The trade agreement with the United States appears to be too demanding for our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

For candor, nobody can match Liz Truss' statement that negotiating a trade agreement with the United States, the world's largest economy, will take years. So much for Brexit's advantages, which were supposed to liberate us from the constraints of the European Union and cast us adrift on the high seas of free market trade.

Prime Minister Truss now appears to be as inept as her predecessor, Boris Johnson, who claimed that while his chum Donald Trump was in government, Britain would be first in line for a deal. It's no longer a deal.

Brexit has cost billions in lost commerce with the EU, jeopardized Northern Ireland's peace process, and cut Britain apart from what should be its closest economic friend, the United States. To top it all off, President Joe Biden has declared his disdain for the trickle-down economic theory.

The notion that if the affluent become richer, some of their riches would ultimately trickle down to make the poor a little better off has always been completely false. In a tweet, the president stated as much.

Truss, on the other hand, has flown into New York to meet with Biden, expressing her conviction in expanding the economy by making the affluent richer. She favors tax cuts that benefit the wealthy more than the poor, as well as corporate tax cuts that increase earnings for shareholders.

The new Prime Minister couldn't be more out of step with our most important friend.

First and foremost, safety.

Many Scots will go through life never having to call the fire department in an emergency. But it's comforting to know that if we need it, we can call on a team of skilled lifesavers.

Firefighting is not a task that can be done half-heartedly. It's thus worrisome to read that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has lost nearly 15% of its workforce in the previous decade.

The amalgamation of the former regional fire services was contentious. Many detractors stated at the time that it would lead to budget cuts.