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Professor John Robertson OBA
Today, the Herald does have Orkney ferry workers to begin overtime ban amid industrial dispute makes little effort to remind that this not a CalMac story. Yahoo simply re-pastes the Herald story.
FERRY services to Orkney will face disruption later this month, a union has warned after workers backed industrial action amid an escalating pay dispute.
Unite the Union confirmed on Wednesday that its Orkney Ferries members will take part in a ban on overtime starting from August 28.
The union said that more than 20 outer north and inner isles Orkney Ferries workers will take part in the industrial action after they “overwhelmingly rejected” a two-year pay offer.
BBC Scotland NE Orkney and Shetland has no space (above) for an issue that would headline were in the area served by CalMac.
This is just the latest ferry fiasco in Orkney.
From BBC Scotland, in August 2024:
For some Orcadians, taking a ferry can be more like tackling an assault course. That was certainly my experience as a blind person travelling between the islands.
Last year, the Scottish government agreed with Orkney Islands Council’s request to look at the financial case to start replacing the inter-island ferries, which are vital lifelines for communities.
There’s no doubt that these ferries are outdated and unsuitable for the 21st Century. The big question remains: where will the money come from to replace them, and how long will it take?
Orkney Islands Council, the smallest local authority in Scotland, would be responsible for funding the replacement of the fleet. Nine ferries, built between 1987 and 1996, need to be replaced.
Orkney Islands Council has been run by Independents since 1974. The current leader wears a Norway or Orkney badge and the previous one put forward a motion to the council in 2023 which says it is time for the islands to consider other forms of governance, possibly along the lines of crown dependencies such as Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, or reviving historic links with Norway.
The MPs for Orkney have been Lib Dem, Liberal, Liberal Unionist or Unionist since 1859. The MSPs have always been Lib Dem.
Is the Orkney economy strong enough to pay for new ferries itself?
The islands are a relatively prosperous part of Scotland and do well on many economic measures, with low unemployment and high levels of household income. We also have rich natural resources and are set to play a vital part in the country’s move towards a greener economy.
Orkney Islands Council, the smallest local authority in Scotland, would be responsible for funding the replacement of the fleet. Nine ferries, built between 1987 and 1996, need to be replaced.
Doing that, and upgrading the necessary infrastructure, would cost hundreds of millions of pounds – money which the council says it simply cannot afford. https://www.orkney.com/life/live/economy
Should the Scottish taxpayer, often living in less pleasant surroundings pay for new ferries for a more prosperous part of Scotland?
Also, Scotland’s councils have £4.45 billion in usable reserves for events such as this.
How much does Orkney have? Secret:
Orkney and Shetland are excluded from this chart as both hold large reserves (over 200 per cent of net cost of services) related to oil, gas and harbour related activities.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Orkney likes better together by its voting history.
Ask your “big government” for funding.
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O/T apologies
Apparently what forms part of the the ‘important’ news where we are, well , that is, according to the lives of STV News (the ‘S’ standing for ‘Scottish) is this:
“JK Rowling scribbles swear words over copy of Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir”
The self appointed champion of women’s rights JKR was , according to STV, mocking Nicola Sturgeon ,the former first minister, aka a woman, for saying ** “public spaces should be safe for women and girls”**.
JKR , the attention seeking (in)famous children’s author, desperate to keep her HP franchise alive , tweeted a picture of words she had written on the pages of NS autobiography.
She wrote “Are you F****** kidding me” on the pages, which was in relation to the former FM stating the above **, which is quite uncanny as that was exactly what I thought in 2014 after she, JKR, wrote her stupid and fake ‘prediction’ on what she (wrongly) surmised would happen if we, Scotland, voted NO in 2014.
Apparently she was willing to write more fiction and obvious stupidity on behalf of the BT campaign, as well as her donating money to them as well (one million pounds of it) , in her trying to reach out to the more gullible among us within Scotland , in her laughingly stating things like this…….
“if we vote to stay, we will be in the heady position of the spouse who looked like walking out, but decided to give things one last go. All the major political parties are currently wooing us with offers of extra powers, keen to keep Scotland happy so that it does not hold an independence referendum every ten years and cause uncertainty and turmoil all over again. I doubt whether we will ever have been more popular, or in a better position to dictate terms, than if we vote to stay”.
Firstly who is this “we” as she , as a resident within Scotland, had already decided to vote NO , via this above statement (as part of a longer statement by her) and also via her one million pounds donation to Better Together, as in the opposing side to the YES campaign.
Also with her millions what (detrimental) impact would it have on her if everything she ‘predicted’ did not happen as she specified in her partisan statement, in fact the opposite happened……
However JKR need not worry , what with all of her millions, as in she need not worry about the post 2014 extremely high food prices, the extremely high energy prices or indeed she does not need to worry about Scotland being forced to leave the EU , when every Scottish region voted Remain in 2016, however Scotland was forced to leave the EU because Scotland had indeed voted , in 2014, as she, JKR, wanted it too , as in some people in Scotland voting to still stay a part of JKR’s UK.
Secondly her wonky and false predictions in her 2014 statement , that I quoted above, did not even last beyond the following morning after the referendum , as on 19 September 2014 , when David Cameron , the current UK PM and leader of the Tory party (as in one of the “major political parties” that JKR referred to in her statement), announced EVEL, before the ink was even dry on the outcome of the referendum, as if to say ‘okay Scotland you have had your moment in the limelight now let’s get back to England and it’s needs and wants’.
Rowling writing “All the major political parties currently wooing us with offers of extra powers” where the significant part in that sentence was the word “currently” (as part of the BT campaign only) , as now look at how, post Brexit, some of those same “major political parties” now seem to want to take away powers from Scotland and they use the excuse that it is because of the “UK Internal Market” as in the same UK that JKR tried to con us into staying with….via her partisan statement on behalf of the pro UK NO side….and now we, like many others within the UK find ourselves as being (very) Bitter Together……….what with the rise of Reform UK (which as a prediction JKR missed highlighting in her 2014 statement as a future possibility for Scotland).
It seems that as well as politicians conning us, disrespecting us and taking us for fools within their UK , we also have to contend with and so tolerate the likes of JK Rowling as well . (another media construct like Baroness Davidson…for the UK side).
JKR the self appointed Champion of women….yet what has she said to support WASPI women or indeed all of the murdered Palestinian women via the genocide being committed by Israel and also she has truly failed to apologise to Scottish women like me who have had to endure absolute crap since 2014 , what with her crap UK and all of the crap that has happened because of all of the crap pro UK “Major political parties”…….no thanks to her absolute crap ability in so called ‘predictions’….
Though were they really genuine as actual ‘predictions’ in her statement in 2014 , or were they really just another crap part of the BT campaign…..to try to persuade (con) some of us into staying within her crap UK ?
It appears that only certain women are worthy of JKR’s attention and ‘support’….other women are either those that she chooses to ignore or chooses to chastise….in her seemingly very ‘selective’ and exclusive quest to supposdley champion (only certain) women and their rights……
So way to go STV News and all other so called ‘news’ media in always “championing” everything that she says and writes….giving oxygen and credibility to someone who has never apologised to Scotland for what has now proven to be absolute rubbish that she wrote in 2014 ……..but she acts, as does the media, as if she did nothing wrong….but she, JKR, is not “kidding” anyone that her constantly targeting NS , as the former SNP leader and FM , is only just because of ‘women’s rights’…..
It would be great , one day, to make it all stop …..that is, all of this obvious propaganda.
Liz S
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*lives
Likes….
*as she, JKR, wanted it too
to….
predictive text…the bane of commentators on blogs Ha Ha
Liz S
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