Coincidence?

Mr Smith has reported previously on the oft used political phenomenon of "put out the trash day" when our political masters use the fact that some events generate so much media coverage that they can sneak out bad or controversial news which then gets less media coverage and scrutiny than it would otherwise.

A case in point appears to be the announcement, on the day of President Barack Obama's inauguration, of proposals by the City of Glasgow Council to close and amalgamate over twenty schools across the city.

"TEACHERS from Scotland's largest local authority are facing redundancy in the wake of controversial proposals to close 25 primary and nursery schools. The move follows an announcement by Glasgow City Council that it plans to shut 13 primaries and 12 nurseries in the city to bring in savings of £3.7m a year. Up to 100 teaching staff at the closure-threatened schools have been assured there will be no compulsory redundancies, but officials said some staff cuts would be made, either through voluntary severance or early retirement schemes."

Now if Glasgow needs to close schools and can do it without children's' education being damaged then so be it, but the fact that they used a loaded news cycle to avoid initial scrutiny of the proposals in Mr Smith's opinion really sucks.