Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Our ferries are subsidised at nearly £1 billion, never full and the Arran vessels are mostly less than half full, but are they grateful? Well yes they are if you read the previous posts

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Professor John Robertson OBA We regularly see media reports of long car queues for Scotland’s ferries presented as if somehow the Scottish Government has failed to run the service properly. We never, to my knowledge, see these basic facts about the actual utilisation of car deck space and passenger seat take-up despite the presence of such data in the public domain, published by CalMac because they are legally obliged to. They paint a very different picture of the capacity of the service we all fund at considerable expense for no apparent thanks from those island ‘representatives’ regularly platformed across the … Continue reading Our ferries are subsidised at nearly £1 billion, never full and the Arran vessels are mostly less than half full, but are they grateful? Well yes they are if you read the previous posts

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Even on Arran, nearly 80% satisfied with CalMac ferries and dangerous weather is to blame for 96% of cancellations to once again expose the media stories as whopping fibs

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for suggesting this. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on the regular large-scale surveys of CalMac ferry performance, published but ignored by MSM, as they pursue a different agenda regardless of the facts, and fully transparent. Any journalist can scrutinise these surveys, demand all information, and report on any debates within them. Notably none ever do. If you don’t trust these surveys, challenge CalMac for details of who did them, how they were done and get the raw data. They cannot refuse you. If you have something and can present it honestly, I promise to publish … Continue reading Even on Arran, nearly 80% satisfied with CalMac ferries and dangerous weather is to blame for 96% of cancellations to once again expose the media stories as whopping fibs

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87% of 30 000 satisfied with CalMac’s Outer Hebrides services

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for suggesting this. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on the regular large-scale surveys of CalMac ferry performance, published but ignored by MSM, as they pursue a different agenda regardless of the facts, and fully transparent. Any journalist can scrutinise these surveys, demand all information, and report on any debates within them. Notably none ever do. If you don’t trust these surveys, challenge CalMac for details of who did them, how they were done and get the raw data. They cannot refuse you. If you have something and can present it honestly, I promise to publish … Continue reading 87% of 30 000 satisfied with CalMac’s Outer Hebrides services

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87% satisfaction for 15 000 Clyde ferry-users and 94% on time for Millport visitors casts serious doubt on the media reports

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for suggesting this. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on the regular large-scale surveys of CalMac ferry performance, published but ignored by MSM, as they pursue a different agenda regardless of the facts, and fully transparent. Any journalist can scrutinise these surveys, demand all information, and report on any debates within them. Notably none ever do. If you don’t trust these surveys, challenge CalMac for details of who did them, how they were done and get the raw data. They cannot refuse you. If you have something and can present it honestly, I promise to publish … Continue reading 87% satisfaction for 15 000 Clyde ferry-users and 94% on time for Millport visitors casts serious doubt on the media reports

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84% of 15 000 CalMac ferry users satisfied with service in 6 month long survey to upturn politicised, shoddy, media reporting

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for suggesting this. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on the regular large-scale surveys of CalMac ferry performance, published but ignored by MSM, as they pursue a different agenda regardless of the facts, and fully transparent. Any journalist can scrutinise these surveys, demand all information, and report on any debates within them. Notably none ever do. If you don’t trust these surveys, challenge CalMac for details of who did them, how they were done and get the raw data. They cannot refuse you. If you have something and can present it honestly, … Continue reading 84% of 15 000 CalMac ferry users satisfied with service in 6 month long survey to upturn politicised, shoddy, media reporting

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Dramatic fall in Non-crime Hate Incidents

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Professor John Robertson OBA From – Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following details: The number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by the police force every year, and by year, from 2009 to 2024, published today, we seen that non-crime hate incidents have fallen from 1066 in 2022 and 1296 in 2023 to 1054 in 2024.1 What is a non-crime hate incident? A non-crime hate incident is any incident perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated either entirely or partly by malice and ill-will towards a person or group based on … Continue reading Dramatic fall in Non-crime Hate Incidents

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News you won’t hear today – SNP Government increases grants to local authorities for affordable housing by nearly 20% in just one year

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government today, we see that grants totalling £600 million, up from 510 million last year have been allocated to council to plan their affordable housing supply.1 The grant funding is broken down as: How is Scotland doing with the building of affordable homes compared to the rest of the UK? This: Sources: Continue reading News you won’t hear today – SNP Government increases grants to local authorities for affordable housing by nearly 20% in just one year

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How the ‘Scottish’ media have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of the ferry services

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By stewartb: The level of mainstream media ‘interest’ in CalMac ferry services has been ramped up and highly politicised over recent years. However, in sharp distinction to coverage by the highly resourced-constrained TuS, the highly resource-rich BBC Scotland and others in the mainstream media – those supposedly serving Scotland – have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of these ferry services. This failure is despite pointing out the economic and social importance of the ferries to the communities served. As best as I can recall (and do correct me if I’ve missed something substantive): And … Continue reading How the ‘Scottish’ media have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of the ferry services

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Last word on Tom Hunter and Richard Tice of Reform UK – Why don’t we emulate Norway instead of dark and undemocratic Singapore

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By stewartb I agree. It seems appropriate to repeat here a btl post on an earlier thread about emulating Singapore. How far should we change to do so? From The Straits Times (May 11, 2024) ’20 years as PM – Singapore’s political system is rare and once lost there is no turning back, says PM Lee‘. It quotes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who is also secretary-general of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and is the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who governed Singapore for c.31 years! “People ask how does politics work in Singapore? … Continue reading Last word on Tom Hunter and Richard Tice of Reform UK – Why don’t we emulate Norway instead of dark and undemocratic Singapore

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Tom Hunter – Scotland should emulate Singapore? What would this take: what would it cost us?

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By stewartb Emulate Singapore? What would this take: what would it cost us? From a profile of Singapore published in 2021: https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-world/2021 ‘Singapore’s parliamentary political system has been dominated by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the family of current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong since 1959. The electoral and legal framework that the PAP has constructed allows for some political pluralism, but it constrains the growth of opposition parties and limits freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.’ ‘The current prime minster, Lee Hsien Loong, has been in power since 2004 and secured a new mandate after the July 2020 parliamentary elections. … Continue reading Tom Hunter – Scotland should emulate Singapore? What would this take: what would it cost us?