Professor John Robertson OBA My column in Scots Independent this month pulling together all the evidence to finally prove that we are lucky to have such a ferry service and that most users know it. Get it at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ before it is 100 years old (November 2026). On paper, posted to your door, readable anytime, anywhere, unplugged. Give a years subscription as a birthday gift to some one you know who prefers paper. Go on, go on. Continue reading The last word on Scotland’s ferries wiping the decks with the lies and pushing the liars off the gangplank in Scots Independent, 99 years-old this November

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Reporting Scotland return once more to the RAAC story and in so doing attempt to implicate the Scottish Government in responsibility to clear-up a problem not of their doing. Here are the facts they will not report: Aberdeen home-owners buy property which requires maintenance just like any other, in a Thatcherite scheme, at a knock-down price, from a Tory or Labour council, after a professional survey, and the SNP Government has to do something? RAAC!! A classic media scare story as only between 0.3% and 1.6% of Scotland’s social housing has it. Leading academic: ‘RAAC … Continue reading As Reporting Scotland return to the Labour RAAC controversy a reminder of the facts they won’t tell you

Professor John Robertson OBA Only two years ago, the Scotsman had the above. But from TuS reader ‘Anonymous’, today: In Edinburgh alone, there are currently 36 dental practices currently taking on new NHS patients. Click to access Lothian-Dental-Practices-Accepting-NHS-Patients.pdf Continue reading In Edinburgh alone, there are currently 36 dental practices currently taking on new NHS patients

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today, the above, and: Recent figures show there is a 17-21% gap in access to dental care between Scotland’s most and least deprived communities, The Herald can reveal.  The Scottish Conservatives have described the inequality gap as “shameful” and the party says it has been caused by “decades of SNP mismanagement”.  What they are talking about here is clearly uptake and not the access all groups have to NHS dentistry in Scotland. From NHS dental data monitoring report Quarter ending March 2025 published in May 2025: 5,218,597 people were registered with an NHS dentist as of 31 March 2025 … Continue reading Herald shamefully confuses NHS dentistry uptake with access, perhaps deliberately, perhaps stupidly, to suggest a deprivation gap in the country with 96% access, more than 20% higher than in England

Professor John Robertson OBA Headlining on BBC Breakfast this morning, the above, and on their website: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the body that oversees England’s blood donation system, said the number of regular donors needs to rise from around 800,000 to more than one million to maintain a safe and reliable supply. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98p0pj7dypo What’s the situation in Scotland? BBC Scotland had a worrying (for their elderly and vulnerable viewers) report of a 10% reduction in the number of donors but also that levels were currently safe with 95 000 active donors. You know where I’m going. With 10 times … Continue reading Blood donor level ‘safe’ in Scotland and nearly 20% higher than in England – another wee difference that makes a difference?

Professor John Robertson OBA Headlining on BBC Breakfast this morning and on their website, the above, and this divisive offer: Almost 350,000 nursing staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be asked to vote from Monday on a 3.6% pay increase [lower than junior doctors [5.4%] or consultants [4%]]. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has already dismissed the award as “grotesque” and says the vote will be crucial in determining the next steps which could include a ballot for strike action. The government says that as a result of the pay rise, nurses will earn more than £30,000 … Continue reading As NHS England faces strikes, Scottish Government enables higher pay deal for already better-paid Scottish nurses to once more prevent the loss of tens of thousands of appointments and to save thousands of lives

By cuckooshoe It’s despicable how Labour treat their voters when they have no opposition. From Sky News, last week: Hundreds of people are facing imminent homelessness after their Merseyside flat blocks were condemned by the fire service as being unsafe. Residents of Beech Rise and Willow Rise in Kirkby, Merseyside – consisting of 160 flats in total – have been told they need to find somewhere else to live “immediately”. Sky News understands a meeting took place this morning involving the government to discuss the situation, although one source described the circumstances as a “waiting game” to see what other parties … Continue reading How Labour treat their voters when they have no opposition for 50 years