Driving around, I cannot recall a worse state of our roads and don’t get me started on tailbacks with roadworks!
I got stuck in one on the Penicuik to Edinburgh Road on Friday, took a detour through Rosewell to the A7 which probably took me longer but at least I was moving.
Back to potholes. Indeed, like many I found myself, or at least my car, a victim of a pothole which for once I had not seen soon enough and on Christmas day to boot. Big bang from the rear of the car then big bill at garage followed as the suspension was fixed. Now this is not simply an issue for Scotland because a recent report by the RAC stated (and this they consider an underestimate) that there are at least one million potholes across the UK. Yes, they are not all on the Auchendinny Road or the A701.
I raised this in Parliament and no I am not blaming Midlothian Council or the Scottish Government when hard choices have to be made about funding increased costs for heating schools for example, or giving deserved pay increases (and the increased pension costs which follow). No, I am looking at the £1.7 billion raked in by the UK Treasury last year in Road Tax (They call it Vehicle Excise Duty). No wonder it was renamed because not one penny of that is ringfenced for roads. If you add in fuel duty (which we pay at the pump) then the total from motorists is £35 billion to the Treasury.
None of this applies to electric cars. This is another injustice. Solutions have been discussed such as taxing folk on their mileage but think how unfair that would be in rural areas which much of Midlothian is and where the option of public transport is pretty remote (excuse pun).
But back to where I started. It’s time the Scottish Parliament had control over more taxes and Road Tax would be a good place to begin. Then we could ensure that at least some of that cash went to the road network or are we forever to slalom our way around the country?
Blossom, an American XL Bully, trained by Midlothian Dog Trainer Nick McMechan.
This View has been written by Midlothian Dog Trainer Nick McMechan.
I generally try to avoid politics as a Dog Trainer, but in this case, sorry, not sorry. The decision made to ban the American XL Bully recently by the PM caused me a lot of disappointment, anger and frustration. To quote Karl Marx “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”. Other world leaders have said similarly.
So, yes, this is now a farce.
Breed Specific Legislation was first introduced in 1991, banning breeds including the Pit Bull Terrier amongst others. The American XL Bully is due to join this list by the end of the year. Sir Keir Stammer has encouraged the PM to ‘get on with it and get it done’.
What does history tell us? It tells us the ban didn’t work. It tells us the problem, of dog bites and attacks in the UK, has worsened in the last four decades, since the original legislation was introduced. This has been a tragedy. Not just a tragedy in the failing of the law, but a tragedy that will hit home more to the victims and their families of dog attacks where they have been bitten, causing injury, maiming or even (rarely) death. The American XL Bully is now at the centre of it all, where it was the Pit Bull before.
Why are the government not looking to the All-party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group (APDAWG) for the answers? APDAWG have been working hard on this for some time. I follow them and have not seen any outcomes advising a breed ban. Our UK Parliament already knows a breed ban is not the solution.
Banning this type of dog is a quick fix and it is only that. Yes, they are a large powerful breed capable of causing serious harm. However, there are many large powerful breeds of dogs and it will only be a matter of time before we see another breed or type emerging. Badly bred by irresponsible breeders ending up in the wrong homes with irresponsible owners.
No solution is perfect. There are many saying there is no point because irresponsible owners will only avert the law. This is true of any law, however, there are countries in the world that have the ultimate price for the crime of murder, the death penalty, yet those countries still have serious crime problems with murder. The truth is laws reduce crime but don’t eliminate. We do need to reduce the number of dog bites in the UK without question. According to the Scottish Community Safety Network there has been an 80% rise in dog bites and attacks in Scotland in the last 15 years.
To solve any problem, you have to solve the root cause of the problem. When I wrote the article for The Midlothian View back in April this year “Why the American XL Bully should NOT be the next banned breed” I was trying to get the solutions out there. It certainly gained a lot of media attention at the time and I ended up on LBC with Nick Ferrari and Radio 5 Live with Nicky Campbell to share my views.
My opinions may be unpopular but I strongly believe there are far better solutions by paying for a team of Dog Wardens to enforce better legislation. We can pay for this through licensing, so we should start here:
– licence breeders. Put measures in place to ensure dogs are bred for health and temperament. I would want all newborn puppies to be registered and their home visited by a Dog Warden. Register the DNA of every pup born Any aggression can then be traced back and stop breeding the lines with poor temperament. Ensue the breeders comply with processes that make sure pups only go to suitable and appropriate homes
– licence owners. Increasing the number of dog wardens means this again can be enforced. Many countries use the licensing to control who can own what type of dog. We only need to look to Spain who are leading the way on licensing controls which includes completing a training course, insurance and vaccinations amongst others
If we start there we will start to get to the root cause and we will start to solve the dog bite problem in the UK. APDAWG have also stated that Socio-Economic factors are part of the root cause, but that one really is for the politicians.
Nick specialises in Loose Leash Walking and Reactivity as well as everything you would expect from a Dog Trainer. You can find out more here: eskvalleydogtraining.co.uk
Letter to the Editor from parents of children at the Vogrie Outdoor Early Learning Centre
Dear Editor,
We would like to pass on our concerns to you, as a group of parents of children at Vogrie Outdoor Early Learning Centre (ELC). The nursery is a unique and high-quality Midlothian Council outdoor nursery for children aged 3-5 years old. We have been informed that the two teachers who established this world leading site, and manage and teach in the setting, have had their posts reviewed and both will be removed, to be replaced with a (cheaper) Senior Years Practitioner as part of the council’s cost cutting measures, and leaving no teaching staff in the setting.
There has been no consultation with parents, and to date, no official communication to parents from Midlothian Council. As a group of parents we are extremely concerned that this will result in the children who attend Vogrie really suffering. The other staff who work in the setting (Early Years practitioners and Learning Assistants) are excellent, but the fact that Vogrie is not attached to a school means that it doesn’t benefit from a (geographically and professionally) close relationship with teachers, and the Vogrie staff have made full use of the highly-trained teachers there to develop not only Vogrie’s curricular vision, but also the transition support they provide for their primary-aged leavers.
In the few years that it has been active, Vogrie ELC has been flying the flag for Outdoor Learning, including being visited virtually by educators from around the world (Virtual visit to Vogrie Outdoor ELC by educators from across the world | Midlothian Council). Outdoor ELC settings are uncommon despite the benefit of outdoor education and time in nature being clearly evidenced and reported upon, and we were initially delighted that Midlothian Council had embraced an approach to the Early Years curriculum that is so clearly aligned with national priorities. Given all the research and how well the teachers have done to establish this service during a pandemic which only further outlined the need and benefit for amazing outdoor experiences for our young people, we had hoped that an expansion of the service to serve more and older pupils would have been more beneficial than pure cost cutting.
The decision to cut teaching staff therefore seems counterproductive to be removing the very staff that have made Vogrie what it is, proposing it’s idea to the heads of the council, building it from nothing in an unused walled garden space, and supporting it to develop. We are deeply concerned about the effect that the removal of the manager and another valued member of teaching staff will have on the children at the nursery and staff morale.
As a group of parents we have contacted Midlothian Council Executive Director for Children and Young People, Fiona Robertson, and have not had our concerns acknowledged. Not only is this insensitive to the needs of the children attending the setting, and the current anxiety experienced by the proposed change by us as parents, it is unacceptable to not have been more included in this decision from the outset through proper consultation.
We would very much appreciate your support in this matter,
Best wishes,
Emma Martindale, Lauren and Liam McMillan, Chloe and Erik Ravaglia, Sarah and John MacIssac, Kaley Northcott and Dave Law, Zsuzsa and Laszlo Remai, Freyja and Ross Howie, Jordann and Abbygail Wells, Sophie and Alistair Coats.
