Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Not mentioned by Herald’s Martin Williams – 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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Professor John Robertson OBA Readers will already know that the MV Caledonian Isles is back 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 may be that the vessel has been, since its launch, marked by the consequences of political errors and shoddy work by its builders. Launched on 25 May 1993 at Richards Shipbuilders of Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, shut down only months later in 1994, … Continue reading Not mentioned by Herald’s Martin Williams – 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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English shipyard botches repairs of young Scottish ferry built by another struggling English yard

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland has, today, been working oh so hard to turn this story around so that it reflects badly on CalMac and, by association, the Scottish Government, with this sort of comment: Ferry operator CalMac is trying to recover millions of pounds of repair costs for a ship that has been out of action for 18 months – and is still not fixed. CalMac is now seeking compensation from Cammell Laird over problems discovered when the ship returned to Scotland last September, after the Merseyside firm carried out the first phase of work. The 32-year-old ship … Continue reading English shipyard botches repairs of young Scottish ferry built by another struggling English yard

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‘No current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations [in England] described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”

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Professor John Robertson OBA Readers will be aware no doubt of new Labour MP Joani Reid’s shameless u-turn on national inquiries into grooming gangs – no in England where they are many, to save her boss a red face, but yes in Scotland, where there are none, proving that as Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter, the apple can fall pretty far from the tree at times. Reid also wrote to FM Swinney, demanding an inquiry here but his response published on 4th July 2025 has had no MSM coverage. You can see why: However, in order for any action to be effective, … Continue reading ‘No current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations [in England] described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”

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Alex Cole Hamilton reveals CalMac to be more than 97% reliable with his second-class research

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Professor John Robertson OBA Here we have another of those Freedom of Information requests by the opposition parties stored up to try to maintain the SNPbad narrative through the holidays. You’ve already seen the Tory ones on ambulance and fire statistics. Here we have the Lib Dems reporting: More than 10,000 ferry sailings cancelled due to faults – Freedom of information data obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems showed 10,809 sailings were cancelled since January 2023. Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene said: “These figures reveal just how much chaos the SNP are causing island communities. “Our island communities are being … Continue reading Alex Cole Hamilton reveals CalMac to be more than 97% reliable with his second-class research

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One Canadian city with 50% more GDP than the whole of Scotland gets round to planning to replace 90 year-old ferry, more than twice the age of CalMac’s oldest large ferry

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Professor John Robertson OBA From NSAUGA ONTARIO LOCAL NEWS, two days ago, The above image and: Anyone who regularly travels to the Toronto Islands to enjoy a day at Centreville, the beach or the adorable (and hidden-ish) Franklin the Turtle Children’s Garden knows that the ferry (even if delayed) is part of the fun. Now, the city is working to replace its aging ferry fleet with sleek, new electric vessels.  Recently, the City of Toronto announced that construction has started at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in the city’s downtown core. While the construction and ferry upgrades won’t happen overnight, … Continue reading One Canadian city with 50% more GDP than the whole of Scotland gets round to planning to replace 90 year-old ferry, more than twice the age of CalMac’s oldest large ferry

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To save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters, the Scottish taxpayer must also contribute around £100m

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to rtpscott for alerting me to this: From Daily Business two days ago: British taxpayers could be on the hook for more than £1 billion following the collapse of the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. HMRC is said to be owed £250m in unpaid taxes, while the facility’s decomissioning costs could be up to £3bn. The refinery is at risk after its owner, State Oil, filed for insolvency on Monday. The Official Receiver has reached a deal with the commodities trading giant, Glencore, that will ensure supplies of crude oil to the refinery. Ministers … Continue reading To save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters, the Scottish taxpayer must also contribute around £100m

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‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’

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stewartb The ease of asking questions of these AI tools is ‘interesting’! My question: ‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’ ChatGPT said:‘Applying or not applying a 2014 independence referendum weighting to political opinion polls in Scotland can significantly affect the reported results, especially when measuring support for Scottish independence.’ Here’s a breakdown of what this weighting does and why it matWhat is the 2014 weighting?This weighting adjusts the results of a poll to reflect how respondents say they … Continue reading ‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’

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‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?’ Intelligence response

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stewartb: I asked the question of Chat GPT (for free) as a place to start – other AI tools are available. From Chat GPT – (see https://chatgpt.com ) My question: ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?‘ ChatGPT said in response: ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland “weighted to 2014,” it usually refers to weighting the data based on how people voted in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. I’n Detail: In Scotland, “2014” almost always refers to the independence referendum, held on 18 September … Continue reading ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?’ Intelligence response

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Want a No lead? Ask Survation. Want a crazy big No lead? Ask YouGov. Want a Yes lead? Don’t fiddle with the sample

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Professor John Robertson OBA The two recent polls by Ipsos and Norstat showing Yes leads, have reversed what seemed to be a counter trend with four No leads, from Survation but especially, with bizarre whopping No leads, from YouGov. These four polls were ‘counter‘ in the most obvious of ways – counter to the plummeting reputations of Labour in late 2024 and early 2025, as they went full-on austerity two and especially for the poor, the elderly and the disabled. How did they manage it? Simple, they adjusted their sample to look just like the sample in the 2014 referendum … Continue reading Want a No lead? Ask Survation. Want a crazy big No lead? Ask YouGov. Want a Yes lead? Don’t fiddle with the sample

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Just Yorkshire Water spends 345 times as much as Scotland on sewage spills clear-up

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Professor John Robertson OBA This morning the Herald front page was all about the supposedly high cost of Scottish Water’s sewage spill clear-ups. In 2024, the most recent figure, according to the Herald’s freedom of information ‘scoop’, it was £136 268. Figures for the whole of England are not easy to find, but in August 2024, RWB Group, Specialist Providers of Inspection, Surveying, Flood Response, Drainage Repairs & Environmental Services, and Channel 4 reported: The UK water regulator, Ofwat, recently proposed substantial fines totalling £168 million for three major water companies—Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water—due to their repeated … Continue reading Just Yorkshire Water spends 345 times as much as Scotland on sewage spills clear-up