
While you and I struggle with the real world, our leaders sit and ignore chaos in Unicornland
EVER wonder why the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn?
Historians tell us it's because our forebears saw it as a creature whose strength, innocence and purity embodied the values our people held most dear.
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Bill Leckie reckons our leaders are living in Unicornland
Credit: John Kirkby - The Sun Glasgow
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First Minister John Swinney
Credit: PA
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The case of nurse Sandie Peggie has shown how leaders and civil servants are living in a fantasyland
Credit: Alamy
But that was then, back in the 15th century when it was first adopted onto our coat of arms.
While this is now, when the people who run the country have long since deleted those values along with their incriminating WhatsApp messages.
A time when the textbooks really should be rewritten to record that the unicorn is Scotland's beastie of choice because, like our politicans and bureaucrats, it exists in a fantasy world.
And because anyone doesn't like what they get up to is welcome to sit on its horn and swivel.
We see this attitude in First Minister 'Full-On' John Swinney's latest re-heating of an Independence policy which, were it a Tupperware of leftovers in your fridge, would long since have mutated into its own tiny population of furry bacteria who hate the outside world.
We see it in the 67 days summer holiday our MSPs have awarded themselves while the country they're paid handsomely to run comes apart at the seams.
We see it in the £10million-plus cost of keeping a cabal of NHS head honchos in Range Rovers while armies of sick and injured taxpayers suffer endless hours of misery in A&E queues or years of agony waiting for vital operations.
We see it in the self-entitled behaviour of the minority of civil servants who must make their colleagues fume as they use pet cats and a lack of fresh air as reasons to refuse demands to work from an office.
Perhaps most jaw-droppingly of all right now, though, we see it in the ever-mushrooming scandal of Sandie Peggie, the Fife nurse dragged through the courts because she didn't want to share a changing room with a biologically male doctor, Beth Upton, who identifies as a woman.
So far, this travesty of a show trial, this embodiment of a breed of managers too terrified of their own shadows to display even a shred of common sense, has cost £220,000 in legal fees.
Gender row nurse cleared of gross misconduct
Once the employment tribunal which has been running in parallel with it is done, we can probably double that figure.
Yet that's only the financial aspect. What will be so much harder to quantify is the monstrous waste of time and of energy, the positive work all those involved could have been doing all this time, the damage done to the mental health of both Nurse Peggie and Dr Upton over 18 tortuous months.
And all because their bosses lacked either the savvy or the will – maybe even both – to sit the pair of them down and talk their problems through until they learned something from them.
Not only would that have cost hee-haw, it might even have helped create a happier, more opem-minded workplace; an achievement that would, for me at least, have been priceless.
History has failed to teach Israel's leaders
LET us die of hunger, it is better.
The plaintive words of a survivor after the latest brutal attack by Israeli forces on starving Palestinians queueing for food and water.
After more than 70 died over the weekend – taking the total since a blockade on aid was lifted beyond 700 – Tel Aviv leaders claimed its troops 'faced a real threat' from crowds.
Sure. When they have all the guns and the crowds barely have the strength left to walk.
After the horrors Jewish people endured during World War II, the humiliation and the torture and the near eradication, I can't get my head round why Netanyahu's government now seem so hell-bent on wiping out their next-door neighbours in Israel's name.
Does history teach us nothing?
Or does it simply turn us into the thing that we once feared and despised?
Instead?
No sooner had Nurse Peggie been cleared of gross misconduct on Thursday than her employment hearing was re-starting on Friday.
And halfway through that day's evidence, NHS Fife had the brainfart of all brainfarts and decided to release a 1,700-word statement that left her legal team without a name.
They claim this attack was signed off on by their own lawyers, but not only did the KC acting for them in the employment hearing claim not to have seen it before it went live, it has since been edited twice to remove veiled suggestions that Nurse Peggie's supporters had threatened opponents with violence.
Seriously, how do these chancers attain such a level of arrogance that not only can't they admit defeat and rethink their mindset, but they swagger straight back into another unwinnable fight?
Paying fortunes to turn a he-said-she-said shopfloor rammy into a national news story has done not one person one shred of good – yet it seems this is the only way our politicians and pen-pushers know how to deal with anything, to lawyer up and chuck money at it.
Scattercash attitude
They wouldn't dare have the same scattercash attitude were they running a private company, with profits to protect and shareholders to keep onside.
Yet as this farrago of a sham of a mockery proves yet again, they clearly see the public purse as Monopoly money.
As political analyst Chris Deerin wrote in yesterday's paper, the SNP have long since lived by the motto of 'public sector good, private sector bad', with the people they shoehorn into positions of power within the civil service become untouchable; in return, naturally, for never questioning anything Holyrood does.
This is a key reason why Scotland has 14 health boards – meaning 14 CEOs, 14 heads of finance, 14 HR departments and the rest – for five million people, while London has just five for almost double the population.
This bloated level of over-management, in turn, is a key reason why hospitals can't afford to provide the the basic services its clinical staff desperately want to. And so it goes, through health and schools and local councils, from potholes to ferries to courtrooms and back again.
Bottom line? While you and I struggle along in the real world, the ones calling the shots are drifting along in Unicornland, blissfully unware of the utter chaos they're causing.
Or worse still, not giving the teeny-tiniest flying you-know-what.
Finally the airline returned my bag!
FILED last week's column on Aer Lingus losing my luggage for a week then went straight back into battle.
Rang a call centre, asked when my gear was being returned and – as no one who read the previous rant will be surprised to hear - was told that 'once we have an update, you will be informed'.
Ten minutes later, they emailed to confirm my bag would be flying the following day to Boston and then on to Denver.
Well, dear reader, enough was enough.
I googled the CEO of Aer Lingus, copied them into an email addressed to their head of customer services and firmly but politely explained my predicament.
Four minutes after that?
The phone rings and it's the their head of baggage handling, apologising most sincerely and promising that the wee fella would be arriving in Glasgow at 7.40 that night and would then be sent directly to me in a cab.
At which point we'll skim over the fact that it was in fact the following afternoon and an argument with Glasgow Airport before it was finally dropped off. And concentrate instead on these very valid questions:
What if the person whose trip had been ruined by a missing bag didn't have the clout of a newspaper column behind them?
What if they didn't have the cheek to take their problem the very top of the tree?
And why should it take such drastic action to attain such a basic level of service in the first place?
Answers on the back of a used boarding pass to the usual address.
In Glasgow, that is, not Colorado.
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Glasgow Times
32 minutes ago
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The Herald Scotland
42 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill 42 in Gaza as many of the dead sought aid
Israel's military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd 'in response to an immediate threat' and it was not aware of any casualties. Those killed in the strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty. Palestinians mourn during the funeral of people who were killed while trying to reach aid trucks (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/PA) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks with Hamas. His comments came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the US, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when. The United Nations (UN) and experts have said that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition. While Israel's army says it is allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting. The Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. During the shootings on Friday night, Sherif Abu Aisha said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from the aid trucks, but as they got close, they realised it was from Israel's tanks. That is when the army started firing on people, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle, a father of eight, was among those killed. 'We went because there is no food… and nothing was distributed,' he said. Marwa Barakat (centre) mourns during the funeral of her son Fahd Abu Hajeb (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/PA) Israel is facing increased international pressure to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticising Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. For the first time in months Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote in a newspaper article on Saturday that the UK was 'working urgently' with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza. Aid group the World Central Kitchen said on Friday it was resuming limited cooking operations in Deir al-Balah after being forced to halt due to a lack of food supplies. It said it is trying to serve 60,000 meals daily through its field kitchen and partner community kitchens, less than half of what it has cooked over the previous month.


Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Sandie Peggie case sparks lawsuit against trade union for rejecting toilet ban
The PCS union is facing legal action from one of its senior members, Fiona Macdonald, who claims to have been discriminated against due to her gender critical views. Sandie Peggie's battle with NHS Fife has sparked another gender critical woman to take legal action against her trade union for discriminating against her. The nurse is embroiled in an employment tribunal where she is suing the health board after being unhappy with sharing a female changing room with a trans female. Now a leading trade unionist is using her union after members campaigned and rallied against her due to her gender critical views. PCS also issued a statement rejecting the Supreme Court's ruling that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, the term "woman" refers to a biological woman, and "sex" refers to biological sex. According to the Herald, Fiona Macdonald believes that PCS has been taken over by trans rights activists who have tried to destroy her life due to her gender critical beliefs. She has hired Ms Peggie's employment lawyer Margaret Gribbon to fight her case for her. Ms Macdonald has held several leadership positions within the union and says she was subjected to a sustained campaign of hostility for defending women's single-sex spaces, reports the Scottish Daily Express. She said: 'I'm suing them because of my belief system. I believe in a materialist and collectivist approach to politics and this runs contrary to my beliefs. Someone needs to burst this bubble in the unions and I'm now prepared to do it. I'd contacted a lawyer before for advice but then dropped it. Who wants to take action against their own union? 'Then recently, a friend of mine died and it prompted me to change my mind. She had also been an active trade unionist, but had found herself hounded and humiliated for her beliefs. The Supreme Court ruling [on single sex spaces] aligned with my perspective and yet my union issued a statement rejecting it. When I saw what was happening to Sandie Peggie, it made up my mind.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Ms Gribbon of McGrade Employment Solicitors in Glasgow, added: 'Trade unions, like employers, must comply with their duties under the Equality Act. That means they must not discriminate against members who hold gender critical or sex realists beliefs. 'Trade unions who are actively and publicly disassociating themselves with this lawful protected belief by, for instance, openly criticising the Supreme Court's decision in FWS may find it more difficult to defend litigations raised by members claiming they have been harassed or refused union assistance for holding and/or manifesting sex realist beliefs." Ms Peggie is also planning to sue her union, the Royal College of Nursing, after it failed to offer her support during her court action. A spokesperson for the PCS said: 'PCS notes that this matter may be the subject of litigation. Accordingly, we will not be offering any comment at this time.'