Four days ago, from the Coast Reporter in British Columbia, Canada, with its island archipelago ferry fleet a bit like that of CalMac but in warmer, less windy, waters and with less generous subsidies than Scotland’s islanders get from that SNP Government: FAC calls BC Ferries service to Sunshine Coast ‘unmitigated disaster’ amid cancellations ‘It’s inadequate service all year long, it’s getting worse and worse’: Southern Sunshine Coast FAC tells BC Ferries executives at biannual meeting, and asks for solutions. https://www.coastreporter.net/highlights/fac-calls-bc-ferries-service-to-sunshine-coast-unmitigated-disaster-amid-cancellations-7583193 It’s a near 1 000 word report but the author finds no space to mention, far less blame, the … Continue reading ‘Unmitigated ferries disaster’ has nothing to do with devolved government……in Canada

In the Herald yesterday: Alex Cole-Hamilton has insisted Humza Yousaf will be the “last nationalist first minister of Scotland” as he appealed to SNP voters “looking for a party to inspire them” to back the Liberal Democrats. The plea came as he addressed the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23810236.humza-yousaf-will-last-nationalist-first-minister-scotland/ As the UK Lib Dems do realistically plot another of their once-in-a-generation but ultimately temporary, defeats/replacements of the Tories in the South of England, their 4 Scottish MPs are down there talking-up prospects of a Yoon coalition up here among folk who hate each other’s guts. Their researchers must be … Continue reading Has Lib Dem leader taken to drink as SNP recover from mass media attack?

By Malachi Malagrowther Labour supporting Lord Hardie’s nine-year inquiry into the Edinburgh trams fiasco, at a cost of £13 million, from which he earned over one million pounds, clearly concluded that failings by the Edinburgh City Council officials and its associated arms-length companies were to blame for the debacle which was delivered five years later than scheduled and cost some £1 billion, almost double the original estimate. Tie Ltd, the company chosen by Labour to deliver the project was criticised for its mishandling of the project and particularly not cooperating or collaborating with the other key stakeholders in the project … Continue reading How the media airbrushed Labour’s principal role in the costly Edinburgh Trams debacle out of history

The most recent YouGov poll, for 8-13 September, has been getting media coverage recognising that it’s bad news for Labour but perhaps less so that it might be. First, for Westminster voting intention, the 11 point gap has been reported as a first ‘double figures’ lead for some time but the significant swing of 7 points, from 4 in August to 11 in September, in the wake of Labour’s bussing of English MPs into Rutherglen and Hamilton West, has not got the attention it deserves. Has it been counter-productive? Are our media shielding someone? Second, the Holyrood constituency voting intention … Continue reading Things may be getting even worse for Labour and even better for SNP as by-election looms

Since the beginning of 2023, 30 polls have found a lead for No while only 6 have found a lead for Yes or most recently a tie. Five out of the 6 were carried out by the pollster Find Out Now. Since they started in December 2022, Find Out Now have never found a lead for No. As readers will know, I’m a pretty basic ‘statistician’ but, like you, I can spot a pattern and confidently say that Find Out Now must be doing something different and almost certainly in the construction of the sample of around 1 000 Scots … Continue reading Why does this one pollster repeatedly find a lead for Yes in the Sea of Negativity?

Many thanks to stewartb, Robert Martin and Bob Lamont for researching this for us. According to BBC Scotland, a few hours ago: More than half of the NHS buildings in Scotland which are suspected to contain a potentially dangerous form of concrete have not been fully inspected. The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow is among the sites identified in the desktop survey https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66900470 The QEUH was completed in 2015, 4 years after building had started in 2011. RAAC had been stopped in new building by the mid-1990s, at least 15 years earlier. There is no RAAC in the new … Continue reading Leading academic: ‘RAAC can easily last 50 years and should be able to carry on for several decades after that’

From Tom Gordon today: Labour’s candidate in the Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election has promised to tackle the scourge of low pay in the area as he accused the SNP of hypocrisy over workers’ rights. Campaigning alongside Scottish leader Anas Sarwar, Michael Shanks said Labour wanted to end zero-hours contracts, extend sick pay and raise the minimum wage if it wins power. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23808638.labour-accuses-snp-hypocrisy-workers-rights-rutherglen/ Do they think the voters of Rutherglen and Hamilton West will believe this if it’s in the Herald? I guess they do and worryingly, some may well do so. The candidate knows he’s trying to fool folks … Continue reading Rutherglen Rumours – Modern Studies teacher should be sacked as he tries to hide truth on low pay from voters in desperate attempt to get very high pay for himself

Headlining the Herald today: NHS staff and patients are being “left in the dark over the safety of hospitals and clinics” with only a third of buildings suspected of containing a potentially dangerous form of concrete investigated. A number of public premises and facilities constructed using a material known as Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) have been closed as a precaution over fears that it is unstable and poses a risk of collapse. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23804784.raac-concrete-majority-nhs-buildings-not-yet-checked/ Who says the public is endangered? Dame Jackie Baillie. What are the facts? RAAC is inevitably present in many public buildings and has been there for … Continue reading Public NOT ‘endangered’ by ‘concrete risk’ based on Jackie Baillie scaremongering

BBC Scotland is headlining this story – Scottish school strikes: Unions split as parents brace for school closures – but carefully avoiding any mention of the dirty tricks, below, by UK Labour, as we approach the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, where Labour’s victory expectations show signs of panic. Unison’s split with the GMB and Unite make little sense until you see this: Johanna Baxter is the Labour Party‘s CLP Representative on both the National Executive Committee and the Scottish Executive Committee.[1] She is regarded as a Corbynsceptic and has been endorsed by Blairite group Progress and ‘old right’ organisation Labour First. https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Johanna_Baxter AND UNISON Scotland head of local government, Johanna Baxter … Continue reading Panicked UK Labour exploits school staff and risks pupil interests to aid their Rutherglen by-election campaign

Western Isles Council, Independent with only 6 SNP out of 29 councillors, has no basis for the above claim. The facts about depopulation in Scotland in the last 20 years: First, Western Isles has seen little de-population, is no worse than mainland Dumfries and Galloway and is better than the largely mainland Argyll, Inverclyde or North Ayrshire. Second, Western Isles benefits from the most inclusive, generously subsidised and up-to-date ferry service in the comparable world. See: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2023/07/29/research-reveals-scotlands-island-communities-benefit-from-the-most-inclusive-generously-subsidised-and-up-to-date-ferry-service-in-the-comparable-world/ Continue reading Scotland’s ferry services unrelated to population decline anywhere