THE SNP Scottish government has crashed to two defeats in one day after MSPs rejected their plans to bring back peak rail fares and abandon rollout of free school dinners.

Kevin Lindsay, Scottish organiser with rail union Aslef, branded the plan to ditch the £40 million pilot of flat fares on Scotland’s railways as “a disastrous, short-sighted decision” — a view shared by Holyrood, which voted 64 to 62 to keep them.

Despite opposition from rail unions and all but SNP MSPs however, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s plans plough on.