THE Executive's apparently relentless round of negative advertising is undermining Scotland.

The campaigns are well-intentioned and some of them may be doing some good - if they're reaching the target audience.

But the constant drip of negativity is overwhelming.

Visitors might reasonably wonder what kind of grim society Scotland houses.

There are very serious issues which must be highlighted but the Executive could learn about presentation from Glasgow's successful campaigns.

The city's award-winning Every Kind of People' campaign dealing with race, religion, sexuality and disability was a model for other local authorities.

And on the positive side Glasgow's Miles Better' remains a classic while the current Glasgow: Scotland with Style' is having a far-reaching impact.

Rather than sounding smug about its advertising and where the budget is spent, it must find the right balance to stop selling Scotland short. Women will put trains on track

IN the age of equal opportunity it's astonishing that only 21 of First ScotRail's train drivers are female.

These are well paid jobs and it's no wonder teachers, bankers and accountants are re-training.

There are no qualities required for the job which makes one sex more suited for it than the other.

And there will be no snide jokes about women drivers from commuters - all they want are trains that run on time.