Urabug

I do not want to get into any deep discussion about the Thacher period ,but it has to be remembered that most of the decisions are driven by market forces. For instance the coal mines had to close as it was cheaper to import coal & no point digging our own with no one to buy it. As I have already said in other posts we have priced ourselves of the market & now we pay the price. Money do'es not grow on trees & with more & more demands put on government resourses it is enevitable that taxes will rise ,pushing the costs up even further. I did not like Maggie Thacher ,she was more like a dictator but the one biggest "con" that she introduced with her privatisation was service providers. Service providers are no more than unnecessary "middle men"or whole sellers that costs us more for our phone & electricty. My phone & electricity comes direct from the exchange & power station so why do I need to pay any Tom ,Dick, or Harry for it . This was a stealth tax to create jobs & this is certainly true, it's you & I who are paying for the call centres not only with our time to answer there unwelcome calls ,but with additional costs on our bills. What we need is real jobs, with long term prospects but where will they come from ?

I doubt if it will make much difference who is elected, this country is "broke" & whoever wins will be taken behind "closed doors" & briefed (brainwashed) with what they can & cannot do . Whoever wins this election is welcome to the job for they will be ridiculed & severely critised ,no matter what they try to do, at a time when there is no funds & budgets are being constrained. The problem is we are all greedy --we want big posh houses,cars , holidays ect,ect but most of all a massive wage packet to support it & unfortunately we have priced ourselfs off the market, so now fewer jobs, less folk paying tax to support the Public sector,pensions ,health service ect. We need to produce things again, & be able to sell them at an affordably price . What & How? We need someone with some experience ,to take the helm & hopefully keep us of the rocks at this turbulent time, so I will probably vote for Tavish ,but I do not agree with all of his policies . Definately will not vote for SNP, there is no way Scotland could possibly fund itself ,so NO independance. We have to mind that Tavish ,has been party to a lot of confidential information so is bound to be a little guarded with his answers as will anyone else who should get his place !

I do'nt doubt the ability of a lot of new faces on the SCT board, to make some better decisions than has been up till now, but it presents a lot of questions. 1--Will these new members be volunteers or will they be greatly rewarded for there effords ? 2---Will we (the public) be able to vote for candidates who may want to go on the trust ? 3---Will this panel of experts be from Shetland or from outwith these Islands with interests not necessarly benifical to Shetland ? The existing SCT could at least be voted out at election time ,I certainly hope that the Shetland public still has some authority.

Would have thought in this day of age with mobile phones ect , moving this by road in a convoy would be no problem . Cut backs ,Easter Holidays what is the problem !

I am not against progress & welcome wind turbines in moderation, but progress & advanced technology has to embrace the effect it has on everything arround it & cannot be allowed to cause polution in its many definations. Digital radio will not cause this problem but the radio frequences that become available when change over occurs may be used for applications that do !

I suppose most of Shetland covered in wind turbines .will also be progress & keep you happy to !

daveh, enjoy your digital radio & I hope it will arrive here soon to ,but I think of all the old FM radios that will become reduntant ,perfectly good equipment will be obsolete overnight --what can that achieve. Its not the digital radio signal that will cause any problems but a lot of the computer equipment which makes it easier for the user but is poluting the airwaves while it do'es so. A great many of the world nations are striveing to clean up the atmosphere in an efford to combat global warming, now I cannot see this polution but I know it is there ,so why polute the airwaves we cannot see them but we could listen to them if there not abused.

peter.I is absolutely correct ,the problem with alot of this modern technology. it is allowed to be sold on the market before it has been thoroughly tested . We are not allowed to let our pets foul the parks & footpaths ect. Try going and dumping a bucket of sh** in the Spiggie loch . Drive your car with a dodgy exhaust ,the list is endless but we cannot be allowed polute the airwaves anymore than anything else. Yes this digital stuff is good ,"hundreds of channels" but pop along the wireless museum at Hoswick & listen to an old old valve wirless .You will then appreciate that this transistored equipment we listen to now adays is ma'be not all it is supposed to be. Valve equipment has an audio response which is more similiar to the human ear than transistor equipment & sounds fantastic. Just a pity that the Long & Medium waves are so prone to natural interference & even more to man made interference. "Click" on the BBC channel was showing a cordless monitor the other week ,this seems fantastic until you think how its powered useing radio waves that are bound to cause interference with something. Incidently as far as I know digital radio cannot cover the whole of Shetland from one tranmitter & will require several repeaters & still the coverage for mobile reception will be patchy. Bring on this modern technology but protect the environment at the same time.

Well the greedy incompentent bankers ect certainly have not helped the situation but the real problem goes way way back , & it's called industrial action. Now I been a union member for many years & have reaped the benefits that they have acheived for us all but this has all been gained at a very high price . Remember Jack Jones,Jimmy Reid ,Arthur Scargill ect ect how they promised us & our families all better wages ,working conditions . How many of us & our families have jobs in the car industriy ,ship building, steel , merchant navy ect ect. The answer is very few as our union chiefs killed the goose that laid the golden egg. We priced ourselves off the market & now we pay the price . You cannot get blood out of stone this country is broke Only hard work & moderation will get this country back to where it should be ,afraid that marching the streets demanding will not solve the problem British airways union bosses are the very problem we need to get away from,why on earth would they want to risk there jobs at a time like this. Better to have a little ,than nothing at all

OK all noted Hairyian, but where are we going to get our electricty ? Wind power is that the answer! Tidel power ! Remember we cannot go back to the old tilley lamp & primus stove as they need oil (parafin) thats going to get scarce & expensive. I would think that nuclear would at least be reliable & probably cheaper than hundreds of wind turbines & tidle contraptions that will probably disapear almost as fast as the BRAER !

Yes hairy -ian also true ,but how many especially old folk might die of hypothermia because they cannot afford to keep themselfs warm, not to forget the effect that these extortionate high prices that power will likely rise to will have on the economy. Nuclear could be the way to avoid this !

I agree with Para Handy we should build more Nuclear Power Stations The technology which exists in the electrical/electronic today compared to say 40 years ago cannot really be compared . Remember your old TV set ,washing machine ect. The catastrophe in Japan will only help to improve the industry. Look at aviation ,I have no fear of flying today ,this is because every incident is investigated & the necessary precautions put in place to prevent it happening again. The same will apply to the Nuclear Industry. With oil getting more & more expensive,& renewable energy causeing so much opposition ,we could easily find ourselves with no power in the very near future.

JohanofNess possibly if I lived down south I might think the same ,but with fuel likely to get more & more expensive ,to enable everyone to pay the same ,universal priceing is the way to go . Think of this another way ,we all pay insurance --just imagine if we did not & had to pay for the full claim out of own pocket . What about the postal rates (will possibly change but hope not) universal price definately the best option. National Health service ect provides us all with health care what if we had to pay !!!! Fuel should certainly be universaly priced ,how else can the rural areas of the UK compete fairly Might actually reduce the price of your favorite Shetland Lamb & Salmon in your supermarkets !

Fuel prices should now be universal,therfore the price would be the same all over the UK. This would then mean that everyone would pay the same & there would be no unfair descrimination depending on where you live

Yes Muppet ,Met Office/Bt ect still have staff in Shetland but only a hand full in comparison to what they had years ago. This was all brought about by changes in work practises . computers & of course communications. I am not being negative ,but realistic with the sure & certain knowledge that Lerwick Coastguard station can be emulated from elsewhere. Of course the weak link is what happens if comms fail ! What happens if the hospital ,police or any other phone line goes down ! To be honest the phone lines are really very resilent,& very seldom down . Urabug

Its very disapointing that coastguard stations are being threatened with closure but we should not be surprised ,modern communications means that all the radio links can be monitored & controlled from virtually anywhere in the world . Remember what has already happened to Met Office/BT/ Fire Service/Ambulance/Air Traffic/NHS24. All these services have been centralised in one way or another & appear to function . I believe the station will close to save money but thankfully we will still have experenced rescue teams who will I am sure attend to all callouts in the professional way they always do ,they will miss the support from the local station. Well worth trying to see if minds can be changed ,but the decision has probably already been decided Port Control could be next Lerwick ,Sullom Voe,Scalloway Urabug