It is brilliant news that BBC Scotland is in talks over putting Scotland’s international football matches on terrestrial telly.
This has been part of a long-running campaign by the Tartan Army and backed by politicians from all parties. The discussions are a good start. It is time to get this sorted quickly.
It was great to be able to watch our Nations League clashes against Croatia and Poland for free on YouTube. But we should not need expensive subscription TV for the World Cup qualification campaign.
So it is vital that a deal is sorted in time for our qualifiers which start in September. England fans can watch their games on Channel 4 or ITV for free, while the Welsh have their matches on S4C.
Northern Ireland fans also get to see many of their games for free on ITV so it is a disgrace that we need pay to watch our country play when supporters from these other home nations do not. Scottish football is among the best supported in the world per head.
And interest in our men’s national team is sky-high after our successful qualification for last year’s Euros. We are a football-crazy nation and our people deserve to be able to watch the international team on the telly for free.
It may cost the BBC money. But whatever they pay will be a fraction of the cash shelled out by the BBC for Champions League and English football highlights. Our broadcasters need to sort this out and get Steve Clarke’s boys on free-to-air TV.
Strain is showing
A fit and functioning police service is vital to the smooth running of any democracy.
So it’s alarming to hear the number of working days lost to mental ill-health in Police Scotland has soared by 50 per cent in the last five years. Since 2019, officers and staff have taken a total of 440,630 days off due to conditions including anxiety, depression, and stress.
That timeframe includes the Covid pandemic which saw police responsible for a variety of emergency laws at a time of heightened public concerns. Hundreds of experienced officers have since quit the force after postponing their retirements due to the public health crisis.
Police Scotland was also forced to temporarily postpone recruitment due to budget pressures. It’s all added to a pressurised environment for serving officers. They need to be well rested if they are to keep the public safe. A force stretched to breaking point is a risk to everyone.
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