People on glass bridges
Posted on
June 10, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Readers may have noted that Scottish Labour’s complaints about the delay in opening the new Forth Bridge have been uncharacteristically subdued.
It is, after all, rarely difficult to distinguish the branch office from a cuddly fluffy bunny made of candyfloss and children’s smiles. But this time we may know why.
Because as it happens, while the Queensferry Crossing has been under construction, Labour have been in charge of building a new bridge in Scotland too. It’s not nearly as big and complicated, but it hasn’t gone quite as well.
We wonder if we should ask where they got the steel.
Ironically Labour have burnt their bridges
Confucius says ‘never cross your bridges before they are built’ (or something like that).
That gave me such a laugh! Rev, you’re on fire today!
Truly, “The Bridge of Sighs” Oh no, wait a minute!!
If its got Wullie Young at the start, its a guaranteed mess in action.
Anyway Aberdeen’s owned by SLab yoons and they’ve sat and watched our victorian road network try to cope with Oil Capital of Europe level’s of demand for 40+ years. Brig O Dee’s the only bridge off the dual carriage way into Aberdeen, its single lane and was opened by the Bishop Of Elphinstone in 1493.
Yoon ACC is that shite.
A total waste of money. They sold off instead of maintaining an original crossing. The developers closed it. The AWPR being built would have relieved the traffic.
The City Centre is being destroyed and the grotesque, carbuncle being build is putting the City into £Millions of debt. No one wanted it.
There is a shortage of teachers because the Council is so useless.
May 2017
Im glad that the SNP have announced that the new Forth Crossing is now opening next week, well its opening for the Libdumb and Tory MSP’s who spewed out their pathetic crap in the chambers during the week to use. The rest of us will wait till its finished and safe, whenever that will be.
Scottish Labour turning £6.3 million into £15.5 million.
Imagine the explosive economic boost of them running the entire Scottish economy.
C’mon Aberdeen (and Glasgow, by the way).
Whip these Labour liggers’ arses next year, boot them out of office.
Get some SNP competency in there and get the books opened up.
Show Labour to the Nation for the chancers and freeloaders that they are and have always been
Tick. F******. Tock.
It was funny seeing the article in the local EE rag about another problem on the 30/3/16 as 4 days earlier I had wrote to the paper when they were going to get off there arse and ask the Contractor why a Bridge Engineer from Scandinavia had been across to see the damage.
4 days later it was an exclusive scoop but no mention of my e-mail or any commission.
The paper didn’t want to publish but the local Slab council had been getting a pasting as all the projects they were managing were over budget and the paper had to follow suit!
Somebody wants decking over this fiasco.
Suspension at least.
I doubt anyone will swing though.
The Labour/Unionists refused a Gift of £80Million, the UTG Project, which could have pedestrianise the city centre, with an exit to Union Square. They are spending £30Million to renovate an Art Gallery.
The Oil sector has been destroyed by Osbourne. 60/80% taxes when the price had fallen 75%. It is still taxed at 40%. The Tories no enterprise and high taxes. Thousands of people have lost their jobs. The Unionists wring their hands and demand another ‘summit’. May 2017.
Firstly, great piece of investigative journalism he, Rev.
Jon D says:
“Whip these Labour liggers’ arses next year, boot them out of office.”
The problem with achieving a landslide at the council elections is the way the multi seat wards and the STV system work.
Take the case of a typical three councillor ward.
If the SNP put up two candidates and Lab, Con, Lib put up one each, then half of SNP voters will give first preference to one of their candidates and half to the other. Then presumably half their second preference to each. (Although perhaps this is an assumption too far).
Under this split vote situation, a large SNP vote need not mean two seats. Worse, it could let three Unionists in! Look at what happened recently in the Argyll by-election.
Next year’s council elections are not going to be a Unionist wipe out by any means.
Murray point of information £6.3M to £22.3M 15M was the estimate pre-tenders.
But is SLAB had anything to do with it building I would like Confermation that all appropriate ties are correctly in place before using it. It would be ashame if all the traffic needed to be sent home and then distributed to other bridges in the area.
Oh aye I had forgotten about the road tae Tillydrone. Interestingly but not surprising was UKOK STV Aberdeen’s complete failing to point out this was a glaring abortion by the UKOK Alliance presently running or not running as the case is Aberdeen City Council.
I wonder what sort of financial hole they will leave the incumbent Council next year assuming that folk in Aberdeen see sense and boot SLAB, Tory and the sleekit Independents Councillors arses into the Don or the Dee. I am no fussed which one.
If that lot have balanced the books legally then I will eat my Ys’.
We must build bridges to Labour—–because they can’t obviously.
Aye the milked that one dry didnt they be interesting to see if the constuction company boss was related to anybody we know.
This is how your labour councils spend your money they waste it if they tell you it will cost X amount to do you double that figure,if they tell you it will take a year you double that time.
And you can bet one of them if not more made a nice little earner.
Just vote SNP/SNP/SNP.
This is why Wings is so important, brilliant.
There’s more joy to come. The proposed new crossing over the Dee should be fun. Still in the thinking-about-it stage.
Re STV. Could we have a whole article on the local elections and the STV voting system. Since all elections are now about Independence v Unionism, the STV system may be a bit of a challenge in ensuring we sack all those councillors who have failed to represent their electorate.
As Tony Benn noted about democracy:
How do we get rid of you?
Millions over budget and months overdue. Sounds pretty normal for the Labour Party (hypocrites).
“We wonder if we should ask where they got the steel?”
Brilliant. I love it.
OT but Herald online is reporting yet another SNP bad tale of no substance – written by the once promising journalist Paul Hutcheon.
It is a piece of nonsense that a so called investigative journalist is content to write utter drivel while stretching it into an article.
Goodbye Herald , goodbye ,your demise will not be mourned.
I was not aware of this bridge. The example I have used against Lab types is the millennium bridge in London. Way over budget and closed pretty much the day it opened because it wobbled massively when people walked on it. Odd considering it was designed for people to walk on.
We have been saying since #indyref that Labour need to build bridges. These examples show why they are failing at that
“EU Referendum: Massive swing to Brexit – with just 13 days to go
Exclusive: polling carried out for ‘The Independent’ shows that 55 per cent of UK voters intend to vote for Britain to leave the EU in the 23 June referendum ”
link to archive.is
Wasn’t there a building in Edinburgh they had a problem with as well?
Look at the size of that bridge. Real cost £22.5 million, unbelievable.
Must have used tons of fucking grease to get to that price!
YES! Ask where they got the steel!
Thank Christ labour are not “taking back control”(brain washed from last nights STV debate)
I think they need to get Max Wall and Misery Gray to come out and tell how bad the SNP are.
The old saying goes “If they build it they will come”, in labours case it goes “If they build it, you will be dead before its finished”
Exclusive: polling carried out for ‘The Independent’ shows that 55 per cent of UK voters intend to vote for Britain to leave the EU in the 23 June referendum ”
Down at the bottom as usual
“Support for EU membership is highest in Scotland, with 60 per cent backing Remain. But a majority of people in every other region of Great Britain favour withdrawal when turnout is taken into account.”
Scotland stays in. England leaves.
But BBC attack propaganda said
link to bbc.co.uk
The Labour Loons can’t build Pontoons!
Absolute Farce!
Between Labour going a Gazillion percent over budget on the new Parliament Building, a Stonking Percent over on the Edinburgh Trams fiasco, and now this nice wee easy bridge
over a stream like everything they touch, massively over budget and well late.
We must be grateful that unlike the Tram System, which was cut in half from its original length, the bridge seems to reach the opposite bank?
At least I think it does? Is it a Labour Photograph? lol
Can they not just get the worlds greatest living civil engineer Dr Scott ‘Yoonball’ Arthur to sort it all out for them ?
O/T
Gordon MacIntyre – Kemp: ‘Brexit – What Scotland needs to know before voting.’
link to youtube.com
Croompenstein says:
10 June, 2016 at 7:51 pm
Can they not just get the worlds greatest living civil engineer Dr Scott ‘Yoonball’ Arthur to sort it all out for them ?
Dr NO’s a drain surgeon.
Did Alex Johnstone kick up as big a fuss about this one as he did for the FRB?
It sounds like one of those opportunities a local attention grabbing politician should jump at the chance to use to get his name in the paper.
@ Ken500
Yeah and they’re ripping out that beautiful marble staircase at the Gallery as well.
Normally the Labour chameleons wouldn’t shy away from attacking the SNP government even in such situations.
Pravda GB and the rest of the media scum would be relied upon to cover up for them.
But now that the media scum has moved support to the Tories, they are being forced to sober up a bit.
Stuart,
“YES! Ask where they got the steel!”
What came to my mind as well.
Someone please answer that.
They must be completely exposed.
Stop it Rev.
Don’t want the No voting,good fowk of the North East taking the hump at central belt bias,don’t even mention illegal fishing catches in the North Sea and dinnae mention Fraserburgh or Shetlands for goodness sake.
Brilliant
Hi David Smith.
Can’t yi lever some more bridge puns out of this story? (He said, arching his eyebrows.) “Maybe you need some sort of beam to tune into your truss?” he typed, in a squinty sort of weighbridge… We can have a game of pontoon while you’re thinking about it…
8=)
Head’s must roll,these councillors must be at personality responsible for this huge theft from the public. They must pay every penny stolen from the public funds. They are not fit for office.
Hi David Smith.
One last bridge pic…
link to graphtech.com
8=)
“Somebody wants decking over this fiasco.”
Haw, Davie, I’ve still got some Cuprinol Stain if you want it.
British Labour in S______d , where everything is a bridge too far.
Quite delicious, Rev.
Waiting for Iain Gray to start thumping the desk about the Queensferry Crossing, “We want answers, we want figures……but only the wans I made up.”
O/T
For anyone interested Mohammad Ali’s memorial service is live right now, from the guardian:
link to theguardian.com
So who is the most competent to run Scotland?
It’s an ironic question because the answer is definitely not the Tories or Labour. Unfortunately although we have an SNP government both of these parties still rule in many ways.
The bastard Tories decide what our budget will be and whether or not austerity is shared among the few or the many. They choose the few and make sure none of them are affected.
Labour, on the other hand are in the majority in our councils. They care, they really care, mostly about themselves and not a jot about the people that voted them in.
Alex Salmonds “vanity project” of a third Fourth crossing WILL come in on time and under budget much to our oppositions disgust, as an example of politicians doing a good job.
Look at the state of that bridge project in Aberdeen, these people shouldn’t be left in charge of a piss up in a brewery, they are being ripped off right left and centre by the contractor at best or complicit at worst.
2017 I hope will be the end of days for the useless occupiers of seats in our councils that better people will fill. No more, let’s rid ourselves of the dross filling our councils.
Ok that’s not something you can just open your gub and say at work or in the pub with your friends, but it’s true. I think we need to stop being so shy and actually open our mouths to help our progress towards Independence.
I’ll admit it, I haven’t always done so and I guess many of you reading are the same. Independence though will be a long time in coming unless we are more vocal. So do your best when the opportunity arises and speak your mind.
We are on the right side, we have faith in what we believe in for good reasons, let’s tell others. Those closest to us for starters then your workmates and friends. Let’s not let our good nature and shyness get in the way. Then we win.
Aberdeen Steel is from Darlington in County Durham.
No doubt the Scottish Plants don’t make that kind of steel?
Perhaps our quotas are used up by Iron Bru?
Brilliant. LOL
Brian Doonthetoon… I wouldn’t trust Labour with my teeth…
link to salvaggio.headstaff.com
Ooft!
That’ll leave a mark.
OK Brian McHugh.
Is this a bridge too far?
link to s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com
8=)
Interesting clip from Herald on Michael Gray’s twitter.
link to twitter.com
‘Herald newspaper says it would reconsider its opposition to independence if rUK voters take Scotland out the EU.’
Could be a great let out for other papers (with rapidly declining sales) to change sides. Now that Slab have been supplanted by the tories as the party of the union supporting them really would kill off their remaining sales.
How very Labour – Turning a projected £6.3 million cost into a £22.3 million bill for the taxpayers.
Pretty much in the same way as the managed to turn the projected £40 million cost of the Scottish Parliament into a bill of £414 million.
Then there was the way they failed to regulate the casino bankers, leading to a multi £ billions bill for the taxpayers.
Has there ever been a political party in history that has had so many incompetents at the helm? Never has so much been stumped up by so many because of the incompetence of so few.
galamcennalath @18:47 said:
It’s not simple, but this is too pessimistic a view, I reckon. If the “split” SNP vote made one of their candidates too weak to stay in the reckoning, their second preferences would almost certainly put the other one into a win. The three Unionists would then have to compete with each other for the remaining two places. (Though here in Glasgow at least the wards are actually 4-member.)
All it needs is for voters to be savvy enough to give the “other” SNP candidate their second preference. It doesn’t even matter which way round. That’s not too hard to get over to voters.
And that’s the absolute worst-case scenario, mind you. Since the pro-Union candidates don’t have a unified (heh) slate, their second and third preferences could just as easily cancel each other out rather than coalesce. They have to compete with each other for the loyalist vote, just as in the last Holyrood election. So it doesn’t even follow that the 2nd SNP candidate would be the one to drop out. If both attract enough votes, they both win. That’s what happened here in my ward the last time: 2x SNP and 2x SLab. And with the Labour vote heading south (to coin a phrase), here anyway the SNP must surely be tempted to put up more next time to gain the potential benefit. Otherwise how can you make progress? How you explain that to voters is more tricky, true. That’s where your argument begins to get traction. A party has to be confident of having enough votes so as not to lose anyone in the early rounds. But even then, the second & third preferences will still not be wasted, provided people have used them wisely.
In the end, if it does ultimately resolve into a indy vs union tussle, it all comes down to which side can hold onto their own voters preferences (all of them!) best. Even with the Greens and others in play, I reckon indy has a definite edge. (And that’s even without factoring in the consequences of what might happen in a fortnight’s time.)
@ cearc
I seem to remember The Herald said it might change its mind on independence if the vow/Smith Commission proposals were not delivered. They may have expressed it as “watching closely” or “holding to account”.
I have no faith whatsoever in their latest protestations. They’re just saying this in the hope that it will encourage people to vote to remain. If they fail, they’ll find a way to wriggle.
As for their sales figures, I’m hoping for onwards and downwards.
Just in case no one else has posted the obvious. Here it is:-
link to youtube.com
Wasn’t the Skye Bridge a Labour fiasco with a PFI contract thrown in for good measure?
Almost 50 years of Oil Exploration from Aberdeen and this is the first infrastructure improvement that I can remember although when the Danestone housing development was constructed 32 years ago the closed of junction for the third Don Bridge was already there. Remember that throughout the 50 years LABOUR have been the party in power at the council for the vast majority of that time. Compare Aberdeen to Shetland or can you realistically. Labour have deliberately stopped infrastructure growth in Aberdeen. WHY ??
Remember that the cancellation of this bridge project in 2012 was a specific election promise made by the red tories. A few days after the council elections (and an anti-scottish coalition with the blue tories), and they decided to build the bridge after all. Aberdeen red tories don’t do things by halves – epic incompetence barely describes it. The latest red tory vanity project (new conference and exhibition centre) looks like it could put the yoon “Diamond” Jubilee bridge fiasco in the shade. Let’s hope that in 2017, the people of Aberdeen send them packing before they can do any more damage.
Ah, Balfour Beatty. Labour’s friend. Previously known as BICC plc until restructured by Lord Weir.
Remember Lord Weir, folks? He’s dead pally with Baron Robertson of Port Ellen. The pair were quite opinionated during the indyref.
Weir’s old family business, Weir plc, is the one that he used to chair and later got caught selling oil pumping equipment to Saddam. When Lord Weir converted BICC into BB, he made quite a bit of dosh from Labour’s PFI scams.
Do you think that the media have picked up on how these people are connected?
Funny that.
Great title too, needs said.
Keep up the good work!!!!
O/t,
I see Rod Stewart has got his knighthood for services to the Union during the referendum.
Iain says:
10 June, 2016 at 8:44 pm
“Head’s must roll,these councillors must be at personality responsible for this huge theft from the public. They must pay every penny stolen from the public funds. They are not fit for office.”
Well there wont be a whisper from the P&J or the UKOK STV Aberdeen News. It will of course become a UKOK Better Together beacon by the time of next years Council Elections. They have a Nat Alliance in Aberdeenshire to turn their ire and bile on though. They wont be giving much attention to the incompetence, corruption and nepotism at work on the Brit Nat controlled Moray Council or the now Brit Nat controlled Highland Council. It will be minutes and minutes and pages and pages of them screaming SNP BAAHD and it is all the SNPs fault followed by guff of Prince Charlie Boy looking ridiculous in a kilt apparently spraying largesse etc over Deeside. Not to forget the Donald either.
Just to rub salt into the would, (and to bridge a couple of news items), here’s a BBC news item from todays on-line text news –
Headlined, “TEACHER CRISIS MAY CLOSE SCHOOLS”
I’m surprised the BBC are not making this an SNP BAAAD issue. The truth being the SG do not hire, fire or recruit education staff. This is directly done by the council’s Education Committee.
Tell yiou what, though, I’d love to be a fly on the wall at Aberdeen council on Monday when Big Bad John arrives.
Yoon culture in Aberdeen is as catastrophic as it is anywhere in teamGB. Wullie and chums couldn’t make their minds up on Sir Ian Wood’s gift in his honour of mega millions, to destroy the centre of Aberdeen and even more than ACC have done for the last 4 decades.
So yoonster ACC held a city referendum on Sir Ian’s monument to his insatiable greed and we said YES, fcuk it how much more of a mess can Wullie and chums make of our once beautiful Silver City.
And then the great democratic yoon ACC said No anyway. Why they held an expensive referemdum and then ignore the result? we never found out. Our noble and honest tory BBC conveniently let it go/buried it for them.
Waste, chaos, confusion, white elephants, despair for Aberdonians, welcome to yoon controlled Aberdeen. And who do Wullie and chums blame for their decades of waste, debt, hideous eye sores etc? SNP
The Labour/Tory cannot be blamed for the ongoing construction works, however the increased costs declared as unforeseen problems is classic contractor strategy. So whoever commissioned/wrote up the tender documents, and negotiated the contract does have some questions to answer.
Strategy: Note the contract document shortcomings, sign the contract,then start the unforeseen circumstances claims game once you reach the point of no return in the contract % completion position when, – “they can’t be rid of you”.
Robert J. Sutherland says:
Re STV system. My understanding is that in other parts of the world where people understand the STV system, crib cards are issued by parties. They tell voters to ALL but candidate A first, then B, then C. That ensures there is no split vote effect.
If one candidate accumulates too many votes, then get carried forward to that party’s second choice.
STV is complicated, but can be ‘played’.
I very much doubt if the SNP is ready for such tactics for next year’s council elections.
Sir Rod Stewart is an anagram of Raw Distorters, which could be read as ‘bare-faced liars’.
It’s a kismetish sign from the Gods – we (and Rod) ignore it at our peril.
Proclaimers lyrics for Rod:”In recognition of 100 million album sales. You take a gawdy prize from people you said you despised.”
Not welcome at Parkhead you royalist Brit.
Brian 9.19: “I wouldn’t trust Labour with my teeth”.
Come on they would get you a new set with 800% interest,you would never own them and they would fall out after 8 years. What’s not to like.
Robert J. Sutherland at 10.05
I have never been convinced by the received nervous approach to voting in three or four member wards.
If the SNP is sitting at 60% plus (as it is where I live) I think there is an argument for going for the lot and using an SNP 1-2-3 tactic.That way you can provide the opportunity for SNP supporters to use all their votes on SNP candidates and not waste votes on other candidates which many feel they have a civic obligation to do.
And the evidence – Labour have played this system to huge effect getting all Labour results in many wards for years. We have now replaced them in terms of voting power in very many areas and we should go for it!
so err… who’s funding the auditors that are carrying out the audit ? and will it be added to the cost of the bridge and take 6 months longer than it is supposed to ? and will the MSM be creating several SNP Bad stories, just to kick up a fuss whilst SLabour run and hide ? ? ?
Apparently good old Scottish Steel from the Scots village of Darlington was used fot the Bridge under discussion…
Darlington IS in Scotland, right ?
link to pressandjournal.co.uk
I fear the SNP up here would do little better after the nonsense that went on surrounding Union Terrace Gardens. The SNP jumped at the chance to do favours for the rich land investors then.
Labour of course opposed the plans for no reason other than SNP bad and as such had no alternative plan for the gardens.
Lose, lose situation I feel.
Ian Brotherhood@11.09,
Talking of Anagrams:
Jackie Baillie: Jaba I like lice.
Ruth Davidson: Had turd vinos.
Kezia Dugdale: Dual gaze dike.
David Cameron: Vicar add omen.
Boris Johnson: Bro John’s is no.
Nigel Farage: A fag leering.
Stephen.
Re:STV voting system
Thanks to Wings, I feel I now have a reasonably good grasp of how the Holyrood electoral system works. Can I put in a plea to the Rev for a similarly lucid explanation of the STV system in advance of next year’s council elections? I think many of us would find it helpful. Thanks!
The UTG Project, with an exit to Union Square, would have pedestrianised the City. It would have have been cost far less and been nearly fully funded.
They are spending £30Million renovating an Art Gallery. They intend refusing Aberdeen Artists exhibition space. The most successful exhibition. The Art Gallery was originally built to accommodated the Aberdeen Artist Exhibition.
The grotesque, carbuncle is an absolute disgrace. People were protesting in the street. It is just unbelievable. The majority wanted the City centre pedestrianised. The £Millions that are being wasted. They can’t even employ enough teachers, and claim there is not enough to fund public services. The non Green wasters.
The ‘white elephant’ road, £Millions over budget. The AWPR is being built which would have relieved the traffic.
The Herald’s sales are in decline. The Sunday Herald (and National?) are on the way up. The National is always sold out,
Wonder if Rod will get a seat next to that other Yoon who pretends he is a Doctor, John Reid.
BBC Scotland currently gushing over the Queen. This country makes me spew.
where did the steel come from ?it would appear the bridge sections were fabricated in darlington so the origin of the steel remains a mystery to the best of my knowledge steel is not made in darlington
Mega or mini projects going over time and beyond budget is a given – and a challenge to tendering authorities to have a realistic budget and timeframe in the project planning. Had this been in place for the Edinburgh Trams project, e.g., it would never have got off the ground.
From the off, £15million for a bridge seems incredibly cheap. I suspect the reason many public projects seem to balloon in cost is simply because the politicians commissioning them deliberately present an unrealistically low cost to begin with.
Richardinho – agree completely.
galamcennalath, Dave McEwan Hill and Puzzled Puss yesterday,
I think you are right, DMH, it’s time in Glasgow, and some other well-chosen places too, to put down a full-throttle challenge to SLab. It may let in the odd Green or even Tory (shudder) as collateral damage, but “no risk, no gain”.
You may be right, g, we are still rank amateurs in regard to STV yet, but the SNP surely does need to get itself prepared along the lines you mentioned, if it’s serious about winning big. (But are they not?!)
What the ordinary voter has to do with STV is considerably easier to comprehend than the 2-ballot muddle that is AMS, I reckon. But PP has a fair point, I’m sure many would find it helpful to get a suitable explanation at some suitable time before the council elections are finally upon us.
“Bring it on”, as Wendy once said. And Aberdeen is surely one place where the necessary reckoning has been far too long coming. But coming it surely is…
Refused a gift of £80 million, my sweaty balls. What the Aberdeen Labour council did – and what they were elected to do – was rescue one of the few green spaces in the city centre from a gang of chancers who wanted to access a big chunk of prime land on the cheap, and turn it into a shitty shopping centre. Few expected that, having defeated one proposed act of civic vandalism, the Labour scumbags would perpetrate an even worse one by building a fucking massive eyesore right in front of Marischal College, probably the finest building in Sotland.