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TWO years after the nationalisation of ScotRail, and a week after the election of a Labour government, Scotland's railways have descended into chaos. Hundreds of journeys have been either cancelled or delayed, thousands of people have been inconvenienced. The nadir of the current farce was reached on Wednesday when ScotRail announced that information about what trains would run on Thursday morning would be released at 3am, on Thursday morning.

Welcome to the politics and economics of socialism. The trade union of course scents the post-election weakness of a humiliated SNP. One can hardly blame it.



All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it. Such are the rules of the current game. Having brought ScotRail into state ownership, it is Fiona Hyslop who must shoulder her responsibilities and resolve the shambles into which ScotRail has descended.

She cannot blame a remote private franchise holder. She cannot blame Westminster. She can't even blame Maggie.

Working in the public and nationalised sector brings with it a range of benefits not found in the private sector. That's not to say that it is the land of milk and honey. The work can be emotionally exhausting and sometimes thankless.

Worse than that, public sector workers are frequently derided. But in addition to its benefits and perquisites it has other rewards, not least of which is that of service to the public. It should, using the word in its original sense, be vocational, a calling.

That isn't something to.

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