Edinburgh warms to £2.9bn tram expansion despite Swinney’s determined indifference
Plus your midweek news roundup and cultural highlights for the week ahead
Welcome to your midweek edition of The Inquirer.
For today’s long read, Euan McGrory has been looking into what we have learned in recent days about the city’s £2.9bn tram extension plan. What do the people of Edinburgh really think? Why is John Swinney not a fan? Just how unpopular is building along the Roseburn Path? And is the alternative any more popular?
Answers to all those questions after your usual midweek news and culture roundups.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
ROCK STARS: The Bass Rock and neighbouring Craigleith Island have been bought by the RSPB after more than 300 years in the private ownership of the Hamilton-Dalrymple family. A £586,000 grant from the UK Government’s National Heritage Memorial Fund helped the charity buy the islands, off North Berwick. The Bass Rock is one of Europe’s natural wonders and home to the world’s largest colony of northern gannets. For more on the Bass Rock, don’t miss Saturday’s Inquirer.
ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE: Multiverse, the AI upskilling platform run by Euan Blair, son of former Prime Minister Tony, is opening a technology hub in Edinburgh. The company is aiming to create 200 jobs in the coming year at the new engineering centre and its London base.
COMMUNITY EVENT REVIEW CALL: Corstorphine Fair organisers are calling for a review of community event licensing after experiencing last-minute problems. Their experience comes after the Edinburgh Taxi Outing was almost cancelled due to licensing issues. This year’s fair went ahead successfully and attracted thousands of visitors, but organisers warned “increasing costs, bureaucracy and inconsistent processes were putting community events under pressure.”
‘Worse than ever’: Ewan Irvine, speaking on behalf of the Corstorphine Fair Committee, said: “Volunteers found themselves dealing with licensing issues, payment requests and legal documents whilst physically setting up an event due to open the following day. This year we were forced to launch a GoFundMe appeal, reduce infrastructure and begin reviewing future community activities because of increasing financial and operational pressures. Representatives from the fairs and galas met with licencing officials two years ago and we were told they would sort it. It is worse than ever.”
KNIFE AMNESTY: First Minister John Swinney has said he is open to the idea of holding a national knife amnesty in response to the murder of John McNab, 22, in Leith, and 16-year-old Kayden Moy, 16, in Irvine.
‘DISAPPEARING DOUGLAS’: Douglas Alexander, the Lothian East MP and Scottish Secretary, has been accused by disgruntled colleagues of “disappearing completely”, as the fall-out from the party’s poor performance in May’s Scottish election continues. Anonymous Scottish Labour MPs have accused Douglas Alexander of being “most absent man in Cabinet”, The Scotsman reports, while his allies have hit back at the complaints of “a small band of malcontents”.
Your Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Greetings, Pop Pickers!
We are currently enduring that uniquely Scottish summer experience where bright blue skies can give way to drizzle without a moment’s notice, writes Will Quinn. But while you might be packing both sunglasses and an umbrella before leaving the house, you can at least rely on the capital’s cultural calendar to deliver. This week, the chart is packed with exceptional quality, serving up everything from pioneering comedy ballet and award-winning trad music to gripping historical drama and a genuinely monumental theatrical collaboration.
Let’s count them down...
Honourable Mentions: Sweat, The RSA, Strange Town, Dear Evan Hansen & Ballet Black
It is a crowded field just outside the top five this week. Lynn Nottage’s magnificent Sweat (Royal Lyceum Theatre, until Saturday) only slips out of the main chart because its run is fast approaching its final bow. The time-limited brilliance of the RSA 200th Anniversary Exhibition (Royal Scottish Academy, until Sunday) remains an essential fixture until the gallery doors close this weekend. Elsewhere, local treasures Strange Town are mounting a mini-festival of youth theatre at Summerhall (Saturday and Sunday). Musical theatre fans should look toward Dear Evan Hansen (Church Hill Theatre, tonight until Saturday), as amateur Fringe-specialists Room 29 make their Church Hill debut with this well-loved show. Finally, contemporary dance fans should look out for the legendary Ballet Black at 25 (Festival Theatre, June 19th), bringing a double bill to Edinburgh to celebrate a quarter-century of the company.
New in at Number 5 is... Shall Roger Casement Hang? (June 15th – 19th)
Presented by the newly formed Union Theatre Company, Peter Arnott’s intense historical drama charts the final days, arrest, and interrogation of the WWI Irish republican and human rights pioneer. Union Theatre was established as a spiritual successor to the much-loved Arkle Theatre following their decades of high-quality work. They were originally slated to stage the Scottish Premiere of Rona Munro’s Mary, but when that fell through, their ambition didn’t falter for a single second. Playwright Arnott himself will be on hand for a Q&A following the opening night performance on Monday, June 15th - if that isn’t a vote of confidence from one of the nation’s leading writers, what is?
New in at Number 4 is... Julie Fowlis: ‘An Evening with’ (The Queen’s Hall, Saturday)
Taking a very well-deserved spot on the chart is multi-award-winning Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist and Gaelic singer-songwriter Julie Fowlis. She is taking to the stage alongside her live band for a special acoustic concert celebrating 21 years since the landmark release of her debut solo album, mar a tha mo chridhe / as my heart is. The evening blends deeply rooted traditional Highland material with a contemporary acoustic edge. It is no accident that Julie has been a global trad superstar for two decades; she possesses charisma, uniqueness, and abundant talent.
Staying at Number 3 is... Dracula (Festival Theatre, tomorrow – Sunday).
Holding firmly onto the bronze medal this week is BIG Live’s dark, atmospheric ballet reimagining of the classic vampire myth. Arriving fresh from a sold-out London run, this ballet production pairs Joel Burke’s expansive choreography with a classical soundtrack featuring Mozart, Bach, and Rachmaninov. Boasting an international cast of dancers drawn from heavyweight institutions such as the English National Ballet and the Mariinsky, this visually arresting take on Stoker’s gothic classic promises a visceral, large-scale night out.
New in at Number 2 is... Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Festival Theatre, June 16th – 17th)
Taking the silver is the world-famous, all-male comedy ballet troupe—affectionately known as “The Trocks”—who are bringing their immaculate physical technique and impeccable comic timing back to Edinburgh. Treading the line between high art and high camp, their latest production features sassy, tutu-clad spoofs and affectionate homages to the classical Russian ballet repertoire. I have been a huge fan ever since my first encounter back in 2022, and having since interviewed their Artistic Director, Tory Dobrin, I can assure you: this isn’t a funny ballet corps. This is an elite outfit that chooses to produce comedy.
New in at Number 1 is... The Table (Traverse Theatre, June 18th – 20th)
Taking the top spot this week is a powerhouse partnership. The Table sees Curious Seed, Lyra, and Lung Ha join forces for an exciting new co-production. Lung Ha have been blowing audiences away for years - audiences lucky enough to have caught their CATS award-winning Castle Lennox won’t soon forget it. Meanwhile, youth theatre magicians Lyra and dance visionaries Curious Seed are no slouches either, both boasting formidable track records of their own. Bringing these three specific companies together should make for a major theatrical event. I expect The Table to defy expectations in the best possible ways.
And that’s your Top 5!
Throw the raincoat in your bag, dodge those localised downpours, and grab your seats before they disappear. I’ll be out and about in the stalls this week, ready to report back on exactly what deserves your time and money. What do you make of the rankings? Let me know in the comments below!
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Edinburgh warms to £2.9bn tram expansion despite Swinney’s determined indifference
What we’ve learned about the city’s tram extension plan
by Euan McGrory
Coming from a man who is famously careful with his words, John Swinney’s description of Edinburgh’s £2.9bn tram expansion plan as “a local transport project” had all the appearance of a deliberate put-down.
It was another reminder, should the city council need it, that the Scottish Government is not that keen on its proposals for a new north-south tram track.
Don’t get too excited about extending your tram line, he seemed to be saying, we have other, more important, priorities.
On that, he appears to be out of step with the public in the Capital.
Market research commissioned by the city council as part of work on a business case for the second line, suggests significant support.
To talk about public excitement would be over-egging it. No one will be out waving placards, but the quiet majority appear to be firmly in favour of more trams.
Support for the proposed north-south tram line - running from the Granton Waterfront to the Royal Infirmary and BioQuarter at Little France - is running at 71% among those who have a view.
With a third of those surveyed undecided, there has to be a caveat, but that is a significant lead for those in favour.
It’s a far far cry from just a few years ago when the word trams was enough to give many people nightmares. Given just how good the city’s buses are; just now bad things got with the delivery of the original tram line; and the fact most of the city only uses the existing line occasionally for trips to the airport or Murrayfield, that’s quite a vote of confidence.
Of course, this isn’t a popularity contest. Mr Swinney holds the purse strings and will have to be persuaded this is the answer to the problem of keeping Scotland’s capital and its rapidly-growing population on the move.
Roseburn versus Dean Bridge: a stalemate?
The biggest controversy was never going to be about whether the public wanted a bigger tram network, it was of course about the particular route it might take from Granton to the city centre.
The prospect of building the track along the beautiful and tranquil nature corridor that is the Roseburn Path has sparked a massive protest campaign.
