Buy Ardrossan harbour! Don’t buy Ardrossan harbour! The Herald pivots to be always against the Scottish Government
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From Martin Williams in the Herald today: Ministers pushed ahead with the purchase and redevelopment of a major Scottish ferry port despite an internal warning that the costs posed an affordability risk to future budgets of its Transport Scotland agency. The warning was made by an internal Transport Scotland Assessment in February as the Scottish Government prepared to take place Ardrossan harbour into public ownership and press ahead with plans to turn it into the main mainland port for Arran. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26573121.ardrossan-ferry-port-166m-redevelopment-faces-affordability-warning/ When I saw this, I thought – ‘Have … Continue reading Buy Ardrossan harbour! Don’t buy Ardrossan harbour! The Herald pivots to be always against the Scottish Government
Nearly 90% (10 000) of those at risk of opioid overdose have been issued with the ‘world-first’ Scottish Government Naloxone reversal kit as drug deaths misinformation hits the headlines for and by the under-educated
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From STV today: Calls for more life-saving naloxone kits to reverse opioid overdoses amid contaminated drugs supply fears : https://news.stv.tv/north/calls-for-more-life-saving-naloxone-kits-to-reverse-opioid-overdoses-amid-contaminated-drugs-supply-fears Entirely missing from the STV report, including perversely, the limp Scottish Government response of ‘The Scottish Government says the number of naloxone kits distributed is increasing and that its widening access to treatment and residential rehabs.’ is the grpah above and this: At the end of 2025/26 Quarter 4, the ‘reach’ of the NNP (percentage of people at risk of opioid overdose who have been supplied with THN) was estimated … Continue reading Nearly 90% (10 000) of those at risk of opioid overdose have been issued with the ‘world-first’ Scottish Government Naloxone reversal kit as drug deaths misinformation hits the headlines for and by the under-educated
NHS Scotland’s gentler touch keeps ‘ghost patients’ safe from harm
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From the Guardian today: ‘Ghost patient’ policy wrongly removing at-risk people from GP lists, doctors say – An NHS policy to remove “ghost patients” from GP lists is inadvertently leaving some of the poorest people in England without vital healthcare, analysis has found. Under previous NHS rules, inactive patients at risk of being removed from their GP practice were given six months to respond to outreach. But under NHS England’s accelerated list validation timeline, introduced last October, patients now have only three months to reply. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/23/nhs-england-ghost-patient-policy-wrongly-removing-vulnerable-people What are the … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s gentler touch keeps ‘ghost patients’ safe from harm
Much as he’d like to James Cook does NOT know that Scotland’s drug death figures ‘remain worst in Europe’ – Nobody with half a brain thinks they do
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 With the help of Aimee Stanton, data journalist, James Cook has produced an extended piece with the above headline but little evidence for it. It’s utterly untenable. More on that below. I suppose I’m disappointed more with Aimee who has even had the Royal Statistical Society’s Award for Statistical Excellence in Journalism 2020. James, ‘a British journalist and broadcaster’, unless he’s modestly hiding stuff, is described only as ‘Educated at Forfar Academy, Cook began his career at Radio Tay in Dundee where he first read the news at the age … Continue reading Much as he’d like to James Cook does NOT know that Scotland’s drug death figures ‘remain worst in Europe’ – Nobody with half a brain thinks they do
Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%
Last year, the NRS graph, after a one year fall, showed also the trend in a dotted line with a shaded bandwidth of confidence and a fall from the peak of 1 339 to 1 017, 24%. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2024/ For some reason, time maybe, this year’s graph does not show the trend. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Today, to a gleeful media feeding frenzy, we see they’ve gone up again, ‘by 11%’ to 1 133, so the fall from 2020 is now 15% but the trend, sorry MSM, is still down. They had a nice … Continue reading Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%
How Scottish Labour’s betrayal of Glasgow in the 1980s created a place of excess child death that even 20 years of Scottish Government success in reducing child poverty cannot remove
rate of any UK nation. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 It’s true, 10.1 deaths among 1 to 15s in 2024, compared to 8.5 in England, 6.4 in Wales and 10.0 in Northern Ireland. It’s been like this for decades. Why? These guys knew 10 years ago: The RCPCH report itself states that social and economic disadvantage in early childhood is closely linked to higher child mortality. What follows is based on the research published by the above researchers, comparing Glasgow with Liverpool and Manchester. The long-standing “Scottish effect.” Even after researchers adjust for current … Continue reading How Scottish Labour’s betrayal of Glasgow in the 1980s created a place of excess child death that even 20 years of Scottish Government success in reducing child poverty cannot remove
Under Scottish Labour average homelessness applications were nearly 40% higher and in Glasgow, more than 50% higher, than in last five years
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From Homelessness in Scotland: full statistical time series published today at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/homelessness-in-scotland-full-statistical-time-series/ Regulars here and those already smart enough will know that one-year fluctuations in statistics are often of little value but 3 and 5 year averages can point more accurately to trends, in homelessness applications in this case. Five year average, Scotland – 57 074 Glasgow – 11 626 Five year average, Scotland – 41 246 Glasgow – 7 600 So, homelessness applications averaged 57 074 under Labour in their last 5 years, 15 828 and 38% more … Continue reading Under Scottish Labour average homelessness applications were nearly 40% higher and in Glasgow, more than 50% higher, than in last five years
Six times as many schools were in serious disrepair under Scottish Labour and three times as many still are in England
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From School estate statistics 2026 published today: Key points 37 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects completed in 2025-26. This brings the total number of school builds or substantial refurbishment projects completed since 2007-08 to 1,193. 2,270 (93.1%) schools in good or satisfactory condition, up 19 schools (1.1 percentage points) since 2025. 652,030 (93.9%) pupils in schools reported in good or satisfactory condition, up 3,656 (1.4 percentage points) since 2025. 2,148 (88.1%) schools with good or satisfactory suitability, down 35 (1.1 percentage points) since 2025. 617,557 (88.9%) pupils in … Continue reading Six times as many schools were in serious disrepair under Scottish Labour and three times as many still are in England
Transport Secretary and more than 5 million others were ‘oblivious’ OF this zero risk gas escape in an almost empty ferry
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From West Coast Today, 17 September 2026, the above and: The new Arran ferry, MV Glen Sannox, leaked methane while carrying more than 80 passengers, just months after entering service. and: be…..? I’ll leave you to answer that, below. BBC Scotland 10 September 2026: A faulty valve on a CalMac ferry led to a sudden and uncontrolled release of highly flammable methane gas last summer, BBC Scotland News has learned.The operator’s investigation found that 700kg of the gas – enough to fill a four-bedroomed house – was vented from … Continue reading Transport Secretary and more than 5 million others were ‘oblivious’ OF this zero risk gas escape in an almost empty ferry
Broken-down 62 year-old Canadian ferry is 50% older than CalMac’s oldest
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From the Times Colonist 15 September 2026: B.C. Ferries sailings cancelled on Tuesday due to mechanical problems – Two B.C. Ferries sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen were cancelled, while problems with the Gabriola ferry saw multiple sailings cancelled. A mechanical issue with the Queen of New Westminster led to the cancellation of two B.C. Ferries sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen on Tuesday, while problems with the Gabriola ferry saw multiple sailings cancelled. Source: https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/bc-ferries-sailings-cancelled-on-tuesday-due-to-mechanical-problems-12782392 The Queen of New Westminster is 62 years-old and still a core vessel! … Continue reading Broken-down 62 year-old Canadian ferry is 50% older than CalMac’s oldest
