Podcasts about scotrail

The Blind Companion Card Scheme pilot is launching on the 1st April, where 8000 blind and partially sighted will be able to travel with a companion without charge. Amelia went along to the launch at Anniesland Station in Glasgow to speak to Sight Scotland, Scotrail and MSP Kaukab Stewart. Here she is speaking with minister. Learn more about the pilot on the Sight Scotland website - Fair Rail Campaign | Sight Scotland Image shows three people walking down a train platform on a sunny day. MSP Kaukab Stewart is on the left, she is a woman in a black suit and white shirt. Colette Walker is in the middle, she's a visually impaired woman with a guide dog and is chair of Sight Scotland's policy group. In the middle is her companion, a man with a bald head wearing a bright blue sight Scotland t-shirt. [Photo credit: Sight Scotland]

The Blind Companion Card Scheme pilot is launching on the 1st April, where blind and partially sighted will be able to travel with a companion without charge. Amelia went along to the launch event at Anniesland Station in Glasgow to speak to Sight Scotland, Scotrail and MSP Kaukab Stewart. Here she is speaking with a representative for Scotrail. Learn more about the pilot on the Sight Scotland website - Fair Rail Campaign | Sight Scotland Image shows three people walking down a train platform on a sunny day. MSP Kaukab Stewart is on the left, she is a woman in a black suit and white shirt. Colette Walker is in the middle, she's a visually impaired woman with a guide dog and is chair of Sight Scotland's policy group. In the middle is her companion, a man with a bald head wearing a bright blue sight Scotland t-shirt. [Photo credit: Sight Scotland]

The Blind Companion Card Scheme pilot is launching on the 1st April, where 8000 blind and partially sighted will be able to travel with a companion without charge. Amelia went along to the launch at Anniesland Station in Glasgow to speak to Sight Scotland, Scotrail and MSP Kaukab Stewart. Here she is with Colette Walker, Co-Chair of The Sight Scotland Policy Group, about her involvement in the scheme and why lived experience is vital for policy development. Image shows three people walking down a train platform on a sunny day. MSP Kaukab Stewart is on the left, she is a woman in a black suit and white shirt. Colette Walker is in the middle, she's a visually impaired woman with a guide dog. In the middle is her companion, a man with a bald head wearing a bright blue sight Scotland t-shirt. [Photo credit: Sight Scotland]

The Blind Companion Card Scheme pilot is launching on the 1st April, where blind and partially sighted will be able to travel with a companion without charge. Amelia went along to the launch at Anniesland Station in Glasgow and spoke to Sight Scotland CEO Craig Spalding about how the charity led the policy development. Learn more about the pilot on the Sight Scotland website - Fair Rail Campaign | Sight Scotland Image shows three people walking down a train platform on a sunny day. MSP Kaukab Stewart is on the left, she is a woman in a black suit and white shirt. Colette Walker is in the middle, she's a visually impaired woman with a guide dog and is chair of Sight Scotland's policy group. In the middle is her companion, a man with a bald head wearing a bright blue sight Scotland t-shirt. [Photo credit: Sight Scotland]

Jennifer Murray chats to Anne Dignan about the promotion of the companion travel pilot scheme by Scotrail. Image description:  Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font.

On November 7th, Green Signals was live in person and on YouTube for the very first time at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) Annual Conference, joined by special guest Chris Green. Chris is a career railwayman in both the public and private rail industry. Among his industry achievements are creating the ScotRail brand during his time as General Manager Scotland and then Network SouthEast when Managing Director (MD). He also became MD InterCity before privatisation and then Chief Executive Officer Virgin Trains, where he introduced the new Pendolino and Voyager fleets. This is a recording of that live broadcast. Join us to hear one of the most experienced and celebrated railwaymen of his generation, who has led transformational change both at British Rail and in the private sector. Chris will reflect on whether lessons from the past are still relevant today. Membership: If you want to see even more from Green Signals, including exclusive content, become a member and support the channel further too. YouTube - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@GreenSignals/join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Patreon - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/GreenSignals⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Green Signals: Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.greensignals.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow: X (Twitter) - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/greensignallers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/greensignallers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

Once again I'm at London King's Cross station, a hub for the East Coast main line to Yorkshire, northeast England, and Scotland. Two significant fare changes, neither of them beneficial:ScotRail's experiment to abolish peak fares will end in late September after it failed to lure enough travelers out of their cars.And LNER is expanding the area where off-peak fares are unavailable to include the whole line between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Hill and Ben Parrish from Genetec join the latest episode of the Rail Technology Magazine Podcast. The pair explain the current inefficiencies in the rail industry when it comes to retrieving security footage and discuss Genetec's Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS), Clearance, which helps to streamline the process.Jon explains how the manual method of sharing footage on DVDs and USBs presents serious security issues, while Ben discusses the challenge presented by having a 30-day window to respond to subject access requests, given current inefficiencies.The pair discuss how Clearance has helped operators such as Scotrail to communicate better internally and increase efficiency when handling video requests. They present Clearance as a transformative solution for the rail industry, improving security operations and efficiency while complying with data and compliance regulations.

Frightening level crossing misuse footage from Network Rail's Wessex region highlights the true dangers of abusing the railway. ScotRail slashes 600 services and introduces a temporary timetable because of lack of availability of staff for overtime and rest-day working, as it battles on with the rail unions. World-famous Flying Scotsman heads to the National Railway Museum's Locomotion in Shildon for a special summer visit. The Isle of Wight Bus and Rail User Group speaks to us about further Island Line closures. And in good news, the TransPennine Route Upgrade launches a Community programme to improve local facilities and spaces along the 75-mile route. Green Signals: Website - http://www.greensignals.org YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@GreenSignals Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list Follow: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

On Breaking the News this week, Des and the panel take a look at the latest news on climate change, the alcohol ban on Scotrail trains, a return from Bridget Jones and much more.

The 613th of a series of weekly radio programmes created by :zoviet*france: First broadcast 6 April 2024 by Resonance 104.4 FM and CJMP 90.1 FM Thanks to the artists included here for their fine work. track list … :zoviet*france: - A Duck in a Tree Link 613 00 [anonymous] - Intro 01 Pinkcourtesyphone - The Pinkish Gate 02 Gallery Six & SetField - HoÌnen-in 03 Chelidon Frame - Vacancy (Speaking Voids II) 04 Jos Smolders - Permutation B 05 Leafcutter John - Windy Snog 06 #000000 - #090A09 07 François Bayle - Espaces inhabitables – Hommage à Robur 08 Anders Johansson - Pandora 09 Analoc - 1190 10 Philippe Lamy & Shaun Robert - mke00in 11 [unknown artist / ScotRail] - 1387 12 Enrique Maraver - Amanecer, Punta Mita 13 Ade Hodges - Residual Echo ++ [anonymous] - Outro … :zoviet*france: - A Duck in a Tree Link 613

Wish it could be Christmas every day? Probably not if you, like me, rely on public transport, because on 25 December all the UK trains close down. But this year the long-distance coach operators are providing more intercity links than ever.And on Boxing Day, ScotRail will offer the highest number of trains for three decades.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Franky in hellem Aufruhr! Sein Adventskalender ist endlich angekommen und mit ihm auch die ersten Weihnachtswerbespots der Saison. Frank Behrendt und Jens Breuer sprechen über ihre Favoriten und warum sie ihnen besonders ans Herz gehen. Außerdem: Sagen Sie nichts! 100 Jahre Loriot | Plüschtiere für den guten Zweck - Teddybär-Weitwurf in der Basketball-Bundesliga | Und: Endlich nach Hogwarts - ScotRail sucht Lokführer-Azubis für die berühmte Harry Potter-Strecke Wir bedanken uns bei: Vicco von Bülow, Evelyn Hamann, Art Directors Club Deutschland, Amazon, LIDL, Deutsche Telekom, Coca-Cola, PENNY, Serviceplan, Svenja Kordmann, meedia, easyCredit BBL, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig, Bamberg Baskets, ScotRail, Deutsche Post DHL

This week #RailNatter is joined by the managing director of ScotRail - or rather, of Scotland's Railway, the alliance of organisations that run rail services in Scotland. That's right - Alex Hynes is joining us to talk about the direction that Scotland's railways are going in, balancing the needs of policymakers and operations, and what exactly the current structure of Scottish railway operations is. Join LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Hello! As you know, I'm always touting the idea of Hometown Travel, and exploring places close to home. Remember, people travel across the world to visit other cities but other people travel across the world to visit yours. Everywhere is interesting, And of course many people might not be able to visit places far away, but still want to enjoy the experience of travel and discovering somewhere new. I've been living in Glasgow for two years, and I've walked round a lot of it, using the many railway stations as waypoints, It seems logical therefore to talk about some of the things close to where I currently live, and there's a convenient railway line that loops around my local area to follow. This is the Cathcart Circle, and I figured each of the ten stations on it has enough to fill a podcast. Indeed, a few could probably manage a podcast on their own, but I am not the Roundel Round We Go Podcast and I'd argue there's less call for an entire pod on the Glasgow suburban rail network than the London Underground. But what do I know? Topics covered on this podcast include: * Google Analytics 4 * My future on Twitter * Introduction to the Cathcart Circle * Pollokshields East - theatre, gardens, and Sikhs * Queen's Park - clue's in the name * Crosshill - dead football stadiums * Mount Florida - alive football stadiums * Cathcart - parks, bridges, waterfalls, country houses * Langside - Instagrammable houses and a very short battle * Pollokshaws East - old buildings and benevolent Tories * Shawlands - Pollok Country Park * Maxwell Park - expensive villas and international cricket * Pollokshields West - tenement housing and community spirit * Crossmyloof - a free gift, and a building that moved There are no contributions in this episode, but I am thankful to Scotrail, the organisation that runs the railways in Scotland, for putting all their recorded station announcements into the public domain last year. I may, may, have taken liberties with it. A PDF transcript of this episode is available. As always, if you have anything to say about the topic, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution. I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over. Until next time, bye for now. :)

I'm on the 9.52am train from Aberdeen to London King's Cross – the only one in the LNER timetable on which alcohol is banned, and then only as far south as Newcastle. “We expect a number of large groups to be travelling on this train,” says the train operator. “So to help make it a pleasant experience for everyone, we'll be operating an alcohol-free policy for part of the journey.” But drinking is banned on every ScotRail train, and at every Scottish station. In Northern Ireland, the legality of alcohol depends on what sort of train you are on. And on all public transport in London, drinking has been illegal for 15 years.Of course this podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to get every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first episode of Season Three, this episode we tell the story about what happened on the day that shook the rail industry just two years ago. On the 12th of August 2020 a Scotrail train derailed in Aberdeenshire, killing three and injuring others, the accident was the first time since Grayrigg that a passenger was killed on our Railway. Part one tells the story of the day itself, and what happened in the Scottish countryside. Tune in next time to hear about the investigation that followed, and the shocking findings.Support the show

Today's podcast is all about the remarkable move by Scotrail to persuade people not to travel on one of its key inter-city trains, the 10.51am from Inverness to Edinburgh. Is it a sign of the shaky shape of railways in the UK – or a smart plan to nudge people to take less busy and cheaper trains?Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join The Scotsman's political team as they examine the week's biggest political stories including the vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson and Douglas Ross' stance, the ScotRail strikes and the emerging case for independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart is joined by journalist and photographer, David Pratt and Susan Stewart, Director of the Open University in Scotland. This week - the latest Partygate developments, ScotRail timetable changes, Mhairi Black's Commons speech and a listener question about the first war crimes trial in Ukraine. At the end of the show, Stuart, David and Susan share their personal media recommendations. Mhairi Black's speech (published by PoliticsJOE): youtube.com/watch?v=nVZ3QwA5wy8&t=67s To listen to the full hour-long episode, and for a full list of recommendations, join the Talk Media Club (99p per week + VAT): patreon.com/talkmedia After I've joined the club, how do I listen? Download the Patreon app (iOS/Android) and login with your account details. For more information about Talk Media, go to: www.thebiglight.com/talkmedia

Long speeches were made in Glasgow at COP26 about the need for us all to use public transport. But from Monday, Scotland will see its train services cut by a third. This is because of driver shortages caused by a pay dispute between Scotrail and the Aslef union. Joining us this morning was Robert Sampson from the passenger representative body in Scotland, Transport Focus and we also heard from ScotRail's Service Delivery Director, Kevin Lindsay about why the public-owned railway service hasn't managed to settle the dispute.

Join The Scotsman's political team as they discuss the ScotRail crisis and what the political fall-out could be in the long term, whether Anas Sarwar has misled voters, and the latest on buffer zones and Partygate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scotrail is having a terrible time of it, having to slash one-third of trains across the nation from Monday. I look at the reasons why they have to, with a shortage of drivers and a backlog in training new ones and what it means for their service across Scotland.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week #RailNatter is joined by Professor Iain Docherty, Dean for the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Stirling and transport policy expert... Who better to tackle the subject of ScotRail's re-nationalisation? That's right! After exactly 25 years of private operation, ScotRail is back to being an entirely (rather than defacto) state owned and operated railway network. Is it all sunshine and roses, though, or does this mean that the Scottish government will start having to face some spikey home truths? Tune in LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm to find out! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch is at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r.... Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

We revisit the best of Sylvias podcasts, kicking off this time with Geoff Thompson, a former doorman, now BAFTA award winning screenwriter.Author of fifty books, he has appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list several times.  He says – ‘Get yourself out of the way and be a conduit for all the insights and wisdom you that come through you to share. Make yourself small – it's not about YOU!' Books The Divine CEO - http://bit.ly/Thedivineceo Notes From The Factory Floor - http://bit.ly/notesfromfactoryEx Police officer and Epic Trail Runner - Nicola Dawson's motto is “You can do anything if you try”.  Nicola worked within law enforcement and legal compliance for over 20 years. She studied law at university, became a police officer and is now ensuring legal compliance within ScotRail. In 2020 Nicola set up her own trail running group to encourage and support trail running and get more people out into the trails, improving their fitness and wellbeing.http://linkedin.com/in/nicola-dawson-b5b83a1a5Camilla Long is a Public Speaking Coach for corporate & SME leaders and business owners and a TEDx Public Speaking Partner. And a computer scientist to boot!Learning lessons from doing business with the world's leading hedge funds and banks in the cut and thrust of the capital markets, Camilla will help you to take on those challenges that stretch you because stepping up means that you'll grow and expand your influence and feel more fulfilled in your role. Camilla holds a BSc in Computer Science and an MSc in Strategic Management.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillalong/Christian Kromme is a world-renowned futurist, entrepreneur, and author of the bestseller book Humanification - Go Digital, Stay Human. He gives inspiring keynotes about the impact of disruptive technological developments on people, organizations, and society. Website:Https://www.christiankromme.com Mastercourse link:https://future-proof-yourself.teachable.com/p/become-future-proof3Maria Bell is the MD of Mesomorphic, a Shetland based company known for it's software development and helping to put Shetland on the map for it's sustainable digital economy. https://www.mesomorphic.co.uk *                             *                                  *                                  *Sylvia Baldock has been transforming lives from the tender age of 13 when she ran a youth group for deprived teenagers in Glasgow, Scotland.If you would like to know how you can Become More Significant right now, book a 20 minute free coaching call by emailing  sylvia@sylviabaldock.com 

Join Jennifer Juan as she breaks down another crazy week in British Politics, including Labour Leader Keir Starmer facing the consequences of Boris Johnson's actions, all the gossip from the government reshuffle and accusations of racism from MPs. Jennifer also discusses Liz Truss being an international embarrassment in Russia and the nationalisation of Scotrail. - Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtafpolitics/message - Join Jennifer on Discord here: https://discord.gg/feYmNudBqn - Support the show by buying Jennifer a coffee on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/missjsquared - You can also support the show by subscribing to Jennifer's Patreon, for extra content and free merch: https://www.patreon.com/missjsquared Get in touch with the show by emailing us on wtafpolitics@outlook.com - Follow the show on Instagram at http://instagram.com/wtafpolitics - Visit our website at http://wtaf.politics.blog - Follow Jennifer On Twitch: https://twitch.tv/missjsquared - Follow Jennifer Juan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missjsquared/ - Follow Jennifer Juan on Rizzle: rizzle.tv/u/missjsquared - Visit Jennifer Juan's Website: https://jenniferjuan.com

Join Jennifer Juan as she breaks down another crazy week in British Politics, including Labour Leader Keir Starmer facing the consequences of Boris Johnson's actions, all the gossip from the government reshuffle and accusations of racism from MPs. Jennifer also discusses Liz Truss being an international embarrassment in Russia and the nationalisation of Scotrail. - Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtafpolitics/message - Join Jennifer on Discord here: https://discord.gg/feYmNudBqn - Support the show by buying Jennifer a coffee on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/missjsquared - You can also support the show by subscribing to Jennifer's Patreon, for extra content and free merch: https://www.patreon.com/missjsquared Get in touch with the show by emailing us on wtafpolitics@outlook.com - Follow the show on Instagram at http://instagram.com/wtafpolitics - Visit our website at http://wtaf.politics.blog - Follow Jennifer On Twitch: https://twitch.tv/missjsquared - Follow Jennifer Juan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missjsquared/ - Follow Jennifer Juan on Rizzle: rizzle.tv/u/missjsquared - Visit Jennifer Juan's Website: https://jenniferjuan.com

You Can Do Anything If You TryEx Police officer and Epic Trail Runner - Nicola Dawson's motto is “You can do anything if you try”.  She has always had that drive of ‘why can't you do things?' She had to learn early on how to look after herself in life and always thought ‘don't get upset, you can't change the past, it's happened, just focus on the future and move on'. Nicola worked within law enforcement and legal compliance for over 20 years. She studied law at university, became a police officer and is now ensuring legal compliance within ScotRail.  Nicola also volunteers as Children's Panel member to support and protect vulnerable children. In her spare time, she is a triathlon coach, ultra-runner, curtain maker Mum of two and currently home-school teacher.  In 2020 Nicola set up her own trail running group to encourage and support trail running and get more people out into the trails, improving their fitness and wellbeing.Nicolas online homes are here: https://m.facebook.com/EpicTrailrunning/ http://linkedin.com/in/nicola-dawson-b5b83a1a5 email – nari79@hotmail.co.uk                     *                             *                                  *                                  *Sylvia Baldock has been transforming lives from the tender age of 13 when she ran a youth group for deprived teenagers in Glasgow, Scotland.Throughout her varied career from Theatre Sister in Open heart Surgery to a Masterclass Facilitator, Speaker, Business Mentor/Coach and Author, Sylvia has inspired and motivated thousands of people to recognise the unique value they bring to the workplace and to live a life of purpose and impact by Becoming More Significant.Sylvia works with Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, Teams and Individuals who want to increase visibility, confidence, focus, clarity, communication, collaboration, motivation, productivity and growth.If you would like to know how you can Become More Significant right now, book a 20 minute free coaching call by emailing  sylvia@sylviabaldock.com 

Hogmanay cancelled/Fern Brady is top Scots tweeter/Haudigan roundabout delayed again/Scotrail new boss has no railway experience/big muckle divorce settlement/Crowds at sporting events cut to 500.....all get a wee mention in today's Doric Express. Thanks for listening.

Passenger services begin on the new Lumo trains between London and Edinburgh – I was at King's Cross station to wave the first departure off.Scotrail trains will be cancelled during the Cop26 summit due to a rail strike.And after a weekend of disruption at airports, why paper is the way forward.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Solidarity 587, 7 April 2021, part 3 of 3, pages 17 to 24. Articles include: Abuse in football: more reckoning to come Bessie Smith's blues are current Student campaigns make links NEU: defend reps, act against "exam factory" system Battles in three bus companies BT workers gear up to ballot Heathrow pushed back Deliveroo strike 7 April Solid start to ScotRail conductors' strikes Red, blue and talking Kino Eye: Turkey in the 80s DVLA strikes 6-9 April Thurrock council pay cuts Central line drivers: vote yes for action to win reinstatement for Gary Carney! £20,000 by 10-11 July British Gas: sackings and strike on 14 April More online: https://workersliberty.org/publications/solidarity/solidarity-587-7-april-2021

Ex Police officer and Epic Trail Runner - Nicola Dawson's motto is “You can do anything if you try”.  She has always had that drive of ‘why can't you do things?' She had to learn early on how to look after herself in life and always thought ‘don't get upset, you can't change the past, it's happened, just focus on the future and move on'. Nicola worked within law enforcement and legal compliance for over 20 years. She studied law at university, became a police officer and is now ensuring legal compliance within ScotRail.  Nicola also volunteers as Children's Panel member to support and protect vulnerable children. In her spare time, she is a triathlon coach, ultra-runner, curtain maker Mum of two and currently home-school teacher.  In 2020 Nicola set up her own trail running group to encourage and support trail running and get more people out into the trails, improving their fitness and wellbeing.Nicolas online homes are here: https://m.facebook.com/EpicTrailrunning/ http://linkedin.com/in/nicola-dawson-b5b83a1a5 email – nari79@hotmail.co.uk *                             *                                  *                                  *Sylvia Baldock has been transforming lives from the tender age of 13 when she ran a youth group for deprived teenagers in Glasgow, Scotland.Throughout her varied career from Theatre Sister in Open heart Surgery to a Masterclass Facilitator, Speaker, Business Mentor/Coach and Author, Sylvia has inspired and motivated thousands of people to recognise the unique value they bring to the workplace and to live a life of purpose and impact by Becoming More Significant.Sylvia works with Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, Teams and Individuals who want to increase visibility, confidence, focus, clarity, communication, collaboration, motivation, productivity and growth.If you would like to know how you can Become More Significant right now, book a 20 minute free coaching call by emailing  sylvia@sylviabaldock.com 

Listen to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP answer questions from opposition leaders and other MSPs on Thursday 18 March 2021. Topics covered include: ScotRail's shift to public ownership Airline recovery The return of Universities and Colleges

Professor Babakalli Alkali joins the Common Good Podcast to discuss his research into making our nation's railways safer and more efficient. He talks about the current issues facing railway operators and how his work is helping improve customer satisfaction and the move towards decarbonisation. Professor Alkali also reflects on a successful KTP with ScotRail in 2014 that looked to improve the efficiency of the doors on their fleet, which reduced delays and cancellations, as well as his upcoming professorial lecture on the benefits of remote condition modelling and reliability-centred maintenance. The professorial lecture takes place online on March 2 at 4pm. Sign up using this link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professorial-lecture-by-professor-babakalli-alkali-tickets-132931853753

Hello and welcome to the Alcohol Alert, brought to you by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. In this edition:Home drinking increasingly becomes the new normal during lockdownEconomics think tank study says a reformed duty system would improve MUP’s effectivenessAlcohol Health Alliance UK pricing survey finds that alcohol is still being sold at pocket money pricesScottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems call for all MSP candidates to promise a total ban on alcohol advertising ahead of the 2021 electionsIAS to hold an online event presenting new findings on alcohol policy and nudge theory 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵The Scottish Government launches a free FASD eLearning resourceWe hope you enjoy our roundup of stories below: please feel free to share. Thank you.Lockdown: home drinking becomes the new normalNovember saw the UK enter into a second lockdown, as ministers realised that the tier system for controlling the virus could no longer contain the rising R rates throughout the UK. As a result, all pubs were forced to close from 05 November until 02 December (Morning Advertiser, 31 Oct), and anticipated bans such as that of alcohol consumed on ScotRail trains came into force (STV News, 16 Nov).The penultimate month of the calendar year was also a time for reflecting on how people’s drinking habits had changed since the first lockdown.A study from alcohol industry-funded body Drinkaware found that women were a bigger influence than men out of the 26% of people whose alcohol intake increased between March and June (Daily Mail, 02 Nov), the primary reason for doing so being that they had ‘more free time available’.The Royal College of Psychiatrists observed that nearly half (45%) of its psychiatrists had seen a rise in patients whose alcohol or drug use had contributed to a deterioration in their mental health during the pandemic (The Telegraph, 15 Nov), Dr Katherine Severi, IAS chief executive, explained that ‘the closure of bars and restaurants had driven people into drinking at home, which meant it was not only cheaper than buying in a restaurant but also that people were consuming more.’Data from Public Health England (PHE) also showed that older age groups all significantly increased their alcohol intake during lockdown, with a fifth of those aged 45 to 74 years drinking more than 21 units a week. Those aged 55 to 64 who drank at least a pint a day (three units) jumped from 17·4% to 20·6% with one in 20 consuming more than 50 units weekly, almost three pints a day.And an Opinion Matters poll of more than 1,000 people aged over 50 years, commissioned by We Are With You found that: 20% were drinking more since March; 10% earlier in the day; and more than half drink at a level that could cause health problems now or in the future, a cause of great concern for 35% of those surveyed who are children of those parents. Projected tax receipts and sales data appeared to confirm that off-licence vendors of alcohol have profited substantially from the pandemic. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic and fiscal outlook revised alcohol duties upward by an average £1 billion a year, as receipts in 2020/21 held up much better than assumed (24 Nov):The loss in receipts from closures of pubs and restaurants has been more than offset by higher sales in supermarkets and other shops. Alcohol consumption has therefore been one of the few tax bases left relatively unscathed by the virus.The 2020 British Lifestyles Report from consumer research group Mintel estimated that annual retail value sales of alcoholic drinks will grow at its fastest rate for at least a decade – 16% – to reach £25.5 billion in 2020, ‘as people trade nights out for evenings in’ (20 Nov). Spending per household on alcohol is expected to average £129 in 2020.Jack Duckett, Mintel associate director of consumer lifestyles research, also wrote of the potential for further growth from drinks makers appealing to the mature drinker:The growth in the size of the older population over the next five years, and the fact that they are most likely to be insulated from the financial impact of the pandemic, makes targeting the ‘grey pound’ particularly timely for all brands including alcoholic drinks.In Ireland, the Revenue discovered a slump in drinking outside the home, as their sales data recorded a 4.5% fall in alcohol consumption since the start of the year, mainly because of pubs forced to close for lockdowns. Alcohol Action Ireland warned that drinkers ‘had largely substituted their on-trade activity with unregulated home drinking’, a sentiment echoed by the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland chief Padraig Cribben. He told the Irish Sun it was ‘obvious that because of the pandemic a massive volume of alcohol is now consumed at home’ (03 Nov).And where drinking patterns have moved indoors, so have increased risks of alcohol-related harm. Consultant psychiatrist Rebecca Lawrence wrote in The Guardian that although it is difficult to determine the exact picture of British drinking habits during lockdown, we can ‘intuit’ some things (18 Nov):I worry about those who were drinking just a bit too much before who have now tipped into problem drinking. It doesn’t take a lot, and there are many on this uncertain edge. Stress levels are high, with fears about infection or economic insecurity taking their toll.Many of my patients who are already alcohol-dependent tell me they have relapsed due to boredom, and, even more importantly, lack of any human contact. When we talk about relapse prevention, we talk about seeing people, talking to people, going to groups, and all this is up the spout at present. There are groups online, but not everyone can access these. In any case, it’s not the same, as those of us who are all Zoomed out will testify to.Sometimes too much contact is the problem: families are forced together, something that can be hard even for the most loving partners or parents. Alcohol can be a form of mental, if not physical, escape.Whether newly dependent or relapsed, what’s clear is that people need help to get through this.Funding public health: Winter plans and ‘Spending Reviews’In the final week of lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the government’s post-lockdown winter plan to the House of Commons: a return to the tier system, with the added detail of businesses to be permitted to serve alcohol ‘only as part of a substantial meal’ in designated tier 2 zones of the country, a move unlikely to curb increasingly routinised home drinking habits and their potential harms (23 Nov).Furthermore, the lack of sufficient services for the rising numbers of people struggling with alcohol dependency and other substance misuse problems led to calls from the Local Government Association (LGA) – which represents councils responsible for public health – for the chancellor to invest in vital public health services ahead of the Spending Review (LGA, 21 Nov):COVID-19 [has] exposed existing health inequalities which need to be levelled up if we are to protect our communities in future, and so to address this divide, the Spending Review ought to have reversed the £700 million of public health funding reductions experienced by councils over the previous five years.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak authorised the provision of £254 million of additional resource funding in 2021/22, to ‘bolster’ substance misuse and frontline support services, for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping (HM Treasury, 25 Nov).As we head into the winter, with alcohol-related health outcomes worsen for many drinkers across the UK because of the drastic change to consumption habits induced by the pandemic, the calls of local authorities to support public health services may yet grow louder.Reformed duty system would improve MUP’s effectivenessEconomics think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have published new research showing that while minimum unit prices for alcohol (MUP) are reasonably well targeted at heavy drinkers, they may come at the cost of reducing tax revenues (20 Nov).Using data on millions of alcohol purchases made by Scottish and English households, the analysis shows that:Prior to the introduction of the minimum unit price, half of all transactions for alcohol bought in shops in Scotland were below 50p per unit. The minimum unit price led to a 5% increase in the average price per unit, but some very cheap products saw their prices double, while more expensive products were unaffected.This led to an 11% fall in units purchased per adult per week, with larger falls for more heavily drinking households.However, the IFS fear that MUP creates windfall revenues for the alcohol industry, while reducing revenue for HM Treasury:The analysis finds that if the 50p minimum unit price were extended to the whole of the UK under the existing system of alcohol taxes, then tax revenue would fall by around £390 million per year.This is in addition to projected annual losses from recent changes to alcohol duties averaging £200m to 2024/25.The report’s authors conclude that ‘a minimum unit price, combined with a more coherent set of taxes on alcohol, would be just as well targeted at heavy drinkers and would limit the fall in revenue for the exchequer’.Alternatively, they propose replacing the current system of duties with ‘a two-rate structure that taxes alcohol in proportion to its alcohol content, with a higher rate on strong spirits’, which would lead to an increase in tax revenue of over £70 million.One of the report’s authors, associate director Kate Smith, said:The current system of alcohol duties is incoherent – for example, if you prefer a pint of beer to cider, you may currently pay more than twice as much tax for a drink with the same alcohol content. Brexit offers a valuable opportunity to improve the way we tax alcohol. A simple reform that taxes drinks in proportion to their alcohol content, with a higher rate on strong spirits, targets the purchases of heavy drinkers while raising tax revenue.Public health experts from Alcohol Health Alliance UK, the Foundation for Liver Research, the House of Lords, and the pro-vice-chancellor of health and life sciences at the University of Bristol, welcomed the report, stating that the measures proposed by the IFS could save more than 5,000 lives over the next decade.In a letter to The Times (23 Nov), they wrote:Although the money from minimum unit pricing alone stays with the retailer, the saving of costs to the NHS of reduced drinking outweighs that loss. Also, if combined with a scaled and consistent alcohol duty system to offset some of the wider costs of alcohol harm to society, these measures could save more than 5,000 lives in the next decade.Alcohol prices are ‘small change’ to drinkers, survey findsAdapted from the Alcohol Health Alliance UK press releaseAlcohol continues to be sold at pocket money prices in England, with it being possible to drink the weekly low-risk drinking guideline of 14 units of alcohol for less than the price of a cup of high street coffee, according to a new report from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) UK, a coalition of more than 55 organisations including medical royal colleges and health charities (10 Nov).Comparing the prices of alcoholic drinks sold in shops and supermarkets across England, Scotland and Wales, researchers found the cheapest products were all sold in England, the only nation of the three not to have a minimum unit price of 50 pence.Cider is the cheapest available product in England and is being sold for as little as 19p per unit of alcohol, meaning that consumers can reach the weekly low-risk drinking guideline of 14 units of alcohol for just £2·68 – about the price of a large coffee in high street coffee chains. A single bottle of the cheapest cider also contains more alcohol than eight pints of beer – and costs 8 pence less than a single pint in a pub.For the price of a standard cinema ticket (£7·11), you could buy two bottles of wine, containing 19·5 units and have 13 pence change leftover, and a one-litre bottle of vodka, which contains 37·5 units, is cheaper than a large pizza at Dominos (£14·99).In light of the findings, the AHA calls on the government to commit to tackling cheap, high-strength alcohol in its review of the alcohol duty system and through introducing minimum unit pricing in England. AHA chair, professor Sir Ian Gilmore, said:The low price of high strength alcohol continues to cause immeasurable damage to the health of our nation. Alcohol is linked to 80 deaths in the UK every day, as well as seven types of cancer and stroke.To tackle the harm alcohol causes, we need to urgently address its price. Alcohol duty is currently too low to cover the costs of alcohol harm to the NHS and other public services. Public Health England estimates that alcohol costs the UK at least £27 billion a year. Yet over the past five years, alcohol duty has raised just £10·5-£12·1 billion annually. To pay for the costs to society that alcohol imposes, stronger drinks should be taxed more. Reforming alcohol duty will help create a fairer system for everyone as well as improving our nation’s health.With alcohol-related hospital admissions at record highs, and liver disease rates on the rise, we can’t afford for alcohol to remain at such low prices.In other researchNew annual mortality and morbidity statistics for Scotland showed a mixed outlook: there was a substantial improvement for the former, but not so for the latter.The number of alcohol-specific deaths was 1,020 deaths in 2019, 10% down on the previous year’s tally of 1,136 (National Records of Scotland (NRS), 24 Nov).2019 represents the first substantial decrease in recent years, after a period of generalincrease since 2012, and is only the fourth occasion when there has been a reduction in alcohol-specific deaths of around 10% or more in a single year (in 2007, 2009 and 2012) since records began. However, the NRS was quick to note that ‘although an annual decrease of this magnitude is notable, further years will be required to see if this reduction continues and conclude that this is a sustained shift in alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland.’In comparison, annual alcohol-related hospital statistics show incremental changes in admissions (35,781) and patient (23,685) numbers to general acute hospitals in 2019/20 compared with the previous year (Public Health Scotland, 17 Nov). There has been no significant improvement in numbers since 2012/13.Researchers from the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge have developed a preliminary typology of drinking behaviours from existing evidence of the impact of glassware design on those behaviours, as a basis for reducing alcohol consumption to improve population health (Health Psychology Review, 18 Nov).Despite the ‘paucity of evidence’ over the issue, the team were able to cut a distinction between macro (measures of drinking outcomes involving consumption, or proxies for consumption) and micro (a form of short-term influence on drinking) -drinking behaviours. They also explored the roles of two sets of possible underlying mechanisms – perception and affordance – in determining a drinker’s actions.The study’s authors concluded that using this typology as a framework and starting point for understanding the micro-structure of a drinking episode may harness important insights for developing interventions aimed at reducing consumption, such as how an intervention works to reduce intake, plus other important effects on drinking behaviours ‘that may not be captured by a “macro” measure of drinking in a given study’.Almost three quarters of 15 and 16-year-olds in Ireland have tried alcohol, with around half of these using alcohol 'to make social gatherings more fun', according to the new iteration of the European Schools Project for Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) (Irish Health, 17 Nov). The survey of almost 2,000 secondary schoolchildren found that 73% of respondents had tried alcohol, while 41% had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days. 49% said drinking made social gatherings more fun, while almost as many (48%) did so to enjoy a party. The most common age that teenagers began drinking alcohol was 15 (52%), and a sixth (16%) said they had been drunk in the previous 30 days.The survey also found that increased alcohol use among the teens was associated with lower parental education levels and lower parental monitoring, truancy and lower school grades.Nearly two in three people feel the current ‘drink responsibly’ message on bottles is too vague and should be replaced with specific health warnings, specialists at the Priory Group addiction and mental health service found (LBC, 18 Nov).In a poll of 1,000 adults for Alcohol Awareness Week, 59% said beverages should display a cancer warning and eight in ten feel the UK ‘has a problem’ with binge drinking.The 2019/20 adult substance misuse treatment statistics report published by Public Health England suggests that an estimated 82% of adults in need of specialist treatment for alcohol do not receive it (26 Nov).Alongside small year-on-year changes to the numbers of adults in treatment, the figures showed that people in treatment for alcohol only are the second largest group (28%) of all adults in treatment, the majority of people (59%) who started treatment for drug and alcohol problems in 2019/20, said they had a problem with alcohol, with 65% (50,957) reporting that it was their only problem substance, and although still relatively high, the proportion of people with alcohol only problems leaving treatment free of dependence has fallen three percentage points since 2015/2016 (from 62%), hinting at the start of a declining trend.SHAAP manifesto calls for total ban on alcohol advertisingAlcohol control campaign group Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) have urged every candidate in next year’s Holyrood election to support a ‘total ban’ on alcohol advertising (STV News, 19 Nov).Publishing their manifesto ahead of the vote in May, they list four ‘focus areas’ aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms that all parties should support:Affordability, availability and attractivenessInvesting in and improving treatment and support servicesSupporting recovery and reducing health inequalitiesProtecting children and young peopleThe manifesto states that ‘as we approach the Scottish parliament election of 2021, it is more important than ever that we do not lose sight of long-term public health measures that can improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in Scotland, build the resilience of our NHS and local care services, and benefit the economy’.SHAAP chair Dr Peter Rice said: Covid-19 has shone a light on the patchy and often disjointed nature of alcohol treatment service provision, even prior to lockdown, and we do not yet know what long-term impact the pandemic will have on people’s drinking behaviours, though research so far indicates that heavier drinkers have increased their consumption.Our 2021 manifesto highlights cost-effective, evidence-based policies that, if properly implemented, will work to ensure that Covid-19 does not exacerbate alcohol-related harm and health inequalities in Scotland and that we are able to meet long-term public health goals that are essential if we are to build a healthier, fairer future.Online event on alcohol policy and nudge theory🎵 Podcast feature 🎵The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) is holding a seminar exploring the latest evidence on nudge theory in alcohol policy, in conjunction with a new report (02 Dec).Using a case study of UK Government alcohol policy since 2017, IAS research and policy officer Lucy Bryant examined the framing of individuals and alcohol industry actors within public health nudge policy interventions, revealing ways in which nudge theories risked undermining support for better evidenced public health alcohol measures such as pricing interventions in practice. Bryant’s findings will be presented alongside new research from Professor Mark Petticrew (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), as well as insights from the gambling field from Philip Newall PhD (postdoctoral researcher at CQUniversity's Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory).Dr Gillian Shorter of Queen's University Belfast, who is chairing the event, said:With alcohol implemented in over half the Sustainable Development Goals, now really is a good time to act with responsible policies to preserve health… so we posit to you: to what extent can we use nudge policies for effective behaviour change, and to what extent do they crowd out other potentially more effective policy options? We invite you to come along, have your say, and tell us what you think.For more details of the event and to register your attendance, please view the image below, or click on this link.FASD: Invisible, Not InconsequentialAdapted from the Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland websiteThe Scottish Government has launched a free FASD eLearning resource on the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) website, a move that could have significant benefits for professionals and the individuals/families affected if widely used and shared.Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is both the most common and the most overlooked neurodevelopmental condition in Scotland. The Scottish Government estimates that approximately 172,000 children, young people and adults across the country have their lives and life chances adversely affected by FASD. And yet, only a small proportion of people with FASD have been diagnosed, actively assisted or effectively supported.Created by a Scottish Government Expert Group, the eLearning resource aims to help overcome the longstanding misdiagnosis, misunderstanding and mistreatment of people with this life-altering condition. For further information, please contact one of the members of the group, Dr Jonathan Sher, at jonathan.sher@qnis.org.uk or on 0744 333 1953.The UK Alcohol Alert (incorporating Alliance News) is designed and produced by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. Please click the image below to visit our website and find out more about us and what we do, or the ‘Contact us’ button. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

Solidarity 573, 25 November 2020, part 3 of 3, pages 17 to 24. Articles include: Hitler's unwilling citizens Labour retreats on Ofsted and primary tests Student rent strikes spread Sheffield couriers strike "This can inspire workers in all workplaces" British gas workers fight "fire and rehire" Skewed from the start Diary of an engineer: Two conversations Kino Eye: One of the most beautiful films ever made Preparing to fight the pay freeze (John Moloney's column) ScotRail guards to strike Fight the cuts, fight the pay freeze! More: https://workersliberty.org/publications/solidarity/solidarity-573-25-november-2020

Hello and welcome to the Alcohol Alert, brought to you by The Institute of Alcohol Studies.In this edition:COVID-19: Latest lockdown measures leave pubs in tiersIAS second briefing on COVID-19 alcohol consumption warns of the hidden harm from the rise in increasing and higher risk drinking 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵ScotRail considers a blanket ban on alcohol on Scottish trainsGovernment in call for evidence for review of alcohol dutyResearch finds that NoLo beers have a small impact on alcohol purchasesScottish and Irish governments face challenges over minimum unit pricing legislationSobriety tag scheme reaches WalesHeineken fined £2m for breaching Pubs CodeWe hope you enjoy our roundup of stories below: please feel free to share. Thank you.COVID-19: Latest lockdown measures leave pubs in tiersAs the UK began to experience an upturn in coronavirus case numbers, so policymakers in the devolved administrations started looking at tackling the sources of the dreaded second wave of COVID-19, and pubs have come under close scrutiny in all quarters.ScotlandScotland decided to close pubs across its central belt for a 16-day period, and limit the opening hours of other licensed premises, as part of a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown (Scottish Government, 07 Oct).* Quoting her chief medical officer’s evidence, first minister Nicola Sturgeon drew a correlation between the ‘more than one fifth of people contacted by Test and Protect’ who reported visiting a hospitality setting, and the increase in the R rate above 1 ‘approximately three weeks after the hospitality sector opened up’:* subsequently extended to 02 November (STV News, 21 Oct)WalesIn Wales, where a 10PM curfew on selling alcohol for licensed premises was introduced last month, first minister Mark Drakeford proceeded to issue a ‘firebreak’ lockdown of his own – turning pubs into takeaway taverns only between 23 October and 09 November (Welsh Government, 19 Oct).EnglandThe same curfew applies to England. However, lawmakers decided to adopt the novel approach of localising management of the lockdown with a tier system, which has resulted in curious outcomes such as a legal definition of what a ‘substantial’ meal is, for the purpose of allowing some licensed premises to continue to operate under the most severe tier restrictions (The Mirror, 12 Oct).For some venue owners, the new rules also mean that in addition to pressure from law enforcement to check IDs for names and addresses in a bid to stop households mixing (EuroWeekly, 21 Oct), those situated in ‘high’ and ‘very high’ tier areas are either subject to the inevitability of fewer customers paying a visit, or temporary closure for wet-led pubs. One Financial Times article predicts the end of chains whose main custom is serving alcohol (13 Oct):On the face of it, the most affected of the UK’s listed national inn groups are Marston’s, JD Wetherspoon and M&B. It looks like last orders.Large proportions of Marston’s and JD Wetherspoon’s hostelries are wet-led. Food as a percentage of JDW’s total sales rank among the lowest in the sector. More than two-thirds of Marston’s pubs are old-fashioned boozers.All three groups are loaded with debt, which even last year was many times ebitda. Earnings of all three are expected to at least halve this year. Marston’s stood at about £1·4bn at the last count or £1·2bn including the cash coming in from the brewing joint venture with Carlsberg opportunely signed this summer. That could be more than 10 times this year’s ebitda. Pub earnings of many groups will barely cover interest bills this year.The resulting uncertainty has only served to anger licensees and those sympathetic to the plight of the industry. Some have pulled stunts, such as a retaliatory ban (Telegraph, 30 Sep); others have sought further evidence for the 10PM curfew’s effectiveness and whether it represents a threat to the health of people thrown out of pubs and restaurants at the same time (London Evening Standard, 06 Oct); but The Night Time Industries Association has launched legal action to try to prevent the new lockdown measures entirely (Daily Mail, 12 Oct).Whatever the outcome, the reality of the current measures will most likely be a further loss of jobs in the hospitality sector, like Greene King (Sky News, 07 Oct), and a permanent shutdown of licensed premises – as many as one in five, according to real estate adviser Altus Group (Morning Advertiser, 08 Oct).Northern IrelandHaving already set a curfew time for licensed premises of 11PM as opposed to 10PM in other areas of the UK, the Stormont executive decided to do lockdown a little differently from the other Home Nations too. Their first minister, Arlene Foster, announced a four-week shutdown of the hospitality sector apart from deliveries and takeaways for food only during trading hours. Uniquely, Northern Ireland is the only nation to address the availability of alcohol in the off-trade too: off-licences and supermarkets will not be permitted to sell alcohol after 8pm (Northern Ireland Executive Office, 14 Oct) during the period.Too much focus on pubs?In the row between government and the hospitality sector over the COVID-19 restrictions, the deputy chief medical officer for England was reported to have said that he ‘could not guarantee’ the 10PM curfew would ‘bring the virus under control’ (The Telegraph, 18 Oct, £wall), instead preferring a mandatory closing time of 6PM.But while much has been made of the impact of the latest round of restrictions on licensed premises, supermarkets have benefited from the increase in alcohol purchases in the four weeks to 04 October: Kantar data reported Britons spent an extra £261m on alcohol in grocery stores (Guardian, 13 Oct).Data from Public Health England Wider Impacts of COVID-19 on Health (WICH) monitoring tool indicates the influence of pandemic-induced home drinking on the intake of increasing and higher risk drinkers.COVID-19 briefing warns of rising health risks to heavy drinkers🎵 Podcast feature 🎵The second Institute of Alcohol Studies briefing on alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic (08 Oct) warns of the hidden harm from the rise in increasing and higher risk drinking and highlights the need for the UK Government to find public health solutions to the issue.Speaking on the podcast, Dr Sadie Boniface, IAS head of research, who authored the briefing, hinted at the impact that increased consumption among the heaviest drinkers may have on treatment providers for substance problems:In terms of treatment for substance use problems including alcohol, there’s been a bit of a fall compared with the same time period last year, but I have read some other statistics as well that say it’s starting to pick up now, so what’s really concerning is that problems to do with increased drinking during the pandemic might be being stored up for the future.Alcohol ban on Scottish trains under considerationAccording to The Scotsman, national train operator ScotRail have informed the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) Union of the possibility of bringing in ‘a full all-hours drinking ban on trains in a bid to tighten up on COVID-19 safety measures’ (17 Oct).It comes after the nation’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said more stringent travel rules ‘need to be considered’.However, the move is rumoured to have been put on hold after the British Transport Police (BTP) called for more time to consider the resource implications, and the RMT have expressed some concerns about enforcement of the new rules.Mick Hogg, regional organiser for the RMT in Scotland, said: ‘We have been told by ScotRail that there will be a full ban on alcohol on trains as a COVID-19 measure. We welcome that.‘But it has to be resourced or it puts more pressure on our staff. It’s a double whammy for them. They can’t enforce the wearing of masks or police passengers drinking alcohol. That has been a big issue for a while. We know the BTP don't have enough staff as it is.’ScotRail’s current alcohol byelaws state that passengers can't drink alcohol on their trains between 21:00 and 10:00hrs, and they may not allow you to board if you are extremely drunk. But this has not stopped it happening. One conductor told the newspaper: ‘Busy weekend nights haven't calmed down in recent weeks. People from Edinburgh and Glasgow have been piling on trains across to Fife to go to the pub. I've seen packed trains with the vast majority of passengers drunk’.Government in call for evidence for review of alcohol dutyPublic health and trade organisations are lining up to submit evidence to the Alcohol duty review, as per the government’s Budget announcement earlier this year (Gov.uk, 01 Oct).The review has been widely welcomed by stakeholders, as the UK gains the power to reform alcohol taxation following their departure from the European Union. HM Treasury’s call for evidence will also ask whether:the method of alcohol taxation should be standardisedthe duty categories should be changed or unifiedproducts should be consistently distinguished by their strengthdistinctions should be made based on the place of retailsmall producer reliefs should be extended or standardisedduties could be uprated for inflation in a more consistent mannera single process for approvals, declarations and payments should be introducedmore could be done to tackle avoidance and evasion of dutyThe deadline for responses is 29 November.NoLo beers have small impact on alcohol purchasesResearch published in BMJ Open has found that there were significant but small reductions to alcohol sales following the introduction of new no and low alcohol beers during 2017–2018 and reformulation of existing beers to contain less alcohol during 2018 (12 Oct).Using purchase data from Kantar Worldpanel’s household shopping panel for 2015–2018, researchers looked at the purchasing habits of 64, 286 British households following a period which saw 46 new low and no alcohol beer beverages and 33 beer beverages reformulated to contain less alcohol. A step-jump in volume bought was noticed for both beverage types at the beginning of March 2017 and during mid-March 2018 respectively. Interrupted time series analyses found a combined associated impact of both events with relative reductions of alcohol by volume of beer between 1·2% and 2·3%; purchases of grams of alcohol within beer between 7·1% and 10·2%; and purchases of grams of alcohol as a whole between 2·6% and 3·9%. The reductions were greater for reformulation than for the introduction of new low and no alcohol products. Reductions were independently higher for younger age groups of shoppers and for households that bought the most alcohol.The research team conclude that the fact that the volume of purchases for both new low and no alcohol beer products (2·6% of total beer volume purchased during 2018) and of new reformulated beer products (6·9%) was very small ‘indicates that there are future opportunities to increase the volume of such products so as to reduce the harm done by alcohol’.In other newsA 30-year review of global disease burdens published in The Lancet finds alcohol use was the leading risk factor for those aged 25–49 years (17 Oct). Overall, alcohol use was one of the fastest growing burdens, at more than 0·5% per year. When split by sex, ‘there were large differences between attributable deaths in males and females due to alcohol use, which accounted for 2·07 million (1·79–2·37) deaths in males and 0·374 million (0·298–0·461) deaths in females in 2019’. The national picture estimated alcohol to be the cause of approximately 4% of deaths and 5% of Disability Adjusted Life Years in 2019 (illustrated).A team of researchers will establish the effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of the Drink Less app at reducing alcohol consumption among hazardous and harmful adult drinkers, in what will be the first randomised controlled trial of an alcohol reduction app for the general population in the UK (17 Oct). The result of the study will inform the decision on whether it is worth investing resources in large‐scale implementation.Alcohol screening and supportive interventions from primary care practitioners can help older people make healthier decisions about their alcohol use, according to a qualitative study published in the British Journal of General Practice (19 Oct). A total of 24 older adults aged ≥65 years and 35 primary care practitioners in northern England participated in interviews and focus groups. Researchers found that they were motivated to make changes to their alcohol use when they experienced symptoms, and if they felt that limiting consumption would enable them to maintain their quality of life.Minimum unit pricing – the latest from Scotland and IrelandScotland: is a legal challenge possible?The Scottish Parliament voted 90 to 28 to refuse legislative consent to the UK Internal Market Bill (BBC News Scotland, 07 Oct), fearing that the legislation could cause a constitutional rift that would open bold public health measures such as minimum unit pricing for alcohol (MUP) to another legal challenge.The Westminster government is not bound by the vote in Holyrood, but the Scottish constitution secretary notes that it formalises the nation’s ‘explicit’ and comprehensive rejection of the bill. Last month, Michael Russell said in a statement (Scottish Government, 08 Sep) that the bill would ‘open the door to a race to the bottom on food standards, environmental standards and will endanger key public health policies such as minimum unit pricing.’The Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack issued a rebuttal denying the ‘false claims’ made by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon about the bill, assuring in point four of his statement that MUP would still have been introduced:But devolution expert Jess Sargeant states that the internal market bill could be interpreted in a way that ‘inevitably will place greater limits on devolved competence than present arrangements’, which could also ‘impede key benefits of devolution “as a policy lab”, allowing new policies to be tried in one jurisdiction before being adopted elsewhere’. (Institute for Government, 14 Sep)This opinion was supported by an advisor to Holyrood's Constitution committee, who told The Scotsman that ‘issues may arise if minimum pricing is considered in the context of “indirect discrimination”’, and this may give rise to a court challenge (12 Oct).He explains in a paper: ‘A Scottish rule that applies Minimum Unit Pricing to all alcohol whether domestic or imported could be indirectly discriminatory if it impacts more on imported alcohol than it does comparable Scottish-produced alcohol’. Rules will be assessed on three conditions, including on the grounds of whether it ‘cannot reasonably be considered to be a necessary means of achieving a legitimate aim’.Although the ‘protection of public health’ is recognised in the bill as a legitimate aim, the advisor warns there could be questions raised around whether MUP will be ‘reasonably’ considered to be ‘necessary’ to achieve this aim, and so a challenge based on the new conditions may be brought.Irish MUP still on ice two years on from the Public Health (Alcohol) ActThe Irish Times reports that on the second anniversary of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, MUP is still to be implemented (12 Oct). Alcohol Action Ireland’s head of advocacy Eunan McKinney went further, saying that there is ‘no starting date for the “difficult stuff”… including labelling on all alcohol products of the links to cancer, the 9PM broadcasting watershed for alcohol advertising, and restriction on the content of advertising to make it “utilitarian” with “no hero, no glamour”’.The news comes as the Budget 2021 statement made no direct reference to alcohol, meaning duties were left unchanged (Government of Ireland, 13 Oct). While Alcohol Action Ireland (13 Oct) welcomed ministers for not acquiescing to ‘the extensive lobbying of the alcohol industry, who had sought a 15% reduction’, they regretted the missed opportunity ‘to introduce a Cost-of-Living index to excise rates’, amongst other plans outlined in their Pre-Budget submission.Responding to the Budget, Alcohol Action Ireland chief executive Dr Sheila Gilheany (listen to the podcast for her full statement) said that ‘everyday that delays these measures being introduced can be counted in lives unnecessarily lost and endless public expenditure that could be saved, if implemented they will undoubtedly achieve better public health outcomes. Left dormant on the statute books, they are useless. ‘What’s required now, two years on, is a firm timeline from Taoiseach and his government that commits to the implementation in full of the suite of measures whose effectiveness relies on coherent and cohesive actions.’Sobriety tag scheme reaches WalesOffenders convicted of alcohol-related crimes in Wales can now be banned from drinking and ordered to wear a sobriety tag by judges (Gov.uk, 21 Oct).The ankle tags will monitor offenders’ sweat every 30 minutes and alert probation staff if alcohol is consumed. Those found in breach of their drinking bans can face fines or be sentenced in court. The tags can be given out when courts impose an alcohol abstinence order, a new power which serves a drinking ban on an offender for up to 120 days. The Ministry of Justice says treatment referrals for alcohol use will continue to be made for those with more serious alcohol addictions who commit crimes.The Welsh scheme follows two pilots in London and across Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire, both of which showed that offenders were sober on 97.4% of the days monitored, although their apparent success is qualified by the fact they involved fewer than 500 people, and only six participants agreed to be interviewed about the tags in the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire pilot (NatCen, Oct 2019).Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart said: ‘Alcohol can have a devastating impact on lives and figures show it is a key factor behind far too many crimes.‘I am encouraged to see Wales at the forefront of implementing this new technology, which we believe will contribute towards lowering reoffending rates, making our streets safer and supporting those who need help.’Heineken fined £2m for breaching Pubs Code The pubs code adjudicator (PCA) has found Heineken guilty of forcing tenants of its public houses to sell ‘unreasonable’ amounts of their own beers and ciders (Gov.uk, 15 Oct).Following a three-year investigation ending in July 2019, Fiona Dickie concluded that Heineken – via its pubs business, Star – had ‘seriously and repeatedly’ breached laws that protect publicans from company behaviour aimed at prohibiting pubs selling competitor brands. This was despite repeated regulatory interventions and clear arbitration rulings from the adjudicator.Dickie said: ‘The report of my investigation is a game-changer. It demonstrates that the regulator can and will act robustly to protect the rights that parliament has given to tied tenants.’The PCA’s assessment of industry malpractice found Heineken had committed a total of 12 breaches with the result that it had frustrated the principles of the Pubs Code. As well as identifying how the company had offered stocking terms that had acted as a deterrent to pub tenants pursuing a free-of-tie tenancy, the PCA highlighted systemic corporate failures by Star in its approach to compliance.The news comes weeks before the conclusion of a government review into the Code itself. The tie element of the Code has long been criticised by pub owners and campaigners, who say it is being routinely abused by deep-pocketed pubcos able to flout the spirit of the code that governs it (Guardian, 15 Oct).The PCA also discovered that the company rewrote the job description of Code Compliance Officer ‘to ensure the Code is interpreted to the commercial benefit of Heineken UK’. This breached the Code requirement to appoint a compliance officer whose role is to verify compliance.Dickie decided upon ‘the imposition of a sanction’ to ‘change the company’s mindset’ towards compliance and ‘serve as a deterrent to future non-compliant conduct by Star and other pub-owning businesses’.As well as imposing the fine – which can account for up to 1% of the relevant pub-owning group’s annual UK turnover – the PCA has also ordered Star to make all its free-of-tie tenancies Pubs Code compliant and to ensure future Code compliance. In response, Star pubs managing director, Lawson Mountstevens, said in a statement: ‘We are deeply disappointed and frustrated at the outcome of this investigation.‘There are many aspects of the report that we fundamentally disagree with and we are actively considering an appeal.‘This penalty is unwarranted and disproportionate, and comes at a time when the entire sector is in serious financial crisis as we work around the clock to support our pubs and licensees to keep their businesses afloat.’Dickie has given Heineken six weeks to provide a detailed response to how it will implement her recommendations, and has ordered them to write to all its tenants explaining her findings, the measures Star is taking to respond to them and how these will affect tenants in practical terms.‘I will be holding discussions with all the companies I regulate following my findings about how they will ensure they are code-compliant,’ Dickie said. ‘My message is that if anyone previously had any doubts about my resolution to act when I find breaches, they can have no doubt now.’The UK Alcohol Alert (incorporating Alliance News) is designed and produced by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. Please click the image below to visit our website and find out more about us and what we do, or the ‘Contact us’ button. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

In the era of the post-lockdown, digital transformation will be crucial in enabling organizations to reopen safely. Enabling line managers to work remotely, staff to keep better track of new hygiene regimes, and sensors to monitor social distancing provisions in real-time will contribute to keeping both frontline workers and consumers safe. Digital transformation can be used by organizations to empower the frontline workforce. Enabling frontline staff to log incidents, communicate with their line managers, and digitally check-in when carrying out a task will help frontline morale and an organization's bottom line. But how? I invited Over-C CEO, Michael Elliott, on to the podcast to learn more. Over-C is a leading provider of workplace management and analytics. It is currently deployed across a number of sectors to help clients with frontline staff management, including Thomond Park (the home of Munster Rugby), ScotRail, and Southside Shopping Centre. From serving as a search-and-rescue pilot to founding Over-C, Michael has been a truly unique career. The story of Over-C began when Mike ran his own manned security guarding company – Akita Security. He soon realized that he – and the industry – had a major problem: when asked for insights into the efficiency of the service he was providing, Michael couldn't get his hands on the information he needed to answer them. He had no visibility. When an incident occurred, he was often the last to know: by then, it was too late to either act or rectify what had happened. Mike shares how he made it his mission to change this industry for the better. He sold his security company and founded Over-C.

This week on the Digital Marketing Scoop Mark and Jen are chatting with guests Clióna Moynihan and Riona Hegarty from Over-C all about marketing from star-up to scale-up.This episode of the Digital Marketing Scoop s brought to you by the team in Cliq Media & Marketing. About Over-COver-C provide a digital platform to high-footfall, high-risk and high-production venues and facilities giving them full transparency, confidence and control of frontline operations. Our platform enables real-time decision making in the areas of cost control, compliance and the customer experience. All activity is monitored in real-time via a visual dashboard; and reporting is by exception - enabling executives to achieve cost efficiencies by making smarter decisions about how best to deploy frontline resources; ensures they are fully compliant with regulatory requirements and able to deliver an optimal customer experience. Customers and partners include Thomond Park Stadium, ScotRail, Eli Lilly, Savills, O2 Telefonica and KPN.

This week, Sinow and Kimmy talk about what science says about being kind, playing Dead By Daylight, and a hero saving a life on the ScotRail! Check out the blog post at https://www.kimmymauldin.com/joybinge-podcast Be sure to follow on social media! Twitter: @joybingepodcast IG: @joybingepodcast Facebook: @JoyBingePodcast Artwork by James Cole "Industrious Ferret” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Links to listen on other platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0rT6ZVEFT66DWlxx0KoMTT?si=_O72pl1ySCGi9rL-NQSB1A SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/joy-binge iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joybinge-podcast/id1444367585

This week Andy Mac is back in the house and the guys chat about a range of different subjects such as; Jackets, Boilers, Jordans ride on the ScotRail 16:30 to Glasgow, Mike goes hillwalking, Cheating in sports, and according to Andy Mac, there are three Black Fridays!! Including your favourite segments Braw Or Naw, Sports, and Watching/Listening This Week.  You can now support the show on Patreon and gain access to exclusive weekly content, prizes, and shoutout every week on the show: https://www.patreon.com/MonkeySwordFight If you wouldn’t mind subscribing to the show on iTunes, it helps the show out a lot and would be greatly appreciated.  You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/monkey-sword-fight/id1346837791?mt=2  Follow us here on podbean: https://monkeyswordfight.podbean.com/  Don’t forget, the guys are always looking for your feedback and suggestions, so feel free to get in touch at: monkeyswordfightpodcast@gmail.com You can contact the guys on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MonkeySwordFightPodcast/ Or on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MSF_podcast SOCIAL MEDIA: www.twitter.com/Wagjuanpatrice  www.twitter.com/_MDotts www.twitter.com/macapella   Hosts: Jordan Patrick & Mike Dotts Producer: Andy Macfarlane

Books, bikes, politics, grief, periods and the Chappetite with Emily Chappell. ~ Guest ~Emily Chappell http://thatemilychappell.com/aboutTwitter @emilychappell https://twitter.com/emilychappellInstagram @emilyofchappell https://www.instagram.com/emilyofchappell/~ Buy Emily's new book ~Where There's a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Theres-Will-Endurance-Continent/dp/1788161513/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Buy her first book! What Goes Around https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Goes-Around-London-Couriers/~ Come to Emily's launch ~Buy a signed copy of Emily's new book and enjoy the panel "Telling new stories about cycling" with Jools Walker, Max Leonard and Kat Jungnickel on Friday 8th November at 49 Old St. EC1V 9HX RSVP https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/where-theres-a-will-book-launch-and-panel-with-emily-chappell-and-friends-tickets-78026504375Can't make it? Get a reminder to watch the panel live on Facebook thanks to We Do It Live https://www.facebook.com/1ookmumnohands/posts/3777656688927221?__tn__=-R-RRecorded at Wardour Studios http://wardourstudios.co.uk/Edited by Ev Sekkies https://www.sekkidesphoto.com/~ Topics ~The Transcontinental Race https://www.transcontinental.cc/Hannah Nicklin https://twitter.com/hannahnicklin?Juliana Buhring http://julianabuhring.com/Fantasia - Night on bald mountain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLCuL-K39eQJenny Graham http://theadventuresyndicate.com/jenny-graham-1 Norethisterone pillJulian Sayarer http://juliansayarer.com/RAAM The Race across America https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/Shu Pillinger https://twitter.com/shupillinger?lang=enEmma Pooley http://www.emmapooley.net/en/Molly Weaver http://molly-weaver.com/Fiona Kolbinger theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/06/fiona-kolbinger-first-woman-win-transcontinental-cycling-raceTrans Pyrenees Race https://transpyrenees.cc/Juliana has started a race / sprint - info to come!The wet dream Scotrail #WestHighlandLine tweet https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1186952483941298176Mike Hall https://www.transcontinental.cc/mikehallThe #Chappetite https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chappetite?src=hashtag_clickMukbang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MukbangAlastair Humphreys https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/Hidden Brain Podcast - People Like Us https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?i=1000440522998Le Loop https://rideleloop.org/Emily is touring the UK http://thatemilychappell.com/speaking/~ Intro Track ~Evangelion - A Cruel Angel's Thesis: Bike Horn Cover www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUamHEvVQy0Sounds~ Work handles ~Look mum no hands! www.lookmumnohands.com/London Bike Kitchen www.lbk.org.uk/~ Our personal handles ~Alex Davis twitter.com/SingyamatokunJenni Gwiazdowski twitter.com/money_melon~ Follow us ~Twitter twitter.com/WheelSuckersPodInstagram www.instagram.com/wheelsuckerspod/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joel, Tony and Shaughan gather around a mic to look back at the more madcap moments from Scottish football so far this campaign. Otherwise known as the list.From Montrose's Alan Partrdige moment to Dean from Scotrail, iguanas to seagulls, plus plenty of Hamilton and Kilmarnock.Enjoy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Have you noticed the stickers on the windows of Scotrail train carriages about teenagers vandalising the railway station?

It's episode two and this time Good John is unavailable. John returns and is joined by Krys. The season may have just started again but there has been plenty of football player already. We had our European contingent starting off last Tuesday with all four teams winning their first leg which was pleasing. The teams not involved in Europe kicked off their season in the League Cup which saw a few shocks take place. We start off our new regular feature of tweets of the week with talk of Livingston's dump and Shay Logan's rant at ScotRail. If you've seen anything yourself on twitter relating to Scottish football that has amused you then send it on. Another feature will be goal of the week so again send your contenders on to us @sffpodcast on Twitter. The podcast concludes with chat about the upcoming Scottish Cup preliminary round draw. Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

It's episode two and this time Good John is unavailable. John returns and is joined by Krys. The season may have just started again but there has been plenty of football player already. We had our European contingent starting off last Tuesday with all four teams winning their first leg which was pleasing. The teams not involved in Europe kicked off their season in the League Cup which saw a few shocks take place. We start off our new regular feature of tweets of the week with talk of Livingston's dump and Shay Logan's rant at ScotRail. If you've seen anything yourself on twitter relating to Scottish football that has amused you then send it on. Another feature will be goal of the week so again send your contenders on to us @sffpodcast on Twitter. The podcast concludes with chat about the upcoming Scottish Cup preliminary round draw. Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

All your week's Don news in just over ten minutes in our seventh pre-season AFC DONScast. With Derek McInnes on the game against RoPS Rovaniemi on Thursday and the pre-season transfers so far and we hear from new signing Funso Ojo. Shay has a Twitter spat with ScotRail and a few bits more in this week's edition. Our second UEFA Europa League special will air on Friday from 10pm.

Adam Miller is joined by Gaby McKay and Chris Doyle in the latest episode of Football Scotland Daily podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Phil Verster, President and Chief Executive Officer at Metrolinx, On Transit Development Phil Verster is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Metrolinx. He oversees a team committed to transforming transportation in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Prior to joining Metrolinx, Phil managed train operations, infrastructure builds and infrastructure management for passenger rail systems in England, Scotland and Ireland. Phil began his career in his native South Africa in the electricity sector. He then spent several years in the UK at Bombardier Rail and at Irish Rail. In 2011, Phil joined Britain's Network Rail where he managed the second largest route in the system. He then ran Scotland's ScotRail passenger rail service, and served as Managing Director of Network Rail's East West Railway. Phil joined Metrolinx in October 2017. His comprehensive knowledge and extensive transit background has equipped him with the necessary tools Metrolinx requires to continue working towards delivering an integrated, regional transportation system that will serve the needs of residents and businesses for years to come. Speaker: Phil Verster, President and Chief Executive Officer, Metrolinx *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*

This week, Natalie & Colin discuss the Scottish FA's decision to stay at Hampden, plans to deal with professional begging in Glasgow city centre, and ScotRail starting construction on a new railway station in Robroyston.

On this interim podcast we cover all the latest news from across the globe. Everything from Scotrail banning firearms on trains, bringing back Lynx to the UK to locals saving an elephant out at sea off Sri Lanka.   Email the show podcast@paceproductionsuk.com  

Something To Talk About.....Fame or infamy, Piers, Radio 2 music, Harry Styles>Paul Weller, Bob loves Guy Ritchie, Celeb networking, Angus Macfadyen, Football ruining songs, Neil in a pub, Eurovision, #AcousticAlly , You Can't Fuck About With Love, Amar Pelos Dois, Lucie Jones Babestation, Mickey Newbury, Bob & Stephen reconnect, Music on Graham Norton, "McFly are the new Beatles" - Stephen Maguire, Alphabetize your CD's, Work It Out, #Dianarama , Favourite girl band members, Is domestic violence a thing of the past?, Scottish music, #Hipsway #SteelValleySaints Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 COMPETITION WINNER Pepe Silvia!!! The 'Deal', Blur are shite...Gorillaz are worse, #Baftas , MTV Gender Neutral Awards, Everybody needs a voice, Men & Women in the toilet, Bob's a gentleman Stephen is Shitbreak, Religious Education, Stereo farts, #QuestionTime , ScotRail fucked our guest!, Strange & wonderful...

This week our (depleted) panel looked ahead to the possible fortunes of all three Scottish clubs in European action with special emphasis paid to Celtic's clash, with former Stjarnan footballer Niclas Vemmelund our special guest. We also looked at the latest transfer goings-on and much more...