BlindCraft - 'A Phoenix-like rebirth is least worst option'

When BlindCraft was saved from the threat of closure last November, this newspaper was proud to have played its part in forcing the council into a rethink.

The reasons why it was worth fighting for its future then remain the same today.

For 218 years, it has helped blind and otherwise disabled people to help themselves, providing work which many of them would otherwise have struggled to find.

And charities of course need our help even more in the bad times than they do in the good.

But sadly we have now reached a point where closure seems inevitable.

The factory in Craigmillar is no longer economical to run and the city's rescue plan did not make it worthwhile for the staff to continue working there.

The idea of a Phoenix-like rebirth now seems to be the least worst option available.

Although it is far from ideal. For a start it is likely to mean less generous pensions and terms of employment for those workers who choose to return.

But such a move has proved successful elsewhere, at the re-born Glencraft in Aberdeen.

And if it means that many of the staff could be saved from the prospect of a life on government benefits, and the possibility of continuing more than two centuries of proud tradition, then all the options must be vigorously pursued.

Time to get tough

the dangers of using a mobile phone behind the wheel should by now be well known to every motorist.

Yet the number of drivers who continue to risk taking calls or checking their texts while driving is startling.

If 13 offending motorists are being spotted every day in Edinburgh by the combined efforts of police officers and traffic wardens, then you can safely bet that the actual number breaking the law is at least ten times as high.

The time is fast approaching when we need to look at copying the success of the drink-driving campaigns in the past which managed to change public attitudes so dramatically.

That would mean continuing education of drivers, both young and old, concerted efforts to catch offenders and tough penalties when they are spotted.

And we should not rule out changing the law so that traffic wardens can issue fines instead of warning letters when they catch someone in the act.