Big brother is watching you...

Late last week, I watched in amazement as two Environmental Wardens, appointed by City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) to pounce on litter louts and other heinous criminals , marched into the reading rooms of the National Library, in hot pursuit of a felon. Eventually, and in front of bemused readers, they cornered a young man, and handed him a £50 spot fine for his crime, which was... discarding a cigarette end in the street outside. Those who have recently visited the area around George IV Bridge here in Edinburgh will know that it is fast becoming a wasteland of takeaway food outlets, pubs and clubs - most of the shops which made central Edinburgh such an interesting area have long since gone, to be replaced by takeaways selling every imaginable food - pizza, kebab, fish & chips, baked potato, etc, as well as restaurants pubs and clubs. For the past few decades, the inner city has been slowly turning into a wasteland, where only those in search of happy hours, late-night drinks and food are encouraged to go. Genuine "local pubs", serving the communities of the inner city, have closed and been replaced by soulless themed establishments, where only the young, beautiful and rich are allowed in, to be ripped-off with grossly inflated drinks prices. I guess that, as usual, as long as money is being made, the consequences for those who live in the inner city do not matter to either the owners of those businesses or to the CEC licensing committee.

My public rant on this theme appeared in the local rag, the Edinburgh Evening News yesterday, and can be viewed here...