Month: October 2025

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As Reporting Scotland go looking for a ferry fiasco on Arran, nearly 80% are satisfied, dangerous weather is to blame for 96% of cancellations and the car deck was less than half full, to once again expose the media stories as whopping fibs

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA BBC Reporting Scotland tonight claiming the folk of Arran have been without a reliable regular ferry service for the past year when, in reality they only had to travel to Troon instead of Ardrossan. You have to wonder why they report no actual evidence of unhappiness with the service. Perhaps this is why? Regular large-scale surveys of CalMac ferry performance, published but ignored by MSM, as they pursue a different agenda regardless of the facts, are fully transparent. Any journalist can scrutinise these surveys, demand all information, and report on any debates within them. Notably none … Continue reading As Reporting Scotland go looking for a ferry fiasco on Arran, nearly 80% are satisfied, dangerous weather is to blame for 96% of cancellations and the car deck was less than half full, to once again expose the media stories as whopping fibs

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Arran ferry’s ‘faults’ started when the contract to build it was awarded by Scottish Conservatives to an inexperienced English yard on its last legs in a Conservative constituency

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have been without a reliable regular ferry service for the past year. By Professor John Robertson, OBA As BBC Reporting Scotland celebrate the return of the MV Caledonian Isles to the Arran service, they do not, of course, tell you why it has been a troubled vessel. Readers will already know that the MV Caledonian Isles had been in dock for repairs following botched work by Cammell Laird in Liverpool. Readers will also be aware of the regular and longstanding Scottish media reports describing the vessel as ‘troubled’ and ‘fault prone.’ While such accounts have been often exaggerated and ill-informed, it … Continue reading Arran ferry’s ‘faults’ started when the contract to build it was awarded by Scottish Conservatives to an inexperienced English yard on its last legs in a Conservative constituency

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As the authorities approve supposed reduced risk how many childhood cancers were caused by refuelling at this Ayrshire nuclear power station?

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As the authorities approve [15 September 2025] the progress in reducing hazard at the Hunterston B nuclear site in North Ayrshire, I’m deeply suspicious and reminded of the harm that was done over 45 years. By Professor John Robertson, OBA Thanks to JB for researching this. Hunterston B Nuclear power station, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, was in operation for nearly 45 years, from February 1976 until November 2021.1 In that time, there will have been around 30 re-fuelling instances2 and up to 300 inspections.3 During these events, there are spikes of radioactive emissions. Researchers in Germany, published this in 2011: According to the International … Continue reading As the authorities approve supposed reduced risk how many childhood cancers were caused by refuelling at this Ayrshire nuclear power station?

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Scotland is already energy secure but obviously England is not…. hence why these

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By Liz S Ed Milliband decided Zonal pricing was a big ……no go………as apparently it would have benefitted Scotland……..as this would have meant our energy prices in Scotland would have been lower than places in England……. and that, for Labour HQ, was a big no no. (However it was a big fat YES YES to Scotland supplying England with electricity via large sub sea cables…..which was promoted as “”electricity superhighways” to transport renewable energy from Scotland to England, (which was promoted as ) “increasing the UK’s energy security and helping to meet net-zero targets”…..) “UK’s energy security” ?………really ? (Scotland is already energy secure but obviously England is not…. hence why these … Continue reading Scotland is already energy secure but obviously England is not…. hence why these

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So, rent controls, second home tax hikes, the child payment, free prescriptions, free tuition…….why would anyone in their right mind ever want a Labour government in Scotland, never mind Reform UK. The SNP, with the support of the Greens, is the only large social democratic party in the UK that cares for the 99%. Get out and vote for it in 2026!

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Telegraph last week had: Scotland plots uncapped council tax rises for second home owners – Green Party’s ‘pile on the costs’ proposal will be ‘gold standard’ for tackling homelessness. Councils in Scotland are poised to be granted powers to penalise second home owners with uncapped council tax premiums. Today, the Herald has the above grudging headline and: Rent controls are set to be introduced in Scotland after the Scottish Government’s housing reform legislation passed at Holyrood. MSPs approved an amendment by the Scottish Greens allowing council tax on second and empty homes to be raised by unlimited amounts, potentially to the 300 per cent already … Continue reading So, rent controls, second home tax hikes, the child payment, free prescriptions, free tuition…….why would anyone in their right mind ever want a Labour government in Scotland, never mind Reform UK. The SNP, with the support of the Greens, is the only large social democratic party in the UK that cares for the 99%. Get out and vote for it in 2026!

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Different NHS Scotland rejects England’s hostile healthcare environment for vulnerable migrant women

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above, and: The UK [sic] has been accused of a “stark injustice” for failing to provide health services and humanitarian support to citizens of British overseas territories after a woman from the Caribbean island of Montserrat was refused free NHS care and left homeless. Council officials found Cherry Brown, 69, sleeping rough in a park in Swanley, Kent, in April. Brown had been funded by the Montserratian government – whose budget is largely subsidised by the UK – to travel to England to receive treatment from the NHS that was not available at home. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/01/uk-montserrat-british-overseas-territory-citizens-injustice-donaldson-romeo The situation … Continue reading Different NHS Scotland rejects England’s hostile healthcare environment for vulnerable migrant women

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Fuel poverty – in Scotland, it need not be this way.

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Will it be food in the house? Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert have the above story minus of course the hugely significant consideration that, in Scotland, it need not be this way. In August 2025, we had the information. As energy price rises loom, a reminder of why Michael Shanks will not protect us and why Scots would pay far less after independence As energy price rises loom, a reminder of why Scots would pay far less once independent. From stewartb in June 2025: I fear that a majority of the electorate in Scotland still have NO IDEA … Continue reading Fuel poverty – in Scotland, it need not be this way.

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A story never to be told – Domestic abuse of women twice as common and, of children, four times as common, across the border

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and abusive past has made more than 19 500 reports since it started ten years ago. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert have the above special report today but it’s not being coverfed anywhere else. Interesting, what effect is the scheme having on the relative level of domestic abuse and violence against women in Scotland? That would be an obvious question to ask. They don’t go there so here is the wider picture: Domestic abuse is TWICE as common in England and Wales as in Scotland From the Scottish Government’s Safer Communities Directorate: The police recorded 63,867 incidents … Continue reading A story never to be told – Domestic abuse of women twice as common and, of children, four times as common, across the border