The Herald’s pressganged Ferry Correspondent, Maritime Williams has just surfaced with another in his Scotland’s (Crap) Ferries Newsletter to ask: Will one of CalMac’s oldest ferries ever return after nine months out? The MV in question in the Hebridean Isles, was launched 38 years ago in Selby, not on the Clyde. The non-Clyde build is a worry but 38 is not old for a ferry. 11 of the 21 Washington State ferries, in the affluent Seattle area, are older than this. Three were built in the 1970s, two in the 1960s and one still operating was built in 1959. Of … Continue reading Scotland’s Great Ferries Newsletter – MV Hebridean Isles would be a youngster in Washington State or British Columbia

Scotland’s delayed, state-of-the-art, hybrid, high end, really spacious, big ferries look like costing up to £300 million each. They seem likely to be fodder for Scottish churnalists even long after they sail. Less appealing fodder even though there once was a Scottish stage, it seems, is HS2 as the Manchester stage is binned. Reuters yesterday estimated HS2 to run to £106 billion or 353 state-of-the-art, high-end, hybrid, really spacious, big ferries. We could replace all 34 CalMac ferries, keep several in reserve and still have plenty to sell to troubled Washington State and BBC Ferries and then….. Continue reading One fast English railway equals 353 state-of-the-art, high-end, really spacious, big Scottish ferries

Revealing their usual lack of grasp, BBC Scotland today is claiming: Scotland has long-known it was not part of the HS2 plans but Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he is to scrap the line from Birmingham to Manchester will still have an impact north of the border. From the BBC in December 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8432051.stm Rutherglen to London? 2hrs 30min? Maybe Sarwar will tell Starmer to get that back on track? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67004355?at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_origin=BBCScotlandNews&at_link_id=93C37B52-62AB-11EE-A1DD-1C07681DE14E&at_format=link&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_ptr_name=twitter Continue reading Wrong BBC Scotland – Scotland was part of HS2 plans but the siding of that has been conveniently forgotten

BBC Scotland Business above today, nothing on this below. From the Scottish Government website this morning: When comparing the value of Scotland’s goods exports in the year ending June 2023 with the year ending June 2022: The value of Scotland’s international goods exports increased by 12.6% to £36.7 billion.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-goods-trade-quarter-2-2023/pages/international-goods-exports-eu-and-non-eu-combined/ Scotland now exports £36.7 bn compared to England’s £250 bn so, pro rata, with a tenth of the population, Scotland exports 46.8% more. Scotland only imports £35.1 bn and so has a surplus of £1.6 bn. England imports £470 bn and so has a massive deficit of £220 bn! Scotland’s export … Continue reading Per head, Scotland now exports nearly half as much again as England, has a surplus, and so would have no national debt

Despite being in the former Glasgow Herald, this story is about prisoners from England & Wales only being sent to foreign prisons – Rwanda? Scotland currently has 137 prisoners per 100 000 population. England & Wales has 144 per 100 000. Despite a growing population, the prison population of Scotland has been stable for some time at and is not expected to grow beyond 7 600. https://www.scotpho.org.uk/population-groups/prisoners/data/prison-population/ The prison population in England and Wales is projected to grow to between 93,100 and 106,300 by 2027. All things being equal, the prison population of England & Wales should be around 11 … Continue reading English and Welsh prisoners to be sent to foreign prisons as number of incarcerated is projected to soar 28% above Scotland

The Scotsman has covered this good-news story but it’s nowhere in BBC Scotland coverage. They have had a morning of negativity about life in Scotland, the, they hope, SNP vote-divisive, gender recognition ruling and……the Rangers job. Might some young or old, progressive Labour supporters be drawn by this news to vote Green instead tomorrow? We know it’s a popular move. As far back as 2019, a poll found 77% support for stronger laws. https://tfn.scot/news/most-scots-want-full-ban-on-fox-hunting-poll-finds Continue reading A real hunting ban in Scotland but not to be mentioned just before the by-election?

Here are some important facts: Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) was awarded contracts by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) for two ferries in 2015. FMEL entered administration in August 2019. https://www.gov.scot/publications/ferguson-marine-background-to-the-company-being-taken-into-public-ownership/ The sole owner in 2019, 4 years after the contract was awarded, was Jim McColl. He bought it cheap in 2014 and agreed a contract for delivery of the vessels by 2018. He is fully responsible for everything. Poor management comes back to his choices of staff. The Herald today has: Jim McColl accepts his firm was not blameless in ferry fiasco https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23831802.jim-mccoll-accepts-firm-not-blameless-ferry-fiasco/ The distancing of himself as the … Continue reading If the buck always stops with the President then it always stops with a shipyard owner

In Open Democracy today: The UK government’s response to the pandemic must be judged on the number of Covid-related deaths, the lead counsel for the UK’s independent inquiry into the pandemic has said. Hugo Keith said module two of the inquiry, which started today, will consider whether the UK government’s “momentous decisions”, particularly during the period between January 2020 and March 2020, served the public well or failed them. “How is this to be measured?” asked Keith. “If the protection of life is the preeminent duty which any government owes to the people, then the number of those who died is … Continue reading Labour must explain why Covid deaths were much higher in Wales than in Scotland

The Herald, as always sticks a grubby thumb into NHS figures and comes out with a bad news story. Sad? Desperate? Both. From Public Health Scotland today: During August 2023, there were 26,006 operations planned to take place across NHSScotland, the highest number of planned operations since February 2020. This is 10.1% higher than the number planned a year previously in August 2022 (23,626). The number of planned operations has been steadily increasing since pandemic restrictions first affected provision of services in March 2020. In the 12 months to August 2023, there was a 17.4% increase in the number of … Continue reading NHS Scotland operations surge back toward pre-pandemic levels and capacity to to do 98% on time is maintained for years

The Herald’s ferry feeding frenzy continues today with: ‘Beyond belief’: Scots fiasco ferries to have 300-passenger cut for safety reasons The Ardrossan-Brodick crossing carried a total of nearly 700 000 passengers last year. There are 16 crossings almost every day, all year long, giving a total of around 5 800 per year. So, the average sailing takes around 120 passengers. So, a safety cut from 1 000 to 700 is a problem? I think not. The Herald is the problem. Who can’t believe the safety reduction? This guy: Sources: https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/9241/Carrying-Statistics-2022—text-version https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-performance-data-browser?date=04%2F01%2F2023 Continue reading New ferry will still have capacity nearly SIX times average customer demand