Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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How ferries under Labour from 1997 to 2007 were never bad news and never politicised

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today, try searching for Scotland and ferries and you’ll be flooded, unlike the MV Glen Sannox‘s slightly damp steering gear, with a surge of reports, several directly ‘accusing’ or ‘shaming’, the SNP for the kind of minor repair that is often required in the teething stages of new ship. Try narrowing your search to the period from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007, Labour and the Lib Dem’s time in power and you’ll find very little indeed. You will find one (only) story of delays, due to repairs lasting 6 months, on 22 April 2003, … Continue reading How ferries under Labour from 1997 to 2007 were never bad news and never politicised

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So, in other parts of the developed world, a ferry passenger pushed to his death by the crew, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooded, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the button wrongly, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations but in Scotland a one-day delay to fix a wee weld crack is an ‘SNP ferry fiasco?’

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Professor John Robertson OBA The discovery of a small crack in the hull of the MV Glen Sannox, a common event in new ships, and the 24 hour period out of service, has triggered an unholy, slavering media feeding frenzy, wholly out of proportion to the event. These objectively far more serious incidents in other parts of the developed world, have attracted far less attention and virtually no blaming of political parties or governments. On March 9th 2025, Red Funnel [should be Red Face] ferries on the Isle of Wight cancel sailings and disrupt travel because they spend too much on shareholder dividends … Continue reading So, in other parts of the developed world, a ferry passenger pushed to his death by the crew, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooded, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the button wrongly, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations but in Scotland a one-day delay to fix a wee weld crack is an ‘SNP ferry fiasco?’

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Former New Labour minister tries to hide the abolishing of the whole NHS England system, not just the ‘quango’ and the deaths that will follow

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to AR for alerting me to this. The word ‘Perspective’ there, is doing heavy lifting as former Blair Minister, Brian ‘Bad Vibrations’ Wilson, tries to tell us that Starmer is only getting rid of the NHS England top layer and freeing the trusts up, to get imaginative [spend the money in the private sector] and, of course leave NHS Scotland behind. It’s by no means just a perspective, a point of view, It’s a whopping lie. Here’s another ‘perspective‘ but a far more honest and clear-sighted one: The Starmer government’s announcement that it is abolishing … Continue reading Former New Labour minister tries to hide the abolishing of the whole NHS England system, not just the ‘quango’ and the deaths that will follow

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Dunoon to suffer 10% reduction in a subsidised ferry service of such generosity you’ll find it nowhere else on the plant other than maybe, in oil rich Norway

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In the CalMac Summer 2025 timetable there are 30 ferry sailings from Gourock to Dunoon [pop 7 600] and 28 coming the other way: https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/route-information/gourock-dunoon/#/ The Herald claims Scottish Government to cut Gourock to Dunoon Ferry services. This will be like the time ‘the Scottish Government‘ cancelled my bus into Ayr town centre. In the Helensburgh Advertiser: Mr Fairlie [the Minister] said: “I have now approved a recommendation from Transport Scotland to remove three return sailings a day, of the 30 currently scheduled. This is necessary to address identified over-provision and ensure that the service complies with subsidy control requirements. … Continue reading Dunoon to suffer 10% reduction in a subsidised ferry service of such generosity you’ll find it nowhere else on the plant other than maybe, in oil rich Norway

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Research – The very small Glen Sannox welding crack, like the numerous new aircraft carrier flaws, is just normal teething troubles

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today’s news that the new MV Glen Sannox CalMac ferry has been taken out of service due to a small welding crack near the steering gear letting ‘a very small amount of water‘ in, has had many of out media hacks generating much larger amounts of fluid, in their pants. When I heard the news, I immediately thought ‘settling in cracks‘ like the ones you get in new houses. Clearly it’s a bit different in a ship but is it unusual and don’t you just fix it? From Crack assessment criteria for ship hull structure based … Continue reading Research – The very small Glen Sannox welding crack, like the numerous new aircraft carrier flaws, is just normal teething troubles

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“I Wish I Didn’t Know That” – A fun trivia game to keep Anas and Jackie amused when they are hiding from THEIR media

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FUN FUN FUN A fun trivia game to keep Anas and Jackie amused when they are hiding from THEIR media. Not just a HIT in The British Labour Party offices in Scotland but it is fantastic at keeping the kids quite in the back of the car while waiting for those ferries that always seem to turn up on time. You can also be the LIFE of the party when you invite friends around….you’re party will go off with a BANG!!! From Union of Concerned Scientists a spin the wheel game called “I Wish I Didn’t Know That”……. https://www.ucs.org/resources/i-wish-i-didnt-know Spinning “The … Continue reading “I Wish I Didn’t Know That” – A fun trivia game to keep Anas and Jackie amused when they are hiding from THEIR media

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Dramatic fall in possession of knives in Scottish schools and 50 times as many English teachers see a student with one

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Professor John Robertson OBA According to Sky in February 2025: Almost one in five teachers have seen students with knives in England’s schools, Sky News survey finds I wonder what ratio of Scottish Teachers will have seen students with knives? From Police Scotland: Having in a school an article with a blade or point Source: Crime data – Police Scotland So, each incident might mean more than one teacher sees the knife possession – say, 4? There are 54 000 teachers in Scotland and if say, every knife possession incident is seen by 4 of the staff, we can divide … Continue reading Dramatic fall in possession of knives in Scottish schools and 50 times as many English teachers see a student with one

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Spare us the shoddy journalism: Scotland got Covid quite a bit better

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Professor John Robertson OBA Former Tory Spad, Andy Maciver, is in the Herald today with the above, and: Largely ineffective? Oh, really? A 36% lower death rate than the UK, saving nearly 2 000 lives? The above table from the UK Covid Inquiry report, posted today by https://x.com/ammacj makes clear that Scotland had a 14% lower Covid death rate than UK and a 36% lower excess death rate than UK. The second table, above, make clear the scale of loss not at first apparent in percentages. Had Scotland’s pandemic response strategy been managed by the UK Tory government, 14%, 1 867, more … Continue reading Spare us the shoddy journalism: Scotland got Covid quite a bit better

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How Orkney islanders fought off a lung cancer risk, nearly 100 times the normal rate

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Frances McKie for alerting me to this. In 1975, not much reported at the time, as far as I can remember, the residents of the Orkney Islands faced and fought off a dark threat. From Beyond Nuclear International in April 2021: The Orkneys were being surveyed for a potentially valuable deposit of uranium ore. The South Scottish Electricity Board had already persuaded local farmers, unaware of the health risks, to allow bore hole drilling on their land. By 1977, the entire local population on Orkney opposed uranium exploitation there. Among those opponents was … Continue reading How Orkney islanders fought off a lung cancer risk, nearly 100 times the normal rate

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115 year-old ferries crashing and injuring passengers in affluent Toronto

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Professor John Robertson OBA The oldest CalMac ferry is the MV Isle of Cumbrae at 49 years in 2025, serving the short Largs to Cumbrae route. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_MacBrayne_fleet In Toronto, Canada, one of the most affluent cities on the globe, from the Toronto Star today:: Toronto’s five ferries are between 62 and 115 years old — decades past their expected lifespans. The boats transport about 1.4 million people a year on 17,000 trips to the Toronto Islands. In recent years there have been several ferry collisions, mechanical failures and emergency stops.  A recent investigation found: An external review has found Toronto’s ferry services are being … Continue reading 115 year-old ferries crashing and injuring passengers in affluent Toronto