s finances and the impact falling oil revenues has.”

[rob murray]

read this take on oil prices from the zelous propoganda machine................ wings over scotland http://wingsoverscotland.com/oilmageddon/ no one is "delighted" at the oil collapase and job losses, but the SNP stacked their fiscal case for independance on a figure plucked from thin air......best guestimate, ok its not the SNP's fault that oil has collapsed but it did and if we were independant there can be no denying the country would have a major economic crisis on its hands as direct and indirect ( supply chain ) job losses are being hard hit, and is the case in Aberdeen many support jobs will never ever come back...at $110 a barrel money was a plenty and ineffeciences could be tolerated, now at less than $50 oil companies are making effeciecy savings so when the price bounces back they wont need to ramp up so many support staff....