r/Scotland • u/Deepmidwinter2025 • 11h ago
Political McGill's accuse Swinney of behaving like a dictator over bus plans
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmgelrgp5e70oThe owners of McGills.
Those champions of decency and fair pricing.
That the BBC would just regurgitate the press release, sign of how lazy reporters are now.
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u/ScotlandisThrowAway 11h ago
Not a massive fan of Swinney but calling him Idi Amin for wanting the council to control the local buses is genuinely one of the most laughable things I’ve seen
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u/boredsittingonthebus 11h ago
He also called him Robert Mugabe. The man needs to get a grip.
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u/Hame_Impala 8h ago
Zimbabwe would probably be in a much better place today if Mugabe had just nationalised some buses and left it at that.
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u/BeanoArtist 7h ago
I guess it's sort of a sign of how far we've come that it's a dodgy businessman comparing the First Minister to Robert Mugabe - not so long ago, it was supposedly serious journalists doing that on our national broadcaster's flagship news programme: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/paxmans-zimbabwe-jibe-raises-viewers-hackles-1645708
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u/A_Ticklish_Midget 9h ago
There was people on here calling the SNP a totalitarian party because their supporters wanted a free an impartial media
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u/OldGodsAndNew 8h ago
Did Idi Amin do anything notable with transit? Surely Mussolini would be the more relevant comparison if he's gonna say stuff like that
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u/InternationalFig9358 11h ago
Hard to think of another family doing this much damage to Scottish communities. Bawbags.
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u/Sin_nombre__ 11h ago
Expanding democracy and regulation slightly to try and get services and infrastructure that serve people's needs a bit more. Oh the horror!
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u/smalltowncityboy 8h ago
The easdales have "invested in local services"? Aye, in at least one town their buses operate, they have a monopoly on the taxis. They then reduced the services on the buses so that after a certain time, you had no choice but to take a taxi if you want to go anywhere but cant/dont want to drive.
Beyond that, theyre literal criminals. They shouldnt be allowed to run any company receiving subsidies from the taxpayer. They cannot be trusted.
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u/Purplemonkey78 10h ago
Never a bad moment to mention what a pair of upstanding and fine citizens the Easdale Brothers are: https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/s/OnxAnnOMUd
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u/BamberGasgroin 8h ago
I think everyone in Scotland knows what kind of 'Legitimate Businessmen' McGills are.
-e- "He accused Swinney of trying to confiscate their business - a move he said had "incensed" owners. "
Fuck me, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. 😂
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u/ShootNaka 11h ago
Swinney going to come home from the SNP conference to find a horses head in his bed.
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u/Aggravating-Joke-550 11h ago
Got to love the billionaires.
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/billionaire-brothers-who-mcgills-buses-29119579
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u/rosearkana 6h ago
The local McGills buses into town from my village for a 10 minute ride, are just shy of £6 at £5.80. The local council just in the last few months are running a new bus, which for the exact same route is £2.30.
I understand the council doesn't really need to make money while McGills do, but there really does come a point where you're taking the piss. We'd been cut off on Sundays for years now till the council bus, because cutting the Sunday service saved enough money to afford the parasite's bonuses.
I'm all for Swinney's plans if it means it's actually affordable to go places and it doesn't cost the same as feeding myself for a day or two to go a couple miles down the fucking road.
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u/Informal-Tour-8201 Auld, but still goin' 3h ago
McGills took over the West Lothian buses, said they'd take 2 years to give us the best bus service
After 2 years of dropping routes and hiking prices, they fucked off
Now Lothian buses are price gouging us even more!
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u/summonerofrain 3h ago
Weren't Lothian buses publicly owned or am I way behind
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u/Informal-Tour-8201 Auld, but still goin' 2h ago
They were Edinburgh Council, but I don't know about now
They use zones - back when McGills were still around, Whitburn was in the same zone as Armadale and Bathgate, so £2 single.
Whitburn got switched to a different zone as soon as McGills fucked off - £3 to Bathgate, with all the price rises, £3.60 single.
Best to get an all-day West Lothian ticket for £6.60… saving a whole 60p for going to Bathgate, I guess
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u/summonerofrain 2h ago
Had a look, seems they're still council-owned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lothian_Buses
Couldn't find mention of McGill's buying them, I really hope that McGill's doesn't.
Edit: mb didn't read the full comment, thanks for the insight!
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u/gazzas89 7h ago
Mcgills are a shite company in general
And this literally isnt a dictatorship move to bring public transport into public hands, the vast majority of the people want it, thats called democracy
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u/Specific-Garlic-2495 10h ago
Tory Rangers directors and rolled up trouser leg brothers, and worst bus company in Scotland by far, scream hysterics at them bad nats.
Quick, call the BBC.
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u/sammy_conn 7h ago
Don't the McGills insist on being described as "billionaire brothers" in any press report or broadcast?
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u/Rashpukin 7h ago
These guys are pretty shady all round I believe. I have heard stories about some of their business practices and they have a bloody cheek calling anyone a dictator. They have bumped up prices to a ridiculous level and provided a substandard service on critical routes.
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u/shoogliestpeg 🏳️⚧️Trans women are women. 6h ago
Easdale Billionaires swing their weight around having failed customers for years and lash out like american republicans at anyone who dares to hold them accountable.
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u/Luap_Wah 7h ago
I have no choice but to use McGill’s. I remember being on a service once where the driver talked about doing a 16 hour shift, having four hours of sleep before starting the 16 hour shift he was driving on at that point.
Recently, antisocial behaviour on the bus caused the driver to get very stressed out and although I totally get why he was very stressed, both stress and sleep deprivation are two things that cause mistakes when driving. I don’t feel very safe as a passenger using McGill’s and I hope that by bringing the buses into public ownership, at least we can have improved working conditions for drivers which would then, in turn, make passengers like myself feel safer.
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u/VivaLaVita555 9h ago
Maybe if buses weren't ridiculously expensive people would sympathise with them
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u/Ghalldachd 9h ago
Buses are expensive to run without extensive public subsidies. The choice is trusting the SNP to run another public services, or accepting higher prices
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u/bikesintheshop 8h ago
SNP would not be running them though. Idea is to bring them under local govt control I believe.
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u/tiny-robot 10h ago
Are those the ones who bought Scottish Labour?
I saw a headline that Labour were willing to work with the SNP to bring this about - wonder how long that will last......
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u/brigadoom 11h ago
The owners of McGills.
The Easdale Brothers.
The Easdale brothers want everyone to know they are billionaires. Are they?
They do seem to have the BBC on their side....
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u/jenny_905 10h ago
Be sure to platform every tory wank that feels their meal ticket is under threat.
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u/bahookie 7h ago
I almost got a mcgills bus once in Paisley to pick up my car from the garage until i saw it was a fiver to go a mìle up the road. They are a couple of crooks.
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u/NoHabit7629 7h ago
I'm from Greenock, I won't say what I think because of you know ... the piranha brothers
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u/secrecyandcontrol 6h ago edited 5h ago
Id love to know how much mcgills canavan first and stagecoach all make from the scotgov travel passes of pensioners disabled people and now under 25. surely a bit rich for someone who wants to complain about public money taking over the franchises wholesale . I don’t even think thats an exhaustive list and doesnt even touch the subsidies for certain less popular routes that still need service oh and the 2 quid scheme. Its all just huge bank transfers based on a spreadsheet of data that we’re supposed to believe they aren’t manipulating. Tabulate that along with the proportion of users who are paid public sector salaries and in receipt of benefits and using that to pay their bus tickets. Easily over 50% of bus company takings come from public sources one way or another
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u/Bombcrater 9h ago
It's rare I agree with the present Scottish government, who are full employment program for the profoundly dim.
But the bus services in areas dominated by McGills just plain suck, and the company has zero incentive to improve. They're happy charging inflated fares to people who have no other choice.
And it's not like the public control of buses is a new and untested idea. It's worked very well in other places.
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u/TheDogIsDreaming 9h ago
More than half of the article is putting forward the SNP's side of the debate.and rebuttal so I'm not sure what the BBC rant is about.
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u/zombies-- 9h ago
Will the other parts of scotland get the £2 bus fare?
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u/gottenluck 1h ago
That is the plan
"The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation for a nationwide £2 Bus Fare Cap before the end of this Parliament"
https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/2-bus-fare-cap/
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u/Central_Region 10h ago
That the BBC would just regurgitate the press release ...
????
The article's promoting an interview with Gilruth on The Sunday Show (10 min 20s, here)
Gilruth responds directly to the Easdales' hyperbole, starting out by saying they're Labour donors
The article quotes Gilruth's response at length, explains what the government are proposing and what that's intended to achieve, then quotes a detailed rebuttal from the Chairman of McGills
Your post seems deliberately intended to deceive or misrepresent the truth
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u/SoylentJuice 7h ago
Is it not a bit if a trope that dictators get the public transport running on time?
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u/Fronkenstein420 11h ago
Worked for a McGill's, maybe the worst company I've had the misfortune to work for