As BBC Reporting Scotland find someone else to moan about the A9 dualling, what they don’t want you to know – it’s much safer than it was and the dualled bits are no more safe

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By Professor John Robertson OBA

This is just another story fed directly to Reporting Scotland but not making it onto the BBC Scotland website, to keep an SNP-bad narrative alive. This time it’s about a letter, yes just the one, from one Chamber of Commerce, yes just the one, Inverness, to complain about dualling the A9, due to be completed in 2030, yes 2030, five years from now, yes five years from now.

As always safety is mentioned to add a bit of edge to the story.

What’s the truth on safety?

Massive fall in A9 road deaths

From a Freedom of Information request – A9 incidents, accidents and fatalities between January 2020 – 2024, published today, we can report that overall deaths fell dramatically from 12 in 2022 to 4 in 2023.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202400397957/

2 of the deaths took place on non-dual carriage-ways and 2 on the supposedly safer dualled sections.

The FOI result was, I suspect a big disappointment to the opposition MSP or opposition journalist (BBC) who wasted more than £300 of taxpayer money rooting for it.

After a very bad year in 2022, as tourists flocked back, when 13 died compared with the 2011-2022 average of 5.4, in 2023, 3 died and 2 of them on the already dualled sections.

Scotland’s roads revealed to be safest in UK

In addition to the above good news on Scotland’s supposed ‘killer road’, two much ignored facts:

First:

As of July 2023, 335 people had been killed on the Perth-to-Inverness stretch of the road since 1979 (an average of 7.6 death per year), 59 of which occurred between 2011 and 2022 (an average of 5.4 deaths per year).

With only 3 in 2023, the trend, regardless of supposed ‘SNP betrayal’ is clear.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_A9#:~:text=As%20of%20July%202023%2C%20335,bring%20attention%20to%20the%20statistics.

Second:

Compared to the rest of Britain, however, Scotland is the safest area overall, with 1.32 road accidents per 1,000 of the population, compared with 1.51 in Wales and 2.05 in England.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23424294.argyll-bute-scotlands-deadliest-roads/

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8 thoughts on “As BBC Reporting Scotland find someone else to moan about the A9 dualling, what they don’t want you to know – it’s much safer than it was and the dualled bits are no more safe”

  1. Accidents, deaths and congestion have fallen AWPR built after 40 years. Alex Salmond finally got it built.

    Unionists blocked the road for forty years. Despite amount of revenues flowing into Westminster from the Oil & Gas revenues. The improved connectivity has helped the economy. Goods going to Europe etc. The Queensferry Crossing improvements. Borders railway.

    It would be even better if the railways could be improved to cut journey times. Instead of Scotland having to contribute to the white elephant HS2. With no business case. A third runway at Heathrow for subsidised, half empty flights. Another waste of £Billions and more electoral promises broken by Westminster charlatans. Investments should have been made to improve the railways in the North and Scotland to cut journey times throughout Britain.

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  4. Sorry another long comment derived from being demented at what passes for news via the BBC in Scotland.

    So today , so far, in the BBC website on their Scottish Politics page they have found room for the non story that is “No Cat ban in Scotland John Swinney confirms”, as currently it is the third story on that page.

    Scanning that whole page on the BBC website, and too on their main Scottish page, they have , so far, not managed to find any room for a real political story impacting Scotland.

    That is where yesterday the GB Energy Chairman, Juergen Maier, confirmed to SKY News in an interview with them that the jobs he said that were pledged for Aberdeen, at GB Energy’s so called headquarters, would take up to 20 years, as in two decades, to deliver.

    Now firstly let’s recall when he, as the Chairman of GB Energy, was interviewed by a Select committee in the HOC last year and he was quoted as saying that between 200-300 jobs would be created at the GB Energy HQ at Aberdeen.

    Subsequent to this interview of the GB Energy Chairman in the HOC we then had Michael Shanks the Labour MP for Rutherglen, and also the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Energy, contradict the Chairman of GB Energy in Shanks saying that it would actually be 1000 jobs created at GB Energy HQ in Aberdeen.

    Confused ?

    I think you are meant to be.

    As yesterday , Juergen Maier the Chairman of GB Energy, in his interview with SKY quoted the exact same revised figure that Shanks quoted , subsequent to Maier’s appearance in the HOC at a Select Committee last year, as Maier stated to SKY News that there was to be a 1000 jobs pledged for Aberdeen but that it would take up to 20 years to deliver these jobs .

    So Maier has now changed the amount of jobs to be generated , as in increased it, from the lower figure of up to 300 jobs that he first quoted to the Select Committee at the HOC last year, to what is now a revised and increased figure , which just so happens to match the same figure , as in the supposed total amount of new jobs to be created in Aberdeen, that Michael Shanks quoted, which was 1000 jobs.

    Does this not pose a question as to how and why he, Maier, has now increased the anticipated amount of jobs at GB Energy HQ from 200-300 jobs to him now stating yesterday the new figure of 1000 jobs ?

    However that aside, the worrying factor is that these jobs will not be forthcoming for Scotland any time soon, in what was a supposed flagship policy , as when GB Energy was first launched by Keir Starmer prior to the 2024 GE, Starmer said it would mean Scotland would supposdley then be “at the beating heart of his new Labour government”.

    However the now revised and also increased amount of new jobs , as in a 1000 jobs , that has now been quoted for GB Energy HQ is still far less than what was insinuated by Keir Starmer at the launch of this flagship policy, prior to the 2024 GE.

    In May 2024 Keir Starmer said “Labour will bring a “huge number” of skilled jobs to Scotland by basing the HQ of its new energy company there”.

    “Huge number of jobs” ?

    Well that sounds like a lot more than just up to 300 jobs as was quoted initially by the GB Energy Chairman last year at the HOC Select Committee and also far more than just 1000 jobs in two decades , which is the new revised figure that the GB Energy Chairman is now quoting , which coincidently falls into line with the figure Michael Shanks also quoted.

    On an General election campaign visit to Scotland, the Labour leader said in reference to GB Energy that “the firm would drive the transition to clean energy and make sure those jobs are in Scotland rather than other countries”.

    So far, in what has now been nearly 7 months since Labour were elected as the new UK government, we have had no new jobs announced as being actually created for GB Energy here in Scotland. In fact the only things Labour have announced is that the supposed GB Energy HQ will be based in Aberdeen but also that the so called Chairman of GB Energy will be based elsewhere, as in Manchester, England.

    Still confused ?

    You are not alone.

    Also yesterday SKY News stated that the Chairman of GB Energy “repeatedly refused to say when household prices would be slashed”, which was relevant as they also stated that ” Keir Starmer promised that this flagship Green initiative would cut consumer energy bills by as much as £300″.

    Well I guess if even the Chairman of GB Energy does not know when energy bills will be reduced by £300, then we have to assume it is not going to happen any time soon, maybe even that too will only happen in decades ???

    However this is all no big deal for the BBC in Scotland as they obviously consider it to be a non story and less significant than another story that they have chosen to prioritise which was the actual non story on their website today of “No Cat ban in Scotland John Swinney confirms”.

    ‘Cats banned in Scotland by the SNP ‘ before ‘new jobs that Labour pledged for Scotland’, well that does seem to be a position the BBC here would take as being the real news where we are.

    Liz S

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  5. Many thanks for your researches and emails, John–they are really valuable. I wonder if you have changed the format of your emails, as over the last couple of days I have had to scroll right to read the whole page, and then back again, which makes them hard to read. I am not savvy enough to try to adjust the layout. Kind regards Norah

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  6. Won’t it be refreshing that, once we are independent, the British MSM will not be able to continue to justify all their Scotland bad stories. There will be no need. Sigh!

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  7. Hi

    Reducing the speed limit to 60 on the dualled sections would be hugely positive. Currently there is panic as the single carriageway sections approach, but if the limit on the dualled sections were reduced to 60 everything would be much calmer. there would be a 60 limit all the way from Perth (or even Stirling) to Inverness so drivers would just pop the cruise control on and enjoy the journey.

    There would also be a carbon benefit as much less fuel is used at 60.

    Best regards Peter

    >

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