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

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

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

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

all the focus is on people who can be sent home easily. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Breakfast this morning has a nursing union rep telling us that the A&E waiting time target in NHS England has been reduced under pressure from the Labour Government, from 95% to only 78% and that, as a result, to try to hit it, easier cases are being prioritised over more difficult, serious cases. That’s doubly shocking. First, how and when did that cut from 95% to 78% happen and why has Jackie Baillie not been asked about that situation in Labour-led England? Second, … Continue reading In desperate attempt to solve A&E crisis, UK Labour quietly cuts 95% target to only 78% and damages the life-saving triage system but still has TWO to THREE times as many waiting longer in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA, former school teacher, teacher education lecturer and Associate Dean for Quality Assurance, 1980 to 2016 In December 2022, the Times could report the above stunning facts but Scottish media seemed reluctant to make much of it. From BBC England, today: The government faces a “now or never moment” to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England by the end of its term, a new report has suggested. Analysis by the National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) says unfilled vacancies are at a record high and recruitment into teacher training remains “persistently low.” The … Continue reading As BBC England reports a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, how Scotland pays better and has stunning 36% more teachers to manage workload