As Elton John voluntarily says goodbye at Glastonbury, the more modest ‘Pacific Quay’ tour of just South Uist and, sometimes, Arran and Campbelltown, steams on, headlining day-after-day. Leading psychologists have reported an increase in the number of their patients absolutely refusing to take a ferry trip in case they get left on the quayside and are never seen again. After hundreds of media reports of ferry cancellations ‘devastating’ island economies, patients have proved resistant to treatments based on actual, real-life, real-world, evidence such as the 99% reliability last Saturday with 518 out of 523 sailings on time and the seasonal … Continue reading Psychologists link new ‘ferry abandonment phobia’ cases to saturation media coverage as service plummets to ‘catastrophic’ 97% reliability in one day

BBC UK have been gushing all over this ‘major project‘ by Prince William to ‘end’ homelessness completely in six different places across the UK in the next five years by giving ‘up to £3 million‘ of his own, well ‘ours‘, money! THREE MILLION!!?? WOW!!! That’ll go a long way won’t it? Nope. Just for Scotland, the Scottish Government invested £100 million (https://www.gov.scot/policies/homelessness/) and in the very last of the 30 paragraph plus BBC online report: A spokeswoman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities welcomed the prince’s initiative. “We are giving councils £2bn over three years, to help … Continue reading Prince to invest far far far less than SNP Government on ending homelessness

On a very busy Saturday, yesterday, CalMac, described by one Tory councillor as one of the worst ferry services in the world, made 518 crossings to more than 30 places on time, hitting 99% reliability, after cancelling only 5. The 5 cancelled sailings included the 4 from Oban to South Uist but the North Uist crossing to Skye, operated all 6 on time. The other cancellation was the 1 Campbelltown to Ardrossan sailing. Campbelltown is on the mainland. Two days ago BC Ferries in British Columbia warned the public to brace for ferry cancellations this summer. On 22 May 2023, … Continue reading Ferry fulfilment as 99% of 523 sailings are on time for busy Saturday

Does anyone know just how many ‘ferry fiasco feeding-frenzy’ reports we’ve have had now? The main SNP-bad narrative must now be well ahead of the ‘dead babies in infected hospitals‘ meme. Today BBC Scotland give Labour’s Neil Bibby and the Con’s Graham Simpson a platform to blame the SNP Government and excuse the man who signed the contract. The willingness to talk-down your own industry and workers in an infantile attempt to hurt the SNP is stunning. A full year ago, reader Tom Hodgens had a far healthier approach: This is a long post about vision and ambition. Let’s start … Continue reading Ferry Falseness as Scottish Con/Labour combine to ignore what matters and to undermine Scottish jobs and prospects

The Herald front page ‘exclusive’ on paper and online this morning, above. The opening pitch: In Scotland, nearly 7000 people have been waiting over two years for an operation compared to just 559 in England. But what’s really going on behind the figures?  Doctors have described Scotland’s NHS recovery as “appallingly slow” and accused ministers of “taking their eye off the ball” when it comes to driving down the backlogs of patients who have been waiting years for surgery. They go on to wander carefully around the evidence without finding the most important data. Here they are: From the BMJ on … Continue reading Furious English doctors condemn gulf between English and Scottish NHS waiting lists

BBC Scotland, always ferry ready on this topic, report: Islanders take South Uist ferry cancellation protest to Glasgow The Lochboisdale to Mallaig/Oban ferry in South Uist has been off for days now. There are only around 1 800 folk in all of South Uist, yet a few hundred clearly made it to Glasgow. Did they drive the 42 miles to the other ferry in North Uist which was operating at 100% for its 3 daily crossings? Is 42 miles too long. Glasgow to Oban is nearly 100. Are the folk above all islanders? Does BBC Scotland wish to mention that … Continue reading If the ferry is off how did they get there in such numbers?

So, that’s about 12 of them, some born in Scotland? Tom Gordon has labelled them ‘Ultras’ like some Italian football fans. Why didn’t he say ‘Extreme?’ Freudian analysis, quick? Deep down he kind of admires their manly vigour? Anyhow, why did I suggest the SNP are ‘civic nationalists’ when our MSM media rarely if ever use the term? Because, for decades now they are, 99%, but it’s too nice, too normal, too reasonable an image for folk like Gordon or Macwhirter or McKenna or, today, Gerry Hassan, to work with. Gerry has a media/politics PhD so knows all about this … Continue reading ‘Ultra Unionists turn out in strength to oppose ‘Civic Nationalists?’

In April 2022, the Herald announced uncritically: Look at that company – Isabel Boakeshott and a bunch of other extreme right-wingers. His parent will be pleased. No, really they will. And today, still well in with the monster, it seems: In Scotland, vote Labour, get? Continue reading Ana Sarwar’s longstanding links with media mogul Murdoch

As the BBC Good Mourning Scotland team and the Herald launch a combined beach assault on the SNP Government’s reputation, the latter features a Uist butcher to damn them on the basis of the loss of their direct ferry from Oban. What do you think the folk of North Uist do much of the time? Fishing? Sheep and cattle farming? Does the local butcher need any outside supplies? Unless it’s really cheap stuff from the latest Tory Oz/NZ trade deal? Yesterday, as for some time now, the Oban to Lochboisdale sailings, one each day each way, were cancelled. There are … Continue reading Good Mourning Scotland and the Herald of Free Markets sail for the isles on a day of 98% reliability and 100% safety

By stewartb The TuS piece (12 June) on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol and the negative claims appearing on the front-page of the Sunday Post merits expansion. By fortunate coincidence, a regular browse through the latest output from Westminster’s select committees came across this very recently: House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (18 May 2023) Alcohol treatment services. (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40045/documents/195525/default/ ) Focused on the present state of alcohol consumption and the track record of the Tory government on service provision in England, the report is not only revealing in these regards but also records the expert evidence it received on … Continue reading Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee blasts Tory record on alcohol treatment services in England and learns benefit of Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland