So it is depressing that reform of social care in England, promised for so long by politicians of every hue, is now to be delayed still further by yet another review under Baroness Casey of Blackstone. The basic challenges of social care reform are well known, and it’s hard to see what benefits will come from this further review, except to relieve the Treasury of a significant additional, so far unbudgeted, cost.
A major long-term change, like social care reform or pension age change, has little chance of successful traction in the absence of bi-partisan support – as Theresa May found when she proposed the implementation of the Dilnot Commission Report recommendations. English politicians may now try to duck the challenge, but is there any valid reason why Scotland’s political leaders cannot come together and secure broad agreement on such a key issue as the form and substance of social care reform? While the lack of Barnett consequentials might be a major challenge to implementation, it does not stop our nation’s political leaders showing that they understand the imperative of reform. Co-operation on this would be a sign of strength, not weakness.
Michael Hirst, Kippen.
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Close all school accounts on X
I FEEL a sense of hope after seeing Jody Harrison’s report about Renfrewshire Council ceasing its use of X (formerly Twitter) (“Council quits X after Musk takeover”, The Herald, January 8).
As a teacher, I have been concerned about the platform’s use for school communications for some time. It wasn’t long ago that young children at St Albert’s Primary in Glasgow were subjected to appalling racist abuse on X after former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited the school. X has clearly deteriorated even further since that incident. Additionally, the platform has been used to incite harassment and doxing campaigns against gay teachers [doxing is the malicious act of publicly revealing someone’s private or personally identifiable information online without their consent]. As an abortion rights campaigner, I too have had to read messages from men containing graphic descriptions of how they would like to torture and kill me, with no action ever taken against these accounts. I have been stalked and doxxed by men using the platform, with no recourse available against either X or the individuals involved.
I hope that all local authorities in Scotland will follow Renfrewshire’s example in prioritising the safety of workers and communities in their areas. At the very least, they should ensure that school X accounts are closed and that a safer alternative is used for communications. Having become a Bluesky convert, I find it to be very similar to X: easy to use but thankfully devoid of the torrents of abuse, racism, conspiracies, and generally disgusting bile that clutter my news feed.
There is now no meaningful blocking mechanism on X. If an app were invented today that was frequented by far-right activists, served as a source of disinformation and conspiracies, and offered no way for victims to block their abusers, it would be unthinkable to set up school accounts on such a platform. So why do we continue?
Gemma Clark, Paisley.
How to improve Edinburgh Airport
IT is not credible that the rationale for increasing drop-off or pickup costs at Edinburgh Airport is, as your article states, “to encourage more use of public transport” (“Edinburgh Airport increase pick-up and drop-off charge for passengers”, The Herald, January 8).
It will now cost £6 even for the briefest of stops. For many passengers, public transport is not an option. Even for those for whom it is, it can be inconvenient or expensive compared to driving.
Like Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, this increasingly decrepit public transport facility is run in a greedy fashion. The operator is to blame but so too the Government. It seems to have washed its hands of Britain’s airports, while foisting its own rapacious costs on passengers in the form of Air Passenger Duty.
If Edinburgh Airport truly wants to encourage more use of public transport, I can propose two better ways to do so. First, move the main airport bus stance back to immediately outside the terminal exit under cover as was the case until its recent move to an unsheltered spot (benches would be a good idea too). Secondly, arrange with Lothian Buses for change to be available on the main airport bus into the city centre: I doubt many foreign visitors arrive with a pocket full of sterling coins.
Christopher Ruane, Lanark.
What happened to diversity?
I HATE to bang on about it but once again the BBC Diversity Officer has been asleep at the wheel.
I refer to the new BBC Scotland news programme rebranded as The Seven which we are told will be a bit more casual in its presentation compared to its predecessor and with “permanent presenters”.
The new presenters are both women and while both are experienced and more than competent enough to present the programme it sees that the pendulum is still stuck in favour of so-called minorities. Diversity implies a mix and cuts both or indeed several ways.
I conclude with my usual lament that if it had been two white blokes there would have been a stooshie.
Keith Swinley, Ayr.
Pick-up and drop-off charges at Edinburgh Airport have been increased (Image: Gordon Terris)
Half measures
YOU have a news item today with the headline “Nearly half of all young crash victims not wearing seat belts” (The Herald, January 8). Looking at the figures quoted it seems to me that the headline could equally well have been “Over half of all young crash victims were wearing seatbelts”.
Hamish Scott, Bearsden.
Visitation rites
THE chief executive of the group owning The Resident Hotel in Edinburgh explains that they are well placed to align with a vision of visitation (“‘Elegant’ new hotel opens in former city tax office ‘eyesore’”, The Herald, January 8). Eh?
David Miller, Milngavie.