Professor John Robertson OBA John McLeod of the Daily Mail on 14 May 2025, had: A mainland excursion by ferry? I’m taking a chance on the antique boat show – I am meant to be in Glasgow next Thursday evening for some glitzy function – all starched shirtfronts and varnished hors d’oeuvres – but between the mainland and I are miles of roiling Hebridean sea. And, as so often these days in the Western Isles, few plans of action survive contact with Caledonian MacBrayne. The ship in question, the Hebrides – just scant weeks back from her annual overhaul – has a … Continue reading John McLeod of the Daily Mail wouldn’t know an ‘antique’ ferry if it…..

Professor John Robertson OBA The SDM today has For Heaven’s sake just fix the leaks! front page. I’m not arguing against the idea of fixing leaks but it’s worth getting the figures in perspective. Perspective? The Mail? Yes, I know. What is that perspective? Covering about 2% of Scotland’s land area, our rivers and lochs contain 90% of the UK’s surface freshwater. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.environment.gov.scot/media/1172/water.pdf Why is it so important to plug all the leaks in some other parts of the UK? One of the biggest challenges facing the water supply network in the UK is ensuring that supplies do not run … Continue reading For Heaven’s sake just fix the leaks in the South-East where they have less water than Syria should be the ‘Scottish’ Daily Mail’s message

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Telegraph today, the above and: A wave of violence The flames have been there for all to see. Over six weeks in March and April, there were more than a dozen arson attacks in the two cities, with cars, homes, garages and businesses set alight. In other incidents, shots have been fired and two people, a pensioner and a 12-year-old boy, seriously assaulted by men wearing masks. I’m not for a minute doubting the trauma for those affected but these events are relatively local and minor compared with this: From the Daily Mail on February 3rd … Continue reading The unreported English gangs really tearing Scotland apart

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Legerwood for alerting me to this: In the Telegraph today, the above and: With a deck the size of three football pitches, HMS Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s flagship aircraft carrier – a 65,000-ton floating airport designed to wage war anywhere on the planet. On its maiden world tour in 2021, when it cruised the Middle East and prowled the South China Sea, Whitehall hailed it as a new symbol of “Global Britain”. Yet for all its pomp and splendour, “Big Lizzie”, as it is known, has an embarrassing personal hygiene problem. For the past six months, … Continue reading Facilities fiasco as £3.5bn aircraft crew cannot get a hot shower – perhaps one of the older CalMac ferries could be spared to escort her and provide facilities?

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland’s 12 top stories today with no mention of this: I feel sure BBC Scotland’s Health Correspondent, Lisa Summers, gets the Nursing Times so why is this not in the public interest? In April, the offer was reported but only enable this grudging comment: It could also mean Holyrood ministers having to find the extra funding from elsewhere in their budget. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9e28kj9meo This is a deliberate editorial decision to deny BBC Scotland’s audience anything that might make them feel better about Scotland, the Scottish Government or, of course the SNP. Continue reading Why is BBC Scotland not reporting thousands of NHS staff accepting a pay rise to maintain Scotland unique strike-free health care over several years?

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above further evidence of UK Labour’s real intentions for the NHS – allow it to fail then sell it off. Meanwhile in Scotland, to zero media coverage: From Public Health Scotland on 24 November 2024, the above graph showing a reducing number waiting for diagnostic tests for the last three quarters, a steady fall since the peak in early 2022, and this for the quarter ending 30 September 2024 [most recent data]: When compared to the previous quarter-end, six of the eight key diagnostic tests saw a decrease in the number of ongoing waits reported. … Continue reading 9 months in and UK Labour oversees massive private sector out-sourcing of x-rays while NHS Scotland cuts waiting times for third time

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above has no mention of Scotland but it’s clearly just a third reason why Scots should be glad to have avoided Conservative or Labour control for so long. The other two reasons are fire and flood. 2. Flood – click on the heading below for full report Continue reading 18 years of protection from fire, flood and now higher energy bills due to poor building standards

Professor John Robertson OBA From the Royal College of Nursing, yesterday: An ‘explosion’ in nurse lecturer redundancies and severances shows the higher education financial crisis is spreading through nursing courses in England and posing a risk to domestic workforce plans, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns today [15 May]. Ahead of the release of a new report into the nurse educator workforce in England, the College says the crisis is a real threat to the domestic supply of nurses into the workforce – just days after the government announced immigration plans which could lead to an exodus of international … Continue reading Will Scottish Labour propose similar NHS England cuts to nurse training in Scotland where we still train TWICE as many, per head as they do?

Professor John Robertson OBA From the BBC Wales and BBC Scotland inserts in BBC Breakfast today, two very different editorial judgements of what folk need to know as they rise to face the new day. In Scotland, they hear of: Three negative reports on public services which can be linked to Scottish Government responsibility, selected by the editor, and of course missing context (see below). In Wales, they hear of: Three negative reports but not on core public services and not a trace of responsibility for the Welsh Government. On this basis, Scots have a lot to be concerned about … Continue reading BBC Wales and Scotland today – two very different worlds to wake to