Professor John Robertson OBA
We regularly see media reports of long car queues for Scotland’s ferries presented as if somehow the Scottish Government has failed to run the service properly. We never, to my knowledge, see these basic facts about the actual utilisation of car deck space and passenger seat take-up despite the presence of such data in the public domain, published by CalMac because they are legally obliged to. They paint a very different picture of the capacity of the service we all fund at considerable expense for no apparent thanks from those island ‘representatives’ regularly platformed across the media.
The above table reveals that even that most reported service to Arran is on average less than half full.
What about passengers? Surely some are denied a seat when they really need one? Nope:
Even the tourist-busy Arran crossings are never more than 90% full and they’re getting an even bigger boat!
Source: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:ae05a889-5b06-4aee-9b0d-2299ee72afd8
What about the Hebrides North which we never hear complaints about? More so:
Justifying their big subsidy well, I’d say. Passengers seats? Busy too:
Quite a few weeks where you need to book ahead but, wait, don’t you have to do that in most parts of the world, anyway?
Wait! I bet that Largs/Cumbrae boat is always full!
Not so busy except for a handful of sunny weekends. Should we build another boat for those days or ask many of those car drivers to get on a bus and pay for a bike hire? Good for everybody. Will there be passenger seats for those reformed car drivers?
Quite a few seats available, less than half full or three-quarters full nearly every day and never full.
To what extent is this all subsidised by us via the Scottish Government?
Nearly £1 billion over the next 8 years: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-17-02545/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Well said. Not just this post. As usual, it’s getting such information to the wider public.
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‘Wait! I bet that Largs/Cumbrae boat is always full! ….. Should we build another boat for those days or ask many of those car drivers to get on a bus and pay for a bike hire?’
You do know that’s what’s wanted – another ferry service! In December 2024, Cumbrae Community Council (CCC) published the ‘Cumbrae Local Place Plan’ following a broadly-based consultation with island residents and stakeholders. (See https://cumbrae.org/assets/files/Cumbrae-LocalPlacePlan-finalDecember2024.pdf )
We learn that amongst respondents: ’79% felt there should be a second ferry crossing to the island with enough parking on the mainland to encourage day trippers to come to the island as foot passengers. (12% disagreed and 9% did not know).’ Indeed, a pedestrian ferry crossing was ranked as the highest priority amongst respondents to the consultation.
Below are some other findings regarding the island’s transport links:
Page 7: ‘Cumbrae faces a number of challenges common to many Scottish islands including … access problems caused by an unreliable ferry service, and ease of access to supermarkets and other shops on the mainland resulting in a loss of shops on the island.’ (my emphasis) – so ‘ease of access’ to mainland shopping via an ‘unreliable ferry service’?
Page 8: ‘Whilst tourism is not identified specifically within the available data, the sectors traditionally related to tourism account for 25% of all employment and 25% of local GVA (Gross Value Added – this is the measure of the value of goods and services produced). However, while good for businesses and for local employment, tourism is not viewed positively by everyone, as some residents do not see any personal benefit, only inconvenience.’
Is this tourism that is good for ‘businesses and local employment’ enabled by ‘ease of access’ to the island with its ‘unreliable ferry service’?
Actual project proposals arising from the consultation include:
Proposal 8 – ‘Encourage expansion of the motorhome site at the Garrison and the creation of formal camp sites with parking and other facilities on sites identified on the map.’ – so don’t shift tourist number towards a pedestrian ferry too much?
Proposal 15 – ‘Promote a second ferry crossing: ‘The large number of day tripper visitor cars could be limited by having an appropriate park and sail ferry service, with adequate car parking on the mainland. This could operate from an alternative location on the mainland away from Largs pier where a parking area could be built, and a passenger only, or limited car and passenger service could operate to a new landing location on the east of Cumbrae, or to a passenger berth at the new marina.’
It’s not clear whether the proposal here is for another ferry and related port and parking infrastructure subsided by the Scottish Government.
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From the Largs & Millport Weekly News (April 11, 2024) ‘CUMBRAE residents have pleaded for a “much improved” ferry service to the island after a major breakdown on the main vessel linking the island with Largs.’
‘More than 130 people attended a public meeting in Millport on April 9 to air their concerns at the standard of service currently being provided by CalMac. The meeting was called after the ferry operator withdrew the usual ferry on the route, MV Loch Shira, from service on April 5 for repair to both of its vehicle ramps. The decision was made following the discovery of cracks in the hinge on one of the ramps which CalMac said was “beyond repair”.’
Stranded on Cumbrae or unable to sail from Largs – a ‘disaster’ – so what happened next?
From the same article: ‘CalMac redeployed the much smaller, and much older, MV Loch Riddon to provide cover, but the stand-in vessel’s lower vehicle capacity led to waits of up to four hours for cars and vans on Monday.’
How did this public service organisation, CalMac respond to the impact of an unforeseen mechanical failure? ‘Extra capacity was provided by the redeployment of a second vessel from Tuesday onwards.’ Yes Tuesday, i.e. the very next day!
Someone may want to check out CalMac’s published performance statistics for the Largs-Cumbrae service. Are they good, reasonably good, very bad? If ‘good’, are they truly good or is CalMac pauchling the data?
Why won’t the resource-rich BBC Scotland or others in the mainstream media that supposedly serve Scotland, investigate CalMac services – and publish a full, evidenced-based and benchmarked account – given the subject of ferries is one they clearly consider to be of great and sustained public interest? Afraid of inconvenient truths?
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The ” More than 130 people attended a public meeting in Millport on April 9 to air their concerns at the standard of service currently being provided by CalMac ” quote pretty much says it all – 90% of the population shrugged it off as just one of those things, knowing CalMac would do it’s best to restore safety and get back to normal service as soon as possible…
This has been a recurring aspect on the ‘ferry fiasco’ campaign, the minority business community purportedly speaking on behalf of all the islanders in promoting the ‘unreliable ferry service’ story – Yet consider this particular incident – It was not a car or van which caused stress fractures on the ramp hinges, but freight serving that very same minority, the business community…
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The very people moaning about the ”disruption ” or ”delays” etc , which cause tourists to think twice about visiting , are actually creating the bad PR which causes tourists to ”think twice” about visiting the islands .
The moaners , ably assisted by the ”Ferry Correspondents” of the BBC and The Herald , have done a remarkable job of creating a ”Ferry Crisis ” with their constant bleating about the inadequacies of the CalMac service despite the overwhelming statistical evidence that supports this as one of the best subsidised transport services in the whole UK if not in Europe .
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O/T
It seems as if something has suddenly shifted , not before time, in this Labour UK government finally admitting or rather recognising that what Israel are doing is not just “a right to defend itself” but clearly a ruthless mission that now sees them, Israel, determined to acquire the land that belongs to the Palestinians.
#NoTwoStateTerritoryForIsrael
I am totally cynical that this ‘new’ reaction’ as a supposed realisation from the Labour UK government is one that has been prompted by them thinking that ‘enough is enough’.
This Labour UK government’s ongoing support for Israel as well other governments around the world also seemingly supporting Israel and too certain media as well, in them all choosing to look away at the terrible actions committed by Israel against Palestinians, so that what we now see happening is the government of Israel and too the IDF becoming emboldened to fulfil their murderous mission.
Labour, as a UK government, do not now want to be seen as complicit in this genocide , in the sense that they have , up to now, fully supported Israel during this period in them making excuses for them, supplying weapons to them.
Much of the British media have been framing this as a two sided ‘equal’ conflict while downplaying the deaths of innocent Palestinians that included women and children and instead they have been mainly focusing upon highlighting any Israeli deaths and too Israeli hostages and so presenting this conflict as a ‘war’ between Israel and Hamas, or Israel and Gaza.
Any death , be it Palestinian or Israeli, is a tragedy, but let us be honest here who ,as a people, have lost more people in this ‘conflict’.
The BBC has a specific section on their website that is called “Israel-Gaza war” ?
It has various articles on various occurrences happening within this region.
One of the newer articles is entitled:
“Starmer and Lammy sound genuinely angry at Israel” and it states that:
“After more than a year and a half of the war in Gaza, Britain appears to have finally lost patience with Israel. Speaking to MPs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy sounded genuinely angry”.
Better late than never then and perhaps they should have listened to Jeremy Corbyn long ago and his genuine and justified concerns on Israel, instead of using the False excuse that he , Corbyn, was anti Semitic to try to get rid of him from the Labour party as well as other left wing members of Labour as well.
Something has indeed now shifted and I suspect that someone of influence has said to the Labour UK government that they must now intervene and so distant themselves from what Israel have been doing to the Palestinians, or they themselves with be those who are also judged as badly as those who have committed these atrocities.
In that as a UK government their support and lack of action/condemnation in respect to Israel has then emboldened and so enabled Israel to commit what amounts to war crimes and genocide upon Palestinians.
It seems as though Israel’s supposed main focus and target, Hamas , as a supposed main target is somewhat secondary compared to the acquisition of more land for Israel.
Certain UK journalists like Owen Jones and Peter Oborne and some others too have long recognised the absolute atrocities that have been committed by Israel upon Palestinians , as well as them recognising that Keir Starmer and his Labour government have made excuses in their constant justification for Israel’s actions and that they, as a UK government, have sat on their hands in not doing something to stop Israel.
Hence we are now at the stage where Israel’s aggression and cruelty is causing the starvation, suffering and deaths of more Palestinians.
A conscience has seemingly now been found by this Labour UK government or so we are supposed to believe, as if everything up to this moment that has been done by Israel was of minimal consequence to Palestinians.
The SNP , as a party , have always been consistent in their condemnation of Israel’s actions against Palestinians in this conflict , indeed Labour last year when they were the official opposition party, conspired with the Commons speaker , Sir Lindsay Holyle , who is a Labour elected MP, in Hoyle granting a vote in the HOC on Labour’s Gaza ceasefire motion before the SNP’s motion.
So that move, by Hoyle, then meant that Labour MPs could then “call for a ceasefire” without backing a differently-worded SNP motion, thus limiting a potential Labour rebellion.
This was on a day during a debate that was allocated to the SNP, during which they were allowed to put forward motions for a debate and vote.
The SNP tabled a motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and calling for an end to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.
Starmer was still in ‘Israel protective mode’ and so he did not want any of his MP’s to vote for this SNP motion as he obviously surmised that the wording ‘blamed’ Israel too much as opposed to those that Starmer framed as being the main cause of this conflict , as in Hamas.
Labour’s wording in their amendment noted that Israel “cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”. Thus taking much of the blame away from Israel.
Clearly Hoyle broke with tradition and the fact that he did it for his own party was suspect , which is amazing really considering how many times he, Hoyle, has admonished the SNP for not complying with that which he states is a tradition within the house.
His post apology to the SNP after this incident and also his weak excuse for doing this was pathetic and I am sure he only apologised as it was obvious that he acted on behalf of his own party as opposed to his own role as an independent speaker not influenced by party politics.
Of course most of the UK media’s backlash was against the SNP who they stated only did this motion to try and embarrass Keir Starmer as Labour leader, as it was assumed that some of the Labour MP’s would back the SNP’s motion thus would be seen to be rebelling against the party whip as dictated by Starmer.
God forbid that the SNP were ever allowed to have actual principles and a sense of what was wrong within this conflict that was being made far far worse by Israel’s aggressive actions.
Alas this terrible act in the HOC that was committed by Keir Starmer (and Hoyle) was not something that dissuaded some within Scotland to then not vote Labour in 2024 in the UK GE, so either they did not understand fully what actually happened that day in the HOC, or they did not care or perhaps they were influenced by the media in them promoting that the SNP only created this motion to embarrass Keir Starmer.
I do hope that the many people who did choose to ignore this terrible act by Labour last year in the HOC and so who then voted for them in Scotland in the GE now realise that Labour are not the party to support in 2026 (as they now also see the many other terrible acts Labour have done as the new UK government) and so many of these same people now give their vote to the SNP ( 1 & 2) in the 2026 Scottish elections.
If they do not then I suspect they are all beyond help, as we all will be as well.
Liz S
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Oh to be held to account by the BBC – truly the STATE’s broadcaster!
I too noted the BBC News website piece from Paul Adams, a BBC Diplomatic Correspondent headlined ‘Paul Adams: Starmer and Lammy sound genuinely angry at Israel.’ How’s that for positive, supporting framing in politically difficult times?
There can be few people in the UK unaware of the horrors experienced by the civilian population of Gaza month after month after month after …. Many in the UK and internationally have called on Israel to stop in the name of humanity and have been doing so for month after month after month after ….
Finally, yesterday, UK government ministers made comments critical of Israel: where has the ministers’common decency and respect for human rights and international law been month after month after month …?
And now that the UK government has issued a critical statement on Israel’s actions, the BBC is ‘activated’. Adams writes: ‘Speaking to MPs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy sounded genuinely angry.’
The piece reports: ‘Sir Keir said the level of suffering in Gaza, especially among innocent children, was “intolerable”.’ – when did the level of suffering become “intolerable” – just in the last few days? What about the mounting death toll – including children – evident for far too long, not caused by famine but by military action?
The BBC reports: ‘Israel’s decision to allow in a small amount of aid was, he said, “utterly inadequate” – how long has Israel’s response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis been “utterly inadequate” – just in the last few days?
We’re told: ‘The prime minister added he was “horrified” by Israel’s decision to escalate its military campaign’ – “horrified’ but ONLY by its proposed ESCALATION? Was the status quo ante OK in your view PM?
The BBC reports: ‘Lammy employed similar language, saying the situation in Gaza was “abominable”. He condemned as “monstrous” the suggestion by Israel’s hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, that Gaza should be cleansed of its civilian population. Israel’s actions, Lammy said, were isolating Israel from friends and partners around the world and “damaging the image of the State of Israel in the eyes of the world” – has Lammy been in a deep coma for many, many months? And what about enforced ‘isolation’ and ‘damage’ not to a state’s reputation but to individuals and communities in Gaza AND the West Bank, Mr Lammy?
And then this:’ During a passionate debate in the House of Commons, Lammy clashed with his Conservative opposite number, Dame Priti Patel, who suggested Hamas was benefitting from international criticism of Israel.’ Lammy accused her of refusing to confront the reality of what was happening in Gaza.’ That last retort is beyond belief! The British Labour Party government needs to take a hard look at itself in the mirror!
How long has this British Labour Party government in Westminster been ‘refusing to confront the reality of what was happening in Gaza’? Indeed, how long have Westminster governments of all colours been ‘refusing to confront the reality of what was happening in Gaza’ AND the West Bank?
Also from the Commons, Kit Malthouse, the Conservative MP and former cabinet minister has emerged as a notable critic of the Israeli government in recent months. This was his question in the Commons on the day the PM and Foreign Secretary sounded ‘genuinely angry’. It merits being quoted in full (and in bold):
“Many of us in this chamber have been trying to spur the government into action over the past few months.
“We have tried anger and outrage and got nowhere, and we have tried shaming ministers into action and got nowhere, so maybe we need to beg.
“Do those on the Treasury bench need us to beg for the lives of those Palestinian children before they will trigger that concrete action, whatever it might be?”
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Very well put.
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