Year: 2025

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Two English ferry companies borrowed HALF A BILLION and still charged customers four times as much as CalMac so that they could pay shareholders and bonuses

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to David Rushent for alerting me to this. From the Isle of Wight Observer today: The Isle of Wight’s ferry services are in the spotlight, as IW East MP, Joe Robertson, voices serious concern about Wightlink’s finances. The firm’s CEO, Katy Taylor, has sparked questions, after failing to deny claims that the company’s owners plan to take £30 million out of the business, leaving Islanders to wonder what impact it would have on already sky-high fares. The IW Observer asked Mrs Taylor this week about reports that Wightlink’s shareholders are close to finalising a deal that … Continue reading Two English ferry companies borrowed HALF A BILLION and still charged customers four times as much as CalMac so that they could pay shareholders and bonuses

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LATEST – The Bursary that Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students get in Scotland, unmatched and, of course unreported

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government News site today but finding no place among the reports on what is a woman and what is a ferry? More detail at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/support-paramedic-nursing-midwifery-students-scotland-academic-year-2025-2026/pages/4/ Students in Scotland also pay no tuition fees. What happens in England? Students taking Healthcare degree courses including Nursing, Midwifery or Paramedic Science apply to Student Finance England for Tuition Fee Loans, Maintenance Loans and Grants for Dependants. https://www2.worc.ac.uk/moneyadvice/nursing-and-midwifery.html#:~:text=Students%20taking%20Healthcare%20degree%20courses%20including%20Nursing%2C%20Midwifery,%22Full-time%20Undergraduate%20Financial%20Support%22%20page%20on%20this%20website. So, Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students in Scotland pay no tuition fees and get a free bursary. What happens in Wales? From AY 17/18 the availability of income assessed healthcare bursaries … Continue reading LATEST – The Bursary that Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students get in Scotland, unmatched and, of course unreported

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Yes, yes, but when you look at the facts globally, CalMac is the best deal for passengers in the world

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald today struggling to keep the flow of bad news on ferries going, ignores the wider facts: Has anyone in the Scottish media looked at any other ferry services in other parts which might be exemplars of how to do things? They haven’t? Thought so. Too tired? Here, I’ll do it. First, Calmac has 33 vessels in service, with 5 new ones imminent, for 5.3 million passengers and ticket prices kept low by the biggest government subsidies in the world. In sharp contrast: New Zealand – 4 cases of running aground, drifting toward rocks and hitting … Continue reading Yes, yes, but when you look at the facts globally, CalMac is the best deal for passengers in the world

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Does Northern Scotland really have one of the highest rates of Huntington’s disease in the world?

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Yesterday we had: BBC Scotland and STV today have short reports on the higher level of Huntington’s disease in the North of Scotland but with no useful content to inform and to educate readers in the manner they often claim to do, leaving readers with just another ‘Scotland is ****’ story that they can quietly associate with 18 years of SNP-rule. In response today from JB: The above is based on a new study by the University of Aberdeen who state that… “The study, published in Neuroepidemiology, confirmed that Northern Scotland has one of the highest rates of Huntington’s disease in the … Continue reading Does Northern Scotland really have one of the highest rates of Huntington’s disease in the world?

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How BBC Scotland only report Unison when they cause trouble for the Scottish Government

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to rtpscott for alerting me to the above STV report yesterday, and: A union has urged NHS staff to accept a “guaranteed” 8% pay increase split over two years. Thousands of NHS staff represented by Unison have been urged to accept a 4.25% increase for this year and a further 3.75% for 2026-27. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/unison-urges-nhs-staff-to-accept-guaranteed-pay-offer-split-over-two-years#:~:text=A%20union%20has%20urged%20NHS,3.75%25%20for%202026%2D27 BBC Scotland have not reported this good news. Just a random, meaningless omission? Not an agenda? Well, in August 2023: School staff to strike in 24 Scottish council areas – Scotland’s biggest council union is planning strikes that could close schools … Continue reading How BBC Scotland only report Unison when they cause trouble for the Scottish Government

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‘North Scotland among highest rates of Huntington’s’ – yes, but why?

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland and STV today have short reports on the higher level of Huntington’s disease in the North of Scotland but with no useful content to inform and to educate readers in the manner they often claim to do, leaving readers with just another ‘Scotland is ****’ story that they can quietly associate with 18 years of SNP-rule. When I saw this, I thought straightaway, vitamin D deficiency, as with MS, also more prevalent in the north. While as yet not conclusive, emerging evidence can be found: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are common in older … Continue reading ‘North Scotland among highest rates of Huntington’s’ – yes, but why?

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BBC documentary links increase in drug-related hospital stays after three years of falling to surge in activity by County Lines drug gangs from England

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Professor John Robertson OBA This most recent increase in drug-related hospital stay rates, after three years of falling, has been jumped on by the likes of Jackie Baillie as evidence that the much vaunted Naloxone opioid overdose reversal programme, introduced by the SNP, before any other country in Europe, is not so impressive after all. What Baillie, no one really, has considered is another possible and plausible cause – increased and cheaper supply of more powerful and deadly opioids such as fentanyl into rural areas where there is less familiarity with them. In a documentary made for BBC Scotland and BBC 2 by independent … Continue reading BBC documentary links increase in drug-related hospital stays after three years of falling to surge in activity by County Lines drug gangs from England

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BBC Scotland working hard to cover-up Scottish Labour’s serious electoral fraud

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Professor John Robertson OBA Fraud by a former MSP, minister and council leader is not the headline when you’ve got the gender ID story to headline even though polls say no one is interested in that? No mention of ‘Labour’, image of his face, or that it is electoral fraud?’ Click on the story and: Still no mention of Labour, no face, no mention that it’s electoral fraud? Read the text and Labour gets a mention at last but still no mention of the very serious fact that it’s electoral fraud. What is he actually accused of and which BBC … Continue reading BBC Scotland working hard to cover-up Scottish Labour’s serious electoral fraud

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Is this why there have been no surveys of ordinary ferry-users’ views – more than 90% feel ‘well’ or ‘very well’-served?’

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92.5% of the 186 respondents, living on the islands, felt well or very well-served by CalMac ferries. 95.1% of the 103 tourists who visit the islands, felt well or very well-served by CalMac ferries. Professor John Robertson OBA This is, of course, a snap, self-selecting poll of less than 300 and confirmation or refutal of its findings would require a scientifically sampled poll carried out by a registered pollster, but the fact that this has never been done raises serious questions of the media coverage based entirely on a small number of island ‘representatives‘ of uncertain status in the communities. … Continue reading Is this why there have been no surveys of ordinary ferry-users’ views – more than 90% feel ‘well’ or ‘very well’-served?’