Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Level 1, St James Centre, Unit C1.30

Leith Street Eats

Edinburgh EH1 3SR

+44 131 287 2603

by Beau Cadiyo

1. There are, in most places, three main levels of government: national, regional, and local.  In the United States, this translates to Federal, State, and Local; in the UK, this ends up being the national government, devolved governments (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and Local.  
2. Each level of government is explicitly responsible for different areas.  In the US, the Federal government has certain responsibilities, and whatever does NOT fall into those areas is reserved for the other levels; in other words, unless it is specifically given to the Federal government, the Feds have to stay out.  In the UK, however, the default is that responsibilities fall to the national government in Westminster, which then sends out responsibilities to other governments, which can then take control of these areas.  
3. Regional/devolved governments have been given more and more power over the years, including in areas of policing, health care, and education.  
4. I am occasionally asked what I think about the Scottish government, and Scottish independence.  In response, I start by telling one or more of the following stories.  
1. I was walking by an Indian restaurant near my house early on a Sunday afternoon, maybe around one p.m.  Inside, a man was taking chairs and smashing them against the walls, smashing the tables against the floors, and screaming.  The staff was cowering in the kitchen, seemingly unable to escape (which is insane to me - shouldn't there be a fire escape from the kitchen?).  I walked up the street so I was not in immediate harm's way and, watching the restaurant door, called the police to report what was happening.  I gave them the address, a description of the man, and my information.  Four hours later, I got a call: was the man still smashing up the restaurant?  I paused for a beat, incredulous, and then said I had no idea; I had called hours before, and then left.  The next question: was I still at the restaurant?  Again, I paused, unable to process what I was being asked.  No, I had left four hours earlier.  The next question: well, could I go back to see if the man was still smashing up the restaurant so that they could decide whether to send a police officer down?  And now, I think: this is the state of Scottish policing.  
2. I broke my finger.  It took 19 months for it to be seen; at that point, the doctor just said, "It has been too long and there is nothing left for us to do."  I thought: of course not; you waited 19 months.  People often say, "but in America, you have to pay for health care."  My response: here it is "free," and you absolutely get what you pay for.  
3. I've worked with people who hold Ph.D.s from Cambridge and Oxford who don't know the difference between plural and possessive, who have never heard of the Scientific Method, and who have never heard of an Oxford comma.  I went to one of the worst public school systems in America, and I know people who graduated from remedial classes who are better educated than high-level academics in the UK.  The school system here is an absolute joke; many teachers describe the schools as "holding pens" for the children.  
5. My experiences are, sadly, not unique.  
1. In policing, even the head of Police Scotland says that the system is "overwhelmed" and that it is "not working efficiently or effectively."  And this is from the person who is responsible for policing.
2. In health care, the NHS is on the verge of collapsing, with increasing wait times, the inability to deal with emergency room patients quickly, and health care workers quitting at ever-increasing rates.  
3. In education, the school systems keep falling further behind, on both a national and international level, with students leaving school more or less uneducated.  
6. The Scottish National Party has been in charge of all of these basic governmental functions.  
7. The SNP also thinks that Scotland should be independent and the SNP should be in control.  
8. If a political party thinks that they should be able to run everything, they should take responsibility and do well with the remit they have been given.  If they can't do well with the responsibilities they have, they do not deserve to be given further responsibilities; indeed, the responsibilities they have should be removed and given to more capable people.  

Five Guys produces a dependably good hamburger.  Their website also makes in incredibly easy to order a take-out meal that is ready just after one arrives to collect it.