The ‘Green minister spent our money wastefully‘ theme is being thoroughly milked as BBC Scotland keeps it going for another day, today. Well down the page after the Tories have had their platformed rant, they do tell some of the facts but by then the damage is done. The facts, clarified here THREE WEEKS AGO: BBC Scotland is reporting this today [May 13] as: Green minister Lorna Slater criticised for using private ferry The report leads off with an extended set of 12 statements from the Tories and Labour before the locals in the form of a representative of the … Continue reading Keeping the ferries foetid fact-free fourth-estate feeding frenzy narrative going forever folks

By all means read the original BBC Scotland report above, if you feel up to it. You won’t find in it this: or the many forms of support listed here: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.oecd.org/turkiye/48641944.pdf You won’t find this: Turkey is similar to Spain, Poland, Croatia and other European shipbuilding countries, but Turkey is surpassing these countries,” said Vidar Smines, a shipbuilding consultant for Ulstein Group. “Here the value per vessel is higher so Turkey is more important in international shipbuilding than statistics reveal.” However, with 25 deaths in the last 11 months at Tuzla, on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, … Continue reading Turkey building four new CalMac ferries ‘on time’ due to massive Turkish government help and lax safety standards

New Scilly ferries?  – in service by 2024, then by 2025 and now a date cannot be given  – and tender not issued yet! By stewartb I see that the Westminster government is soon to convene the second meeting of its ‘Islands Forum’. It will be held on the Isle of Wight on 24–25 May and chaired by Secretary of State Michael Gove. The first meeting took place in Orkney in September last year. Part of the Tories’ so-called ‘Levelling Up’ policy, it’s always seemed to me like a crude  wheeze to by-pass devolved governments and funnel economic development funds … Continue reading Islanders betrayed by Sunak as essential new Scilly Islands ferries have no completion date

Let’s be clear the MV Pentalina which ran aground yesterday was built in the Philippines and the MV Arnold which ran aground last year was built in Vietnam, because cheap labour and lower standards enabled a cheaper deal than you’d get on the Clyde, for private company Pentland Ferries. The Scottish Government could not intervene to encourage their building in Scotland. Despite the above clear facts, BBC Scotland allow this: Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston, who is from Orkney, said the incident exposed the “pitiful lack of resilience in Scotland’s ferry network”. He said: “The Pentalina was only summoned … Continue reading BBC Scotland find way to blame SNP for failed privately owned ferries built in Philippines and Vietnam

From the Scotsman on 28 April: Baroness Goldie said the activities of Russian vessels suspected of gathering intelligence will be watched closely. Earlier this month, a joint investigation by European broadcasters claimed a Russian ship called the Admiral Vladimirsky was part of an operation to map undersea infrastructure. https://www.scotsman.com/news/defence/uk-vigilant-over-alleged-russian-spy-ships-in-scottish-waters-4124222 Reassured? Only if things have improved in terms of the UK armed forces capabilities, in the last six years under more Tory mismanagement, so probably no? In 2017, pre-Ferrygate this was the situation: How could an independent Scotland protect its waters without the Royal Navy? Just the same? December 21, 2017 © … Continue reading Calmac ferries to get guns and sonar but further delayed

At the current rate, three more Calmac ferries would cost approaching £1 billion. In February 2023, and once more missing me, thanks to our ‘quality’ MSM coverage: From the Scottish Parliament: In 2023-24 the amount paid out in devolved social security benefits is forecast to increase by around £1 billion – from £4.2 billion in 2022-23 to £5.2 billion in 2023-24.  Most of the £1 billion increase in spending is focused on: Together these two make up 81% of the increase in Social Security spending (£858 million out of the £1,057 million increase). Continue reading What is the news? Ferries or care for the vulnerable?

Continue reading Recent mock-ups – ferries, nurses and graphs

Critical infrastructure for UK emergency services: “After eight years and almost £2 billion, it is extremely worrying that the Home Office does not now know when the Emergency Services Network will be ready or what it will cost. (Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office,  8 March, 2023) By stewartb Unlike reporting cost overruns on ‘ferries’, and unlike reporting carefully selected extracts from Audit Scotland reports, the corporate media and the BBC seem to shy away from reporting the work of the National Audit Office (NAO). Perhaps this is because the NAO’s work is not concerned with the Scottish … Continue reading Not Scottish Government – not ‘ferries’ –  so not covered by the BBC!

stewartb On the British Medical Association’s website, there is a brief article (28 February 2023) on a GP surgery in the Ayrshire town of Largs . I think it merits a bit of amplification btl here. See https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/services-are-in-crisis-and-there-s-a-finite-resource ‘GPs are working under greater pressure than ever before, but added to this is A TOXIC MEDIA CLIMATE and A RISING TIDE OF ABUSE FROM A MINORITY OF PATIENTS.’ (my emphasis) The BMA piece notes: ‘The vast majority of healthcare in the town and its surrounds is delivered by Largs Medical Practice, which offers a wide array of services, thanks in part to … Continue reading Largs: The town where both GPs and ferries are working!

According to the Herald in February 2023: Ferguson Marine: Ferry fiasco firm costs taxpayer nearly £500m..so far Try searching for ‘BBC Scotland ferries‘ and you’ll get far more to read than anyone’s sanity would permit. The total cost of the planned ferry-building is currently estimated by the Scottish Government at £1.4 billion for six major vessels and harbour repairs. Yesterday, thanks AR for the tip, BBC Business reports: Delays to HS2 [already 5 years behind] are being considered among other options to curb rising costs, the project’s boss has admitted. The planned high speed railway which will link London, the … Continue reading FIVE years late England-only HS2 may cost as much as 42 major ferries for Calmac!