Our reaction to recent sporting victories reflects a deeper truth, we have a mature democracy and have be able to smile despite our travails, writes Allan Massie

The sun is shining as if we have a real summer at last, Andy Murray has won Wimbledon and has shown the world that he is not only a remarkable tennis player but also a very likeable and intelligent young man with a delightful sense of self-deprecating humour; the Lions – at last – played 25 minutes of exhilarating rugby, and there is an Ashes series just about to begin. It couldn’t be better. We should all take time to smell the flowers and reflect that there have been many worse times to be alive.

This doubtless sounds complacent to some. Many live in avoidable poverty; many more are insecure in employment. We are still faced with doom-laden warnings about continuing hardship. The economy itself may be beginning to turn the corner, but it’s still a long one before there is any likelihood that we will again be back on the smooth, straight road to prosperity. And if we look beyond this “sceptred isle” , we see horrors everywhere, notably in Syria and Egypt, where things look like getting worse before there is any chance they will get better.

Nevertheless we should count our blessings. We have survived the deepest and most prolonged recession since the 1930s without social and political disruption. Compared with the 1930s, living is easy, and whereas the Depression then brought Hitler to power in Germany and so led to the most terrible of wars, there is nothing comparable even in the worst-hit countries of the eurozone. Somehow we seem to be muddling through.

Here in Scotland we are engaged in the most important political argument for centuries, one that may have a momentous outcome: the break-up of the United Kingdom. And yet this argument is being conducted in a mature and civilised manner, with a remarkable absence of acrimony. Of course, there has been some ill-natured sniping, and accusations of scaremongering and intellectual dishonesty but, considering the issue, one can only admire the moderation of both sides in the debate and the absence of the sort of demonstrations that so often and so easily can lurch into violence. Nobody serious has called the integrity of the leaders of either camp into question. Nobody has been making rabble-rousing speeches. Nobody has employed inflammatory language. There appears to be a general agreement that we will all accept the result of the vote, even if it disappoints. This is evidence of a mature and decent democracy, and this too is something for which we ought to be thankful.

It may be, of course, that the calm tenor of the debate reflects a feeling that the outcome, either way, may not make a great difference to how we live, and that, if we should opt for independence, the social union of which Alex Salmond has spoken will survive unimpaired, and might indeed, as he has suggested, be strengthened. Some will doubtless think this evidence of an unjustified, and unjustifiable, complacency. Such a response may well be wrong.

Politicians may not be held in high esteem, and this too is not a bad thing. Instead we may say that the country which looks for a politician as saviour is in a much worse condition than one which doesn’t expect too much from any of its party leaders. Some of those who write letters to this newspaper disparagingly describe Mr Salmond as our “Dear Leader”, but the term is silly. Whether you approve or disapprove of him, agree or disagree with him, he is certainly not a duce, fuhrer or caudillo figure. Nobody, I suspect, even in his own party, would claim that “the leader is always right”. We would laugh at the suggestion. I suspect he would laugh himself.

The truth is surely that the leaders of all the major UK parties are decent men, who are usually in a fair measure of agreement. They recognise that the limits of what a politician can achieve are soon reached – even if they may not say so in public. I doubt if any believes that politicians are capable of controlling the economy. Instead they recognise that the most they can do is give it a nudge. This too is something for which we should be grateful.

More than half a century ago the then prime minister, Harold Macmillan,said that most of our people “had never had it so good”. He added, characteristically, that some of us feared it might be too good to last. This qualification was forgotten and the first claim was criticised. Nevertheless Macmillan was right; in 1959 the mass of the British people had indeed never had it so good. Despite everything, despite periods of economic gloom and hardship, despite today’s level of unemployment, despite the hardships inflicted by the freezing of wages, we may say again that many today have never had it so good and most still have it pretty well.

There are always contradictions. We have lived through three decades in which we have been told that “the market rules”. And yet the scope of the state – the welfare and caring state – has been extended in this time. Despite everything, the NHS still works effectively and treats more patients than ever before; people survive illnesses and conditions that used to be almost always fatal. Despite cuts in welfare spending, the budget for welfare is of a level that would have astonished all previous generations. Despite everything, including for instance unprecedentedly high levels of immigration, social peace reigns. War, alas, has not been outlawed but war in Europe has become unthinkable. This is a blessing that few people enjoyed in the past.

Next year we will commemorate 1914-18 war. We should look at the long list of names on the war memorials in cities, towns and villages across the country; and we should think ourselves fortunate to be living now, and not 100 years ago.

For most of us life is good and for many it is getting better. Society is gentler and more tolerant; women are no longer treated as second-class citizens. Children no longer hold out their hands for the tawse. It’s natural to moan or to dwell on whatever disappoints us, but the sun is shining, Murray has won Wimbledon, and we should smile. For a few days anyway.

Benny Boot will be appearing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Udderbelly’s Pasture.

Joke: Fear public speaking? Imagine your audience with clothes on. More clothes. HEAPS MORE. Now it’s like you’re just talking to a pile of laundry.

{mailto: emerson@scotsman.com|Submit your jokes for publication|Send your jokes}

Following last year’s sell-out show, this year Benny (seen on Dave’s One Night Stand) pre-empts his imminent fame by recording a TV special live from the 2013 Edinburgh Festival. However, the stakes are high as he’s not been given the green light from the television networks. Benny continually blurs the line between reality and hyper-reality as he delivers another unique hour of cleverly-crafted jokes for his brand new comedy show.

“Gag for gag, Benny Boot is probably one of the best joke writers in the country... some of the most imaginative, perverse and downright clever routines I’ve heard at the festival so far.” (Jay Richardson, The Scotsman}

THERE were enthusiastic scenes in front of the City Chambers in George Square, thousands congregating to see Their Majesties appear on one of the balconies of the Chambers after the luncheon.

Office and warehouse workers in premises surrounding the square crowded windows, while several took up rather precarious stances on the roofs. During the wait for the King and Queen the vast assembly intermittently sang songs of loyalty and chanted, “We want the King and Queen!” It is many years since such a stirring spectacle has been seen in Glasgow. All along the route from Bellahouston, Their Majesties were cheered by large crowds. The time of their journey coincided with the dinner-time exodus of workers from engineering, shipbuilding and other establishments, and thousands of workers joined the spectators at different vantage points. George Square was beautifully decorated with flowers.

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 10 July

10 JULY

1579: The first Bible to be printed in Scotland was published.

1584: William of Orange was assassinated by Balthazar Gerard at instigation of Spain.

1645: Oliver Cromwell’s army defeated Royalists at Langport.

1810: British forces took Ile de Bourbon and Mauritius in Indian Ocean.

1900: Metro, the Paris underground railway and the work of Fulgence Bienvenüe, was opened.

1940: Battle of Britain began.

1943: Eighth Army and US 7th Army began invasion of Sicily.

1950: Soap rationing in Britain, started during the war, ended.

1951: Randolph Turpin became the first British boxer to win the world middleweight championship when he defeated American Sugar Ray Robinson at Earls Court, London.

1958: Parking meters introduced in England – in Mayfair, London.

1962: Telstar I, the world’s first television telecommunications satellite, was launched in America.

1976: Four mercenaries – three British and one American – were executed by firing squad in Angola.

1981: Copycat urban rioting emulating Brixton (3 April) and Toxteth (5 July), broke out in London, Birmingham, Preston, Hull and Wolverhampton.

1985: Two explosions sank the Greenpeace campaign ship Rainbow Warrior, in Auckland, New Zealand.

1990: Uefa, the European football governing body, unconditionally readmitted English clubs, except Liverpool, to European competition from which they had been banned after the Heysel Stadium riot in 1985.

1997: In London scientists reported the findings of the DNA analysis of a neanderthal skeleton which support the “out of Africa theory” of human evolution placing an “African Eve” at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.

1998: The Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $23.4m to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.

2000: A leaking southern Nigerian petroleum pipeline exploded, killing about 250 villagers scavenging gasoline.

2002: At a Sotheby’s auction, Peter Paul Rubens’ painting The Massacre of the Innocents was sold for £49.5m to Lord Thomson.

2011: The last edition of the News of the World was published in the wake of phone-hacking allegations.

BIRTHDAYS

Virginia Wade, Wimbledon champion 1977 and commentator, 68; Winnie Ewing, MEP 1975-99 and MSP 1999-03, 84; Sir Thomas Farmer, founder of Kwik-Fit, 73; Lord Mackie of Benshie CBE, MP 1964-66, chairman, Scottish Liberal Party 1983-88, 94; John Motson OBE, sports commentator, 68; Gaby Roslin, presenter, 49; Mary Sandeman, Scottish singer, 65; John Simm, actor, 43; Doctor Gavin Strang, MP (1970-2010), 70; Neil Tennant, singer (Pet Shop Boys), 59.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1509 John Calvin (born Jean Cauvin), theologian; 1802 Robert Chambers, bookseller and publisher; 1830 Camille Pissarro, painter; 1834 James McNeill Whistler, etcher and painter; 1871 Marcel Proust, writer; 1917 Reg Smythe, cartoonist (“Andy Capp”); 1943 Arthur Ashe, tennis champion.

Deaths: 138AD Hadrian, Roman Emperor; 1099 El Cid, Spanish patriot; 1978 Joe Davis, snooker player; 1989 Tommy Trinder, comedian; 1998 Hammond Innes, novelist; 2003 Winston Graham, author.

The recent news that the UK Government is to spend £2 billion in order to assist the UK’s flourishing car industry should be welcomed by us all.

However, what is now needed is for Britain to take the lead on new technology and innovation that will accelerate the growth of electric vehicles and deal with the country’s creaking and ageing infrastructure.

To understand the challenges facing the world, you simply have to look at India as an example of where we are all heading. Recent estimates suggest there are at least 103 million cars on the country’s roads. The number of new car users is increasing at a pace that new road construction can’t keep up with.

The reality facing us all is that failure to act and implement major radical projects will result in far higher longterm costs – not only to national economies but also to the environment.

Imagine the world in 20 years time if there is no significant change to current infrastructure policies. Our roads and rail networks could grind to a halt.

On the verge of an electric vehicle revolution

Until recently, the mere discussion of electric vehicles (EVs) was left for fantasists and dreamers. Diesel-guzzling cars were here and they were here to stay.

However, today, we are finally on the verge of an electric vehicle revolution.

Renault-Nissan has become one of the world’s biggest advocates of EV. The company has gone on record saying it believes EVs are set to change the face of mobility and it is backing that claim with investment, to the tune of almost US $5 billion (£3.3bn).

In India, REVA’s new 30,000 capacity EV car assembly plant has just been completed, creating employment in Bangalore and positioning India as a world leader in the creation of EVs. REVA’s achievements were recognised recently when it was selected as one of the world’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2013 by Fast Company magazine.

Brave decisions are needed not only in countries like India but also here. Some will inevitably fail, but others could flourish, not only helping to solve our global infrastructure crisis, but also making Britain an international leader in green infrastructure policy.

• Caroline Jones Carrick is project co-ordinator at TEV Project, based in Prestwick

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Manufacturers and Holyrood must ensure women can access life-changing treatments, says James Jopling

More than 1,000 Scottish women die every year from breast cancer, the vast majority from metastatic breast cancer. Finding out you have metastatic breast cancer and the cancer has spread to other organs and tissues away from the breast is devastating. At this point the disease is usually incurable. So that’s why Breakthrough Breast Cancer was deeply disappointed on behalf of those affected by the disease at the decision made on Monday by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to reject the metastatic breast cancer drug everolimus, more commonly known as Afinitor.

Afinitor can’t cure metastatic breast cancer, but in some women it can slow down the progression of the disease to keep a patient going as long as possible with a reasonable quality of life. Trials have shown it can slow the progression of cancer for up to almost a year, which is an astounding improvement over alternative treatments. We hope that further research will show that it can extend life as well. For most women, side effects are also mild when compared to other treatments, allowing women to continue doing the things they care about, such as spending time with loved ones, working or caring for family. We think it is one of the most exciting breast cancer treatments to come up for approval in years. Unfortunately, the SMC rejected it on the grounds of cost, deeming it not to be value for money.

Manufacturers need to set prices sensibly

This decision strikes at the very heart of the current debate around access to medicines, and to cancer medicines in particular. Here we have a drug that would mean so much for women but which is too costly for the NHS in Scotland to fund. Clearly the SMC cannot, and should not, approve every medicine at the price that a pharmaceutical company submits, but it is incumbent on both parties to find a way to make effective drugs available. Organisations such as Breakthrough can make huge leaps forward in research in treating breast cancer, but these advances are squandered if the resulting treatments can’t be approved for use in the women who stand to benefit from them. Manufacturers need to set prices sensibly and the SMC needs the ability to place more importance on the wider value to individuals, families and society that some new drugs can bring.

So we were heartened by the recent report of the Scottish Parliament Health Committee’s inquiry into access to newly licensed medicines. The report recommends that the SMC is empowered to consider a wider assessment of “value” when assessing a new drug beyond its current approach. We think value should mean taking account of benefits from the drug, such as providing extra months of precious time at the end of life in late stage cancer, and placing an emphasis on drugs that can slow progression of disease.

To an extent the system currently does allow for the consideration of some sense of value through the use of what the SMC calls “modifiers”. But the use of these modifiers has been criticised for being patchy and inconsistently applied. So we agree with the Health Committee recommendation that the Scottish Government should look at reviewing how these modifiers are applied, particularly in relation to factors such as end of life and innovation.

Wider access to life-saving medicines

We welcome the recent independent reviews for the Scottish Government on medicines approval, not least the recommendations to make the system more transparent and improve patient involvement in decisions. However, relatively little was said on how to improve access. The Scottish Government now has the opportunity to adopt a wider concept of value as quickly as possible into the medicines approval system in Scotland.

Over the next 12 months two further highly effective medicines for metastatic breast cancer are likely to come before the SMC.

Both are innovative. Both treat patients at the end of life. They both offer women with a devastating diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer dramatic improvements in the time before disease progresses.

We hope that embedding a real sense of value within decision making will increase the likelihood of effective cancer medicines like these being approved, giving women with metastatic breast cancer the chance to live their lives to the fullest for as long as possible.

• James Jopling is Director for Scotland at Breakthrough Breast Cancer www.breakthrough.org.uk/scotland

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THERE is a question which increasingly comes from our newspapers, TV, social media feeds, news websites and sometimes our friends and family.

Are those who should be looking after older people in our society – when they are at their most vulnerable – doing so with compassion, dignity and respect? If not, what is being done about it?

This subject is very close to our organisation’s heart. We have been carrying out independent inspections for the care of older people in Scotland’s NHS hospitals for just over a year. The good news is that, in the majority of our observations, we see staff treating older people with compassion, dignity and respect. However, in addition to the positive content of our reports, there has been uncomfortable reading for the hospitals concerned and for the public.

One thing is very clear to us: simply criticising the standards of care is not enough to ensure that change happens.

And that’s why, in Scotland, we do things a little differently. It may be a surprise to many but our NHS boards are open to constructive criticism – it helps them improve. However, sometimes additional help is required, especially when systems need to change or old habits are hard to break. So here’s the well-kept secret: your watchdog is actually more than a watchdog. Our organisation’s name – Healthcare Improvement Scotland – has “improvement” at its centre and with good reason. It is our main reason for being. Although we scrutinise and report publicly, we do not scrutinise and criticise to make headlines, but to help make improvements happen for patients.

Making improvements for patients a reality

First and foremost, it is NHS boards across the country who are responsible for, and make, improvements to the care we all receive. An organisation like ours cannot be in every area of every hospital at all times. However, in addition to our inspections and scrutiny we provide advice, support, tools and encouragement when it is required. We have a team of skilled improvement specialists who help ensure independent inspections are backed up with the kind of assistance needed to make many improvements for patients a reality.

Take the care of older people. Aligned with our inspection programme is an improvement support programme. It is a two-year programme which works with NHS boards to improve the care for older people in acute care by focusing on two key areas: identification and management of frailty, and identification and immediate management of delirium.

To make real change, people across the NHS in Scotland have to work together and our programme recognises this. We are engaging healthcare teams from acute hospitals across Scotland, piloting new approaches to delivering care, and sharing good practice on what activity is making the biggest difference.

To scrutinise, you need standards or guidelines to inspect against. In the case of older people in hospital care we measure performance against national guidelines, standards and good practice statements in

• dementia and cognitive impairment

• treating older people with compassion, dignity and respect

• preventing and managing falls

• nutritional care and hydration, and

• prevention and management of pressure ulcers

Many of these are produced by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and all are produced using the best international evidence known. They result in clear expectations from our healthcare system that every patient has the right to expect and this is what we scrutinise against.

Some might say Healthcare Improvement Scotland has a pioneering role. We are certainly supporting change through a unique combination of evidence-based standards and guidelines, improvement support and a scrutiny regime that is fair but challenging. Not many countries work the way that we do in Scotland, but we think it’s progressive, forward-thinking and could be a blueprint for the future.

• Denise Coia is chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org

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It’s been dubbed Die Hard meets The Office and is coming to the Fringe. Claire Smith travels to Iceland to watch a truly spectacular show

This is the first time I have had a breakthrough performance here. I really feel it.” I’m sitting in a bar in Reykjavik with Kristján Ingimarsson and the other three members of Blam! The night before, their show without words – a huge spectacular comic-book caper set in an office – played to a standing ovation and rapturous applause in one of Reykjavik’s biggest theatres.

Blam! has already been a roaring success in Denmark, and is now on its way to the Edinburgh Fringe. Ingimarsson, who is Icelandic, says the enthusiasm of the audience is typical of the mercurial likes and dislikes of the people in this land of fire and ice.

“Things happen like that in Iceland,” he says. “If you get there it happens quicker and everybody has to see it. Things go quickly in Iceland. People are used to it. The country is constantly changing.”

Coming to Edinburgh is a risk, but Ingimarsson hopes audiences here will also love the show, in which the tension between four office workers explodes and the desk slaves transform into action movie stars, superheroes and comic-book characters.

Blam! has been described as Die Hard meets The Office – although the producers also hope the Copenhagen-based company will pull in fans of Danish TV crime drama. But in many ways the show is more in tune with the vogue for non-verbal comedy typified by Doctor Brown and The Boy With Tape On His Face – with some pretty breathtaking physical stunts.

“It is a language – action movie language – but played big,” says Ingimarsson.

“People get the references. They get the game that we are playing. They understand the joy of playing.”

In a performance which takes in circus skills, puppetry, free running and martial arts, the whole office comes alive – lamps begin to move, file cases turn into body armour and the water fountain has a whole narrative of its own.

It’s super violent, but in a way which is funny. And there are subtle changes of pace which bring out the human side of the boss, who really just wants the chance to play with the boys.

The performers have developed their own language. When, during the interview, I lose my keys in my bag they start imagining I might have a giraffe and a house inside and they start yelling out: “Hey that’s a Blam!” “Yes and that could be a Blam!”

Circus-trained Lars Gregersen says that while the huge spectacular stunts have to be right it is also crucial to keep the audience engaged when the action is small. “It is easy when it becomes very, very big, but it is when it is small that timing becomes more important. People need to see and understand what is going on.”

Joen Højerslev, a Danish classical actor with a penchant for extreme sports and martial arts, plays the boss. “In our office the boss is the one getting bullied,” he says. “He wants to be part of the team and part of the social life but they leave him out. That is what gives him the volcano feeling. He doesn’t get the opportunity to let off steam like the other guys do.”

During our meeting Hojerslev gets a finger-wagging from director Simon Boberg for going out ski jumping before the performance. In a show as physical as this one it is important that the cast avoid injury. But you get the feeling the director is just singing in the wind. Blam! is such a joyful outpouring of male energy it must be almost impossible to stuff all that testosterone back in the bag.

The UK-based producer Glynis Hall tells me how much she has enjoyed watching the reaction of the female members of the audience. On the night we see the show there are a group of older women who are shaking with laughter watching fully grown men being little boys. French cast member Didier Oberlé, who comes from a street running, parkour background says: “It’s very fun to do. I get a little nervous before going on stage but we get into the office the action starts to build up and you get exhilarated at the end.”

“It shows that it is OK to be childish but it is also OK to be a man,” says Hojerslev. “It has become an issue in Denmark how to be a modern man, people are so stressed, the man has to be so many different things. Women tell us it is nice to see the show because it tells you what is going on in men’s heads.”

Movie fans and cartoon lovers should enjoy spotting the visual references – to Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Judge Dredd, and Goodfellas. When Blam! was first shown in Denmark it was a lot more violent, but the current version is more high energy slapstick played for laughs. Hojerslev says he thinks Fringe audiences will get the joke. “The Danish humour and the UK humour is very much alike.”

It was Ingimarsson who originally put the cast together in 2011 with the idea of creating a show which played with film and comic-book archetypes. The idea of setting the action in an office came second – from the notion of finding a setting everyone could relate to.

“Most people work in a kind of office,” says Ingimarsson. “Even artists and performers. Everybody is sitting there with their computers. Our working space has been compromised so much; it is so impersonal, but people just accept it. Our job as artists is to look at things from a different perspective.”

But as well as pure masculinity in all its idiotic glory, Blam! has a warm and unexpectedly moving message about the transformative power of play. “It’s also about telling people they can change something,” says Ingimarsson.

“Even something as simple as an office – to take something like that and switch it all around. It gives people an opportunity to see we can change whatever. When I was a kid here in Iceland we would play with anything. A sheep’s jawbone would become a gun. That is how we grew up. Anything can be anything.”

Blam! is at the Pleasance Courtyard, 31 July until 26 August, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Two-thirds of health boards in Scotland have failed to hit a target to make sure stroke patients have speedy access to specialist wards, a report shows.

• Two-thirds of health boards in Scotland are failing to hit targets to ensure stroke patients are admitted into specialist wards quickly

• Only five of the 14 health boards in Scotland are meeting targets, according to Scottish Stroke Care Audit

The Scottish Stroke Care Audit found only five of the country’s 14 health boards had succeeded in admitting at least 90 per cent of patients to a specialist stroke unit on the same or following day after admission to hospital.

This standard has now been dropped from official, but the Scottish Government said it would continue to monitor hospital performance.

The report also revealed hospitals failing to hit other key targets, such as carrying out brain scans quickly and checking if a patient can swallow.

A so-called HEAT target, set by the Scottish Government in 2011, says health boards should admit 90 per cent of stroke patients to a specialist stroke unit on the day of admission or the following day by March 2013.

But yesterday’s report revealed only five boards - Shetland, Ayrshire and Arran, Lanarkshire, Borders and Tayside - had achieved this standard by March.

Elspeth Molony, interim Director of the Stroke Association in Scotland, said:

said they were pleased to see some improvements in stroke standards in the last seven years.

But she added: “The Stroke Association is disappointed to see that many hospitals are still falling short of the quality standards for stroke care and that there is a postcode lottery for stroke care across Scotland.

“We are particularly disappointed to see that only 5 of the 14 health boards in Scotland have met the stroke HEAT target...

“Despite the fact that almost two thirds of health boards in Scotland failed to meet the target, it was allowed to lapse at the end of March meaning that there is currently no HEAT target for stroke care.

“We are now working to ensure that a target is reinstated for April 2014 onwards.”

ED MILIBAND is entirely right to announce that trade union members should only contribute to the Labour Party if they explicitly say they want to.

Maintaining the party’s present system of allowing trade unionists to opt out of paying the ­political levy to the party of a union leader’s choice has become patently indefensible as anti-democratic.

Of the 15 trade unions affiliated to Labour, only one – Unison – allows new members to choose whether to opt in to paying the political levy. The others, although they have to allow their members to opt out, make it difficult to do so, with the result that only about a tenth actually do opt out. Given that analysis of trade unionist voting patterns suggest that less than four in ten Unite members voted Labour at the last general election, when at least nine in ten paid party dues, the opt-in provision is clearly an overdue reform.

If it turns out that the main allegation which brought this matter to a head – that Unite abused its party power by joining its members to the Falkirk East Labour Party without their knowledge – turns out to be true, then the ordinary non-aligned voter would be quite entitled to conclude, in the absence of reform, that Mr Miliband and his party is the creature of narrow vested interests in the shape of trade union leaders.

Though it may surprise these leaders, they are not regarded fondly by the general public. Their support for Labour has value, but it is distinctly limited as they are not even universally admired by their own members. Thus, were Mr Miliband to kow-tow to them, it would make his party unelectable, as neither Labour nor the Conservatives can win a majority at Westminster without winning the middle ground.

The same is true for Labour in Scotland – it cannot hope to win without wooing voters from well beyond its traditional heartlands, a feat which Alex Salmond and the SNP have managed at the last two Holyrood elections.

Mr Miliband’s move serves two other political purposes. Because trade union leaders are both seen as powerful within the Labour Party and also as its paymasters, being seen to stand up against them for what is evidently right suggests that he is not the weak leader he is often portrayed as being. It also suggests that he is not going to be bullied into adopting the narrow leftist agenda that Unite clearly wants, oblivious to the fact that it is likely to be an election-losing agenda.

Analysts suggest that adoption of opt-in levy paying may cost Labour some £5 million a year in income. But Mr Miliband may have judged it could have other compensations – such as clearing the way for further reform of political donations, particularly that there should be a cap on individual gifts. If so, this move may also eventually pose problems for others. Although forced in to a difficult decision, Mr Miliband has made the right one.

Rural broadband worth the money

Miles of tarmac and train tracks used to be the key tools for economic development of remoter areas and binding them more cohesively into the national fabric, but these days it is the spread and speed of telecommunications that count.

So the announcement that £264 million is to be spent ensuring that 85 per cent of Scotland’s properties are to be connected by the latest generation of broadband cabling by the end of 2015 and 95 per cent by the end of 2017 is good news.

Some of the earliest incarnations of faster telecommunication technologies – such as the installation of ISDN lines in the Highlands and Islands – have long since proved their worth. Not only have they enabled ­modern digital businesses to be a success despite their location a long way from their markets, they have also revolutionised the delivery of public services.

Patients have been relieved of the need for long and arduous road journeys to see consultants or to have X-rays taken and interpreted; such consultations can now be handled by doctors sitting in front of television screens talking to patients hundreds of miles away. Specialised education can be delivered in similar fashion.

This is why it is well worth putting taxpayers’ money together with cash from BT to make the investment possible for the returns which a private telecoms firm could earn from remote communities could not justify private investment alone.

Better communications and the ability to better run businesses from remote parts of Scotland may well be the very stuff that keeps these communities flourishing and Scotland the diverse nation that it is.

A MOTORCYCLIST has been caught driving at almost twice the 60mph speed limit on a rural road in Moray, it was revealed today.

The 23-year-old biker was recorded travelling at 115mph in a 60mph area on the A941 Elgin to Lossiemouth road last Sunday afternoon.

He was amongst several motorists and bikers caught speeding as part of routine patrols in the Aberdeenshire and Moray areas by Police Scotland.

A force spokesman said: “A further two motorists were stopped on the A952 road including a 21-year-old man caught driving at 96mph in a 60mph area at the Toll of Birness at 6.15am on Thursday, 4 July, and a 23-year-old man who was caught driving at 91mph in a 60mph, at the New Leeds to Cortes junction, on Friday, 5 July.

“A 34-year-old man has also been reported for dangerous and drink driving after he was caught driving at 96mph in a 60mph area while over the limit on the A947 Turriff to Fyvie road on Sunday, 7 July.”

Roads Policing Inspector Ewan Innes said: “It is disappointing to see so many people caught speeding at the start of the warmer summer weather. I would like to remind motorcyclists and road users to think about the standards of their driving and in particular watch their speed.”

He continued: “Road conditions can change dramatically during summer months and there can be more hazards to watch out for such as additional road users. Drivers and riders should be aware of this and the affects it can have.

“While we appreciate the majority of road users drive within the speed limit and to the conditions I would urge everyone to continually think about the standards of their driving as it can make all the difference.

“We will continue to target drivers who ignore the rules of the road and put the lives of other road users at risk, as well as their own life.”

BRITISH Transport Police today condemned the “unimaginably foolish” actions of a group of youths at a railway level crossing in Dundee.

Around 9pm on Wednesday, 3 July, the four youths, all in their mid-teens, were spotted swinging on the barriers of the Camperdown level crossing in the city’s East Dock Street. They also ran across the railway line after the barriers had been lowered.

Constable David McDonagh of British Transport Police based at Dundee, said: “The actions of these youths were unimaginably foolish and I cannot stress how dangerous this was. BTP and Network Rail have only recently stressed the real dangers posed by the rail network.”

He appealed for anyone with information regarding the identities of the youths to get in touch. The group are all described as wearing casual clothing.

TOP students from one of the world’s most prestigious international exchange programmes are to be introduced to the delights of a seaside fish supper, washed down by Scotland’s other national drink, when they visit Dundee next week.

• US students on Fulbright Scotland Summer Institute programme to be hosted by Dundee and Strathclyde universities

• Nine students will be invited to sample fish and chips and Irn Bru on their five-week visit as they learn about Scottish culture

Dundee and Strathclyde universities have won a bid to host the first Fulbright Scotland Summer Institute in a unique partnership between the two institutions.

Nine students from universities in the United States are to spend five weeks in Dundee and Glasgow for an intensive programme of lectures, seminars and cultural visits on the theme “Scotland: Culture, Identity and Innovation.”

And they are to be treated to a haddock supper, accompanied by Irn Bru, soon after they arrive in Dundee at the weekend.

A university spokesman said: “The cohort will touch down in Scotland on Saturday and will head to Dundee for a weekend of welcome events and the chance to familiarise with their new surroundings before the programme begins in earnest on Monday. The students will receive guided tours of the university campus and The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum before being taken to the seaside suburb of Broughty Ferry.

“They will be shown around the historic fishing village before visiting the 15th century Broughty Castle. Afterwards, they will be treated to a fish supper and Irn Bru procured from one of the nearby ‘chippers’ to help immerse the American visitors in a different aspect of Scottish culture.”

The Fulbright-Scotland Summer Institute is being led by staff at the Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS) at Dundee in collaboration with historians at Strathclyde’s School of Humanities.

Patricia Whatley, of CAIS, said: “We have a rich cultural tradition, which can be seen right up to the present day, with Dundee being shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2017. An exciting academic and cultural programme of visits, talks and other events has been put together which will immerse our visitors in Scottish culture and allow them to gain an understanding of our identity, history and future.

‘We will also be showcasing the internationally excellent research taking place here at the university, including a day with Professor Sue Black’s Forensic Anthropology team, as well as hosting a series of social events. Fish and chips and Irn Bru might seem incongruous items on a cultural itinerary, but in fact these items help to tell the story of Scotland.”

The Fulbright Programme is the flagship educational and cultural exchange programme of the US Department of State which promotes mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those in more than 155 countries. The US Consulate in Edinburgh will host a reception for the students during one of two visits they will make to Edinburgh. Visits to St Andrews, Stirling, Perthshire and Glamis, Balmoral and Dunottar castles are also planned.

TRADERS may be getting excited about today’s expected Royal Mail flotation announcement, but it was rival UK Mail that delivered yesterday.

The parcel firm jumped 7.8 per cent or 40p to 555p after a trading update revealed that a surge in online shopping meant its first-quarter trading had been “well ahead” of expectations.

Royal Mail has also benefited from the growth in internet retailing, which is expected to be a factor in attracting investors to its initial public offering (IPO).

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 index continued to set four-week highs during early trading, before closing up 63.01 points or just under 1 per cent at 6,513.08.

David Madden, a market analyst at IG Index, said: “The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have tried to neutralise the effects of Federal Reserve tapering with forward guidance and to a point it has worked, with equity markets in Europe surging higher on the loose liquidity premise.”

Royal Bank of Scotland was one of the biggest risers, up 5 per cent or 15.6p to 304.4p, after an upgrade by Goldman Sachs, who said a move to split the lender into a “good” bank and “bad” bank could benefit shares.

Fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management was in demand – up 13.7p at 399.6p – as investors looked to benefit from any further gains in equities.

Glasgow-based engineering giant Weir Group climbed 58p to 2,162p after Morgan Stanley analysts moved their rating on the stock to “equal weight” from “under-weight”.

Blur Group, the procurement website launched by Philip Letts, whose family used to own the eponymous Dalkeith-based diary publisher, jumped 20 per cent or 40p to 242.5p after it said its new clients included yogurt-maker Danone.

NEW YORK: Wall Street rose for the fourth session in a row last night as US investors bet that companies will be able to surpass the low bar set for earnings season, leaving room for better-than-expected results that could fuel the rally further.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 75.88 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 15,300.57 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 11.86 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 1,652.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 19.43 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 3,504.26.

Drivers who get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs face a “zero tolerance” crackdown under new plans which have been unveiled today.

• The Scottish Government has unveiled a zero tolerance approach to drug driving in new legislation plans

• Eight illegal drugs are set to be covered by new proposal, including cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy

It is thought that eight illegal drugs will be covered under the new proposals, including cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin.

A joint consultation has been launched today by the SNP Government at Holyrood and the UK Government, but justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said Scotland may follow a different policy.

The SNP has already set out plans to lower the drink drive limit.

But Mr MacAskill said today: “We must not lose sight of the problems caused by drug drivers.”

He added: “The Scottish Government is determined to do everything we can to make our roads safer and save lives.

“Having the power to set drug driving limits is a useful responsibility to have as part of our desire to improve road safety in Scotland. Alongside the existing offence of driving while being impaired through drugs, this new offence will help police and prosecutors tackle irresponsible drug drivers more effectively as it will no longer be necessary to prove impairment on a case by case basis in order to obtain a conviction.”

The Scottish Government is considering a limit just above a level where a person might have naturally occurring levels of a drug within their bodies, a zero tolerance approach, for all controlled drugs.

But it could also adopt a softer approach where a limit is set at a level where the amount of drugs within a person’s body will affect their ability to drive.

There may also be a mix of a zero tolerance approach for illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine and a road safety approach for medicinal drugs.

Ed Miliband tries to reinvent the Falkirk wheel with his plan to reform his party’s relationship with the trade unions

Illustration: Iain Green

Several people have been injured in a serious road incident.

Two vehicles were involved in the collision on the A711 Dumfries to Dalbeattie road at the Long Wood area at around 5pm today.

One person has been taken to hospital and a number of others sustained cuts and bruises. Precise numbers and the full extent of their injuries have not been released.

Diversions are in place and the road is expected to remain closed for an extended period of time to allow investigations to be carried out.

Police have advised motorists to avoid the area if possible and to find an alternative route.

Witnesses to the crash have been asked to contact police in Dumfries.

THE introduction of fees of up to £9,000 a year has failed to deter applications to Scotland’s universities, new figures show.

Details released yesterday by the University and Colleges Admission Service (Ucas) show a 6.1 per cent increase in applications to Scottish institutions by the 30 June deadline when compared with last year.

While there was a modest 1.2 per cent increase in applications from Scots, there was a 13.9 per cent rise in applications from the rest of the UK.

Scottish students and those from elsewhere in the EU are exempt from the cost of tuition, but students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales must pay fees of up to £9,000 a year.

The figures show Scotland’s universities appear to have weathered the introduction of higher-rate fees, which were first charged to students in 2012.

At this stage of the application cycle last year, the number of people applying to Scottish universities from England was down 5.5 per cent.

However, those in the sector always believed it would take a number of years before the full impact of fees was known.

Yesterday’s figures show Scotland is now outperforming other parts of the UK, attracting a 14 per cent increase in applications from England, compared with institutions south of the Border, which saw a more modest 2.9 per cent rise.

David Lott, deputy director of Universities Scotland, said: “Scotland’s universities have the highest levels of student satisfaction and best rates in the UK for graduates getting jobs or progressing to further study.

“It is very encouraging to see Scottish universities bounce back from last year’s dip in application rates from students across the rest of the UK following the introduction of fees.

“The fact that Scottish universities are seeing applications from fee-paying students from the UK and further afield increase demonstrates the quality of the educational experience on offer in Scotland.”

Last week, figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed modern universities such as Robert Gordon in Aberdeen and Glasgow Caledonian were now better than Oxbridge when it came to graduates finding work or going on to further study.

Commenting on the Ucas figures, education secretary Mike Russell said: “Scotland’s universities have a reputation for excellence and these figures show their appeal is as strong as ever.

“Graduates from Scottish universities are more likely to go on to further study or employment, to have a higher starting salary and to be in a professional occupation than graduates from other parts of the UK.”

Gordon Maloney, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, said: “In Scotland we continue to see rises in application figures from Scottish students, which builds further on an already high base. In contrast, England’s applications still haven’t recovered to the levels seen before the fees rise in 2010, with applications still over 30,000 down. That’s always going to be a tragic waste of lost talent.

“It’s great to see applications from the rest of the UK increase to come to study in Scotland. However, this increase doesn’t mean that we’re protecting access for the poorest students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Fair access doesn’t stop at the Border, and we need to see minimum standards or safeguards for these students.

“It’s important to remember these are just application figures. We’ll need to wait for the final figures later this year to see if they translate into acceptances and entrants.”

Three people have died in a horror smash on the A9.

Three others have been taken to hospital following the two vehicle crash.

The collision happened on the main Highland trunk road at Kingussie.

Police said three people had been fatally injured as a result of the accident with three casualties also taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for treatment.

Diversions have been put into place via the A86 Newtonmore to Laggan Road.

Police advice to the public is to avoid travelling on this route if possible. If if travel is essential, “road users are to expect delays”.

The statement said: “No details are available on the persons involved in the serious road traffic accident at this time.”

The collision comes just days after another fatality in the area.

Police today released the name of the male passenger fatally injured as a result of the road traffic collision on Carr Road near to Carrbridge on Saturday as Greg William Anderson, (21), from Kingussie.

ROYAL Mail staff are expected to be offered at least 10 per cent of shares today as part of ­Business Secretary Vince Cable’s privatisation plans.

Members of the public, foreign investors and banks will be invited to invest in a campaign similar to the “Tell Sid” drive which marked the sell-off of British Gas in the 1980s.

The flotation is likely to value the Royal Mail at between £2 billion-£3bn, and shares are likely to be offered for sale either this autumn or in spring 2014.

Mr Cable has previously indicated that the Post Office, which is now a separate business, would not be included in the sell-off but would be mutualised – giving postmasters and mistresses more choice over how to run their businesses.

It is expected that the £8.4bn deficit of the Royal Mail pension fund will be taken on by the UK government – to make the business more attractive to investors.

Yesterday, the Department of Business Innovation and Skills declined to comment on the details of the statement. However, Mr Cable has previously backed the sell-off. “This is an important package,” he has said. “It will secure the services that consumers and businesses rely on.

“It will give employees a stable company to work for, shares in the future of the business and the secure pension they deserve.

“It will remove the risk to taxpayers of an expensive bailout.” Mr Cable has previously indicated that he would not be averse to a foreign company taking control of Royal Mail.

However, the Communication Workers’ Union is opposing the privatisation and has threatened strike action if it goes ahead.

Union leaders yesterday appealed to the government to reconsider, saying it was not too late for a rethink.

A letter from CWU general secretary Billy Hayes and his deputy Dave Ward was sent yesterday to Business and Enterprise Minister Michael Fallon MP, urging him to think again about the future of the company, and consider alternative ways to improve services to customers while remaining in state ownership.

Mr Hayes said: “Nobody outside of government and their potential investors wants their postal service sold. The public consistently oppose the sale and recently 96 per cent of workers voted against.

“We are offering the government the opportunity to discuss how best to genuinely take Royal Mail forward.”

Mr Ward added: “Negotiations with Royal Mail have been ongoing about future terms and conditions for workers.”

He said the talks had reached a crucial stage but warned they would count for nothing if legally binding assurances were not forthcoming. He added: “Royal Mail workers have co-operated with modernisation and contributed to its success.

“We agreed a shared vision with Royal Mail and privatisation was never part of that.”