Glasgow Central Station Fire

It looks like Dresden, I thought as I peered over the fencing and looked down Union Street. The dreich Glasgow afternoon provided the perfect setting for what was left of the building on Union Corner at the epicentre of Glasgow. The cupola that had adorned the building had been shed following a fire started at a vape shop. An unintended consequence of the 2006 Scottish Smoking Ban.

All trains into Central Station had been cancelled, even 8 days later, and the usual search for culprits was underway. The locally based high-reach appliances in Glasgow were not available, and others had to be brought in from Coatbridge, Falkirk and Edinburgh. Would they have saved the cupola? Who knows, and that will probably be the answer in a year or so when the inquiry is published. Unfortunately, there have been far too many splendid Victorian buildings subjected to fires or, more commonly, developer vandalism in recent years

The Lord Provost has suggested a five-star hotel on the site. After all, it is handy for buses and trains, and there is a Greggs just across Gordon Street. There were a few other voyeurs like myself, and Drury Lane was filling up with groups of middle-aged construction workers in search of a bevvy. I had spent too long sitting in a restaurant for a reunion lunch with work colleagues, and my hips were sore. I sashayed up Buchanan Street to catch the ever-efficient and comfortable Ember Bus back to the Park and Ride.

View from Hope Street with Central Station frontage

View from Renfield Street

 

Iran: evidence that the UK needs a revised democracy

The illegal declaration of war on Iran by Netanyahu, quickly endorsed by a miffed Trump, who was not happy when his America First mantra was outgunned by Israel First. His characteristic dismissal of the United Nations and belief in the USA's right to exert its power have not just disrupted but exploded the world's peace efforts. His lack of diplomatic skills meant that the UK and Europe, supposedly NATO allies, were not informed until the day before the attack. Starmer, unsurprisingly, refused to join the attacks given the lack of legal justification and with the nagging experience of the Iraq war in mind.

The consequences of the action are not going well for Trump as the war has cascaded to all the Gulf States. Deaths are already in the thousands, retaliatory strikes have been made on American bases and oil refineries across the Gulf, oil and gas prices have rocketed, and the cost of living is on an upward trajectory. According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 27% of Americans public agreee with Trump's war, and that seems to be diminishing every time Pete Hegseth, the appropriately named Secretary of War, updates with undisguised glee the damage and deaths inflicted on Iran.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the latest Survation poll shows that 69% of the electorate oppose the war or believe we should remain neutral. Only 6% agree with Kemi Badenoch's argument that we should have joined the war effort. No surprise there, she is ferociously binary on most issues, and belligerence is her core value in any debate. On the assumption that Farage is in Trump's pocket, it suggests that the so-called right-wing parties, by being in hock to Trump's American policies, are totally out of touch with the UK electorate. Trump is becoming one of the defining issues influencing voters; woe betide parties that have supported his fiction of facts and flip-flappery.

Set this against the most recent opinion polls in the UK. These suggest that Reform and the Conservatives would receive around 45%of the vote, with the vote for the centre-left parties: Labour, Greens, Lib Dems, and the Scottish and Welsh Independents split fairly evenly. With little likelihood of the Conservative and Labour parties obtaining a clear majority, it is surely time to introduce a proportional voting system for the House of Commons that accommodates the multi-party reality that is the new norm. Reform and the Greens, influenced by the Gorton and Denton by-election and the opinion polls, would prefer to risk continuing with the present first-past-the-post system. We need a democratic abacus that is fairer but also retains strong links between the MP and the constituency.

The UK Parliament is no longer fit for purpose. In a bicameral system, do we need 650 MPs? Reducing the Commons to 450 MPs would still leave it larger than the average representation in the parliaments of the six largest European Union countries, and 450 MPs would match the capacity of the benches in the chamber.  It would also allow them to focus on national policies and possibly reduce their interference in local affairs that are the responsibility of Councils. 

Similarly, how can we justify 850 members of the House of Lords? A second chamber focusing on scrutiny and revising legislation would work better with a combination of elected representatives from the regions, together with independently chosen individuals (tribunes) for their specialist knowledge, and a people's jury (boule), drawn to represent the wider public. In other words, providing a bicameral system where the revising/scrutiny function (Senate) is independent of the Commons and comprises a balance of elected representatives, a comprehensive range of expert opinion and a representative voice of the public. It would be more balanced, nuanced and about a third of the size of the House of Lords; again, this would match the capacity on the benches. This approach would take some of the elements from the earliest democracies in Athens and Rome, along with directly elected members. 

Rob Roy Way: Lochearnhead to Strathyre

Leaving Lochearnhead

Friday, 6 March 2026

Distance:    10 kilometres
Time:          2 hours 16 minutes

Aileen and I began walking the Rob Roy Way after we retired. The intention was to start at Pitlochry and walk north to south, the opposite way of the normal route. For reasons of bus timetables changing and, in my case, the perpetual pull of Munros, we never completed the sections.  I still have two of the 8 sections to complete: Aberfeldy to Acharn and Killin to Strathyre. I decided to walk half of the latter section today as part of bedding in my new hip. I figured that 10 kilometres would be challenging enough, my longest walk since last July. 

I caught the excellent C60 mini bus to Lochearnhead and met a woman who used to live in Brig a'Turk and was a friend of Ellie and Stanley, my in-laws. She had run a care home and was visiting her husband, who was in the community-run care home in Killin. She was angry that Callander's private care homes had both closed, but was full of praise for Killin, which had taken over a private care home. This was largely down to John MacPherson, a redoubtable community activist, who had been the chair of the Community Council and had badgered the Council to provide the support for a community buy-out. My colleague, Helen Munro, had responded to the request with characteristic vim and chivvied the Health Board into giving support as well. The home remains a lasting example of community engagement and the willingness of the Council and Health Board to be proactive in their support.

I got off the bus at the centre of Lochearnhead at Cameron Crescent, a group of 15 social rented houses that we had obtained funding for from the Scottish Office in 1999. The sun was shining, and my mood was euphoric as I headed south for a kilometre to reach the side road leading to the Rob Roy Way. Could I manage a 10-kilometre walk?. Until a few years ago, I would run this distance 3 or 4 times a week.

Arriving at the gate that gave access to the Way, the buds of Spring were bursting with colour.  I settled into a steady pace, rotating my head to observe the arc of snow-capped hills. After making a mistake in following a road to Edinchip, I quickly returned to the route and met a father and daughter enjoying a break on one of the benches located on the route. The man was in his sixties and had an infectious enthusiasm, having taken up photography after a hip operation and discovered the delights of walking the trails. 

I battered on through the native woodland on a twisting path towards the Balquidder junction, where the views to Loch Voil opened up. Stob Binnein was visible, its snow-white, flat-topped, distinctive profile reminding me of eight visits to one of the highest Munros in the South Highlands. The first time was in 1978, it was my first Munro after recovering from a broken leg and meeting Aileen. She dropped her two brothers and me at Crianlarich, and we walked over Ben More and Stob Binnein to Inverlochlarig. The most recent occasion was in August 2022; it was the last Munro I climbed before she passed away. Stob Binnein would now be a memorial to those 44 years.

There had been several cyclists on the route. Some on sturdy mountain bikes, quite a few on electric bikes and some on gravel bikes. A lone elderly female runner had passed with a smile that suggested she was oozing endorphins. I envied her; I had not run since last May, and even that was downhill.

Beyond the Balquidder road, I inadvertently continued on the cycle path rather than crossing the A85 on the Rob Roy Way, which took a route through the forestry plantations. It was an easy section passing alongside fields with horses and stables, others with sheep, but no lambs yet, and there were even some pigs. I arrived in Strathyre knowing that I had probably gone further than I should. I visited the local shop and post office that had been managed by a community activist who had been elected to serve on the Board of the National Park when I was the returning officer. The present owners of the shop had no knowledge of what had happened to him, despite his vigorous campaigning for many initiatives in the area. I eased my aching legs into the car, drove home and soaked in the bath. I have missed returning home at the end of long days on the hills to Aileen, a beer, bath and meal. The bonus today was being invited out for dinner by a neighbour. 

Entering the Rob Roy Way at Craggan

Its part of the National Cycle Route 7 as well

Replacement for the viaduct

Edinchip

Cycling nirvana

Stob Binnein, the white peak

Munro Hotel Strathyre, venue for drinks after Munro bashing

For Aileen

 

Rachel Reeves Spring Statement

 

Blue Labour at the despatch box

Today's YouGov poll, taken on 2 March 2026, puts Reform UK on 23%, the Greens on 21%, and Labour and Conservatives on 16%. Who would have thought it even 12 months ago, when the Tories were haemorrhaging votes to Reform UK and Labour were beginning to reap the anger following Rachel Reeves first budget. 

The spring statement had Chancellor Reeves facing Mel Stride, and they gave a performance reminiscent of Millwall versus Wimbledon in the 1990s. All pent-up anger and aggression with little finesse and no goals. Reeves was adamant that her plan for the economy was working. Strident said she had no plan. I switched off in despair. I had learnt nothing apart from the fact that 16% seemed a high bar for the Labour and Conservative parties. Their rampant tribalism, wound up by an ever bellicose Kemi Badenoch, is a major factor in their demise.

Mel Stride was a player in the economic decline foisted on the country during the Tory years, and his use of selected statistics to divert the blame to the Labour Government has all the authority of a toddler playing with an abacus. Reeves has no self-awareness that her tone and claims of righteousness are as much a turn-off as Trump's posts on Truth Social. Moreover, she continues to believe in controlling public finances, supporting big projects that will take decades to come to fruition and thinking she knows best. Her failure to trust localities and businesses to take responsibility for the parts of the economy they know best should prompt her early dismissal. 

There are some talented economists on the Labour benches with radical ideas to streamline taxation and devolve budgets. They would be far more adept at challenging treasury rules and setting a path for the future economy of the UK. If Starmer has any bottle after the Gorton debacle, he would bring on his bench.