Category Archives: Commerce

The Groat in Yer Sporran

Posted on April 24, 2013 by davidsberry

You know you’re getting old when you remember what happened half a century ago but can’t find your keys. OK, so it wasn’t quite half a century ago that Labour’s Harold Wilson, after weeks of increasingly feverish speculation and a day … Continue reading →

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Face it: Thatcher Was Right

Posted on April 17, 2013 by davidsberry

Opprobrium has been poured on Maggie Thatcher and all her works, especially in Scotland. This last part is understandable because, whatever her vision and commitment and however you view her legacy, she was neither subtle nor broad in her understanding: … Continue reading →

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Who Do You Think You Were Kidding, Dr Beeching?

Posted on April 15, 2013 by davidsberry

Fifty years on from the Beeching Report, it is still hard to get an objective analysis of its recommendations and the impact of those that were followed. The Beeching Report recommended taking an axe to about a third of the network—5,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Transport | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Helo Now Standing…

Posted on March 29, 2013 by davidsberry

…on Platform 6 3/4 is the 20:15 gravy train for Bristow. Not content with ‘outsourcing’ the UK’s impeccable air/sea rescue services to the private sector, the Condem government, with almost endearingly flatfoot timing, chooses to do so on the 50th … Continue reading →

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It’s the Economy, Stupid!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by davidsberry

Some eight month ago, a blog called “Like Wolves at Lambing” cited a number of diverse sources all, at the time, agreeing that it wasn’t just an economic but a moral malaise that had gripped the country. While yesterday’s budget … Continue reading →

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Pushing the Patch

Posted on March 20, 2013 by davidsberry

Though we’ve reached the Equinox, it surely feels like a long road to the end of winter. Normally dry East Lothian is underwater with its roads and fields flooded after a week of intermittent rain, capped by two days of … Continue reading →

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King Coal Grinds to a Halt?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by davidsberry

Friday wasn’t just the Ides of March; it was also the last day of operation for Scottish Power’s Cockenzie power station, seen variously as the last holdout of Scotland’s age of mighty manufacturing, or as a horribly visible eyesore, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Environment | Tagged | 1 Comment

An Eventful Day

Posted on March 13, 2013 by davidsberry

It is a delight that East Lothian now has its own university and a shame that I take so little advantage of that fact. But on Tuesday, I took an opportunity to sit in on Prof. Joe Goldblatt’s class on … Continue reading →

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Sometimes You Just Need Balls

Posted on February 23, 2013 by davidsberry

I’m sure that it has never bothered Ed that the two of us disagree on so much. I didn’t like the cut of his jib when he was in the Westminster shadow of Irn Broon. That dislike went steeply downhill … Continue reading →

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A Right Wunch of Bankers

Posted on February 16, 2013 by davidsberry

After enduring relative poverty of a teenager, funding any outlay from paper routes and summer jobs and the absolute poverty of being a student, some forty years ago I finally had a salary fit to open a current account with … Continue reading →

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