Apparently this is what the UK media still believes is true as revealed by this week's outpourings of SNP baaad stories many of which seek to distort what actually is happening, with what they think should have happened, to justify their increasingly rabid tales of disaster.
Take all the hubris over the Forth Road Bridge main span failure. While those in the Hootsmon or Repeating Record office make all sorts of claims about the failure of the current transport minister to act promptly and his clear culpability in the unexpected fatigue failure of the steel structure, there is little or no 'investigative journalism' going on into why, since the Scottish Office first knew the Forth Road Bridge would begin to fail in the early 2000's as far back as 1990, were all suggestions for building a second crossing denounced by a series of Labour (A Darling), Conservative (M Forsyth) and Liberal (M Campbell) MP's in Scotland as a 'complete waste of money'.
In 2000 the board of the Forth Bridge Authority (FETA) were warned of serious problems with the main span steel work if remedial work was not started quickly, followed by reports in 2004 (The bridge will be closed to HGV's by 2013) and 2007 (The main span steel work was in danger of imminent failure) all of which landed on FETA's desk well before the SNP Government removed the tolls, handed the budget for the bridge to Transport Scotland in 2008 and bridge maintenance to AMEY in May 2015.
The same media quickly scurry over the accusations they were trumpeting for their Unionist masters in 2008 that the second road crossing was simply 'Alex Salmond's Folly', a 'vanity project' which was 'not necessary' and bound to cost Scotland dear as the expense rose exponentially during the build courtesy of politically inspired delays (as was the case with Donald's Folly, aka Holyrood Parliament building). Instead we have a second road crossing while not exactly 'just in time' in its delivery, given the unexpected main span steel failure and closure, will come in at a lower cost than budgeted for and be completed faster than planned.
Where does this leave Iain Gray, Baillie, Rennie, Harvey et al; except with egg all over their faces because if the SNP Government had not forced through the second road crossing build just consider the economic mess Scotland would be now in courtesy of eight years of Libdem / Labour inactivity on the issue from 1999. Then again, it would fit in well with their claims of Scotland being too wee, too stupid, too poor and unfit to govern itself.
Except for the National, no other UK 'Meeja' in Scotland is questioning the repeated failures of the FETA board to implement any of the recommendations from their own and external engineering reports for main span steel work strengthening over the seven years prior to the baaad SNP taking over the governance of Scotland at Holyrood. They are resorting to publishing 'leaked' minutes of FETA Board meetings after 2008 in an attempt to blame SNP budget cuts while ignoring the reality that FETA sat on sizable reserves from the previous Forth Road Bridge Authority, ring fenced for works on the bridge, which would more than cover the work.
It is not difficult, on a review of all the evidence available from source material, for a SNP supporter - like me - to suggest a Labour councilor dominated FETA made decisions in an attempt to undermine the SNP for the political benefit of the Labour Party, in the run up to 2011, rather than the appropriate custodianship of the Forth Road Bridge which was their actual concern, priority and 'raison d'etre'. Were the delays to main span strengthening all based on the presumption that Labour would regain control of their Scottish fiefdom in 2011 and arrive, just in time, like a knight in shining armour to save the Forth Road Bridge from the disastrous GNATS.
This is just as valid a point as the tosh and nonsense being pedaled in a finger pointing, howling, Unionist Meeja suffering from collective amnesia, as it grinds on with its increasingly dissonant SNP baad droning.
Take all the hubris over the Forth Road Bridge main span failure. While those in the Hootsmon or Repeating Record office make all sorts of claims about the failure of the current transport minister to act promptly and his clear culpability in the unexpected fatigue failure of the steel structure, there is little or no 'investigative journalism' going on into why, since the Scottish Office first knew the Forth Road Bridge would begin to fail in the early 2000's as far back as 1990, were all suggestions for building a second crossing denounced by a series of Labour (A Darling), Conservative (M Forsyth) and Liberal (M Campbell) MP's in Scotland as a 'complete waste of money'.
In 2000 the board of the Forth Bridge Authority (FETA) were warned of serious problems with the main span steel work if remedial work was not started quickly, followed by reports in 2004 (The bridge will be closed to HGV's by 2013) and 2007 (The main span steel work was in danger of imminent failure) all of which landed on FETA's desk well before the SNP Government removed the tolls, handed the budget for the bridge to Transport Scotland in 2008 and bridge maintenance to AMEY in May 2015.
The same media quickly scurry over the accusations they were trumpeting for their Unionist masters in 2008 that the second road crossing was simply 'Alex Salmond's Folly', a 'vanity project' which was 'not necessary' and bound to cost Scotland dear as the expense rose exponentially during the build courtesy of politically inspired delays (as was the case with Donald's Folly, aka Holyrood Parliament building). Instead we have a second road crossing while not exactly 'just in time' in its delivery, given the unexpected main span steel failure and closure, will come in at a lower cost than budgeted for and be completed faster than planned.
Where does this leave Iain Gray, Baillie, Rennie, Harvey et al; except with egg all over their faces because if the SNP Government had not forced through the second road crossing build just consider the economic mess Scotland would be now in courtesy of eight years of Libdem / Labour inactivity on the issue from 1999. Then again, it would fit in well with their claims of Scotland being too wee, too stupid, too poor and unfit to govern itself.
Except for the National, no other UK 'Meeja' in Scotland is questioning the repeated failures of the FETA board to implement any of the recommendations from their own and external engineering reports for main span steel work strengthening over the seven years prior to the baaad SNP taking over the governance of Scotland at Holyrood. They are resorting to publishing 'leaked' minutes of FETA Board meetings after 2008 in an attempt to blame SNP budget cuts while ignoring the reality that FETA sat on sizable reserves from the previous Forth Road Bridge Authority, ring fenced for works on the bridge, which would more than cover the work.
It is not difficult, on a review of all the evidence available from source material, for a SNP supporter - like me - to suggest a Labour councilor dominated FETA made decisions in an attempt to undermine the SNP for the political benefit of the Labour Party, in the run up to 2011, rather than the appropriate custodianship of the Forth Road Bridge which was their actual concern, priority and 'raison d'etre'. Were the delays to main span strengthening all based on the presumption that Labour would regain control of their Scottish fiefdom in 2011 and arrive, just in time, like a knight in shining armour to save the Forth Road Bridge from the disastrous GNATS.
This is just as valid a point as the tosh and nonsense being pedaled in a finger pointing, howling, Unionist Meeja suffering from collective amnesia, as it grinds on with its increasingly dissonant SNP baad droning.
Nice to seethe facts
ReplyDeleteI agree. And these facts are set out just as clearly (in easy steps) in WoS. I've run out of words to describe my absolute disgust at the print media.
DeleteWings Over Scotland have covered this as well Laurence, in depth. Good to see Tarff's cover here too, we need as much info about the complete failure in duty and care to the people of Scotland, by liebour, contories and libdums over many years.
ReplyDeleteIf the new bridge had not been commissioned by the SNP government christ knows where we would be. What a disgrace that the unionists rejected all advice that we needed a new bridge, gave more than billion pounds back to westmonster, in2006-7? and they have the audacity to blame the SNP for the bridge closure. A bunch of useless gits who do not deserve a penny of the high wages they are paid, to do nothing but complain SNP baaadd.
The people of Scotland can see this clear as day, just what kind of situation this could have left us in, had it been left up to the unionists.