We’ve seen in the past desperate efforts by BBC Scotland to remind Scots that things are no different here when the rest of the UK suffers surges in crime generally, knife crime, drug gang activity, domestic abuse and, of course, hate crime. Today BBC Scotland headlines: The brother of a British-Israeli man murdered by Hamas has told the BBC he has never been more fearful of antisemitism in the UK. Bernard Cowan, from Scotland, was killed by Hamas gunmen in his home on a kibbutz in Southern Israel during the 7 October attack. The 57-year-old left his family in Glasgow … Continue reading On Antisemitism BBC Scotland hide the facts to imply ‘You’re no better than the rest of the UK!’

Thanks to AR for signalling this important message to me. From the Uist & Benbecula News today: Meanwhile more light has been shed by Alfred’s owners, Pentland Ferries, on the cost and background for Alfred’s loan to CalMac. The Orkney ferry company said the £6 million of extra funding to leave their ferry with CalMac for another six months was helping to keep their own service affordable for Orkney islanders, and maintaining staffing levels. In a statement last week Pentland Ferries’ managing director Helen Inkster said: “I can confirm that, following the successful deployment of MV Alfred on the West … Continue reading Scottish Government and CalMac help Orkney’s private ferry operator stay afloat

The troubled Washington State and British Columbia ferry services have featured many times now in our international reporting on ferry service problems. Increasingly, New Zealand has come to join the list of areas comparable, if in gentler climes, than that tackled daily by CalMac. Today, in the RNZ, we read of 10 different breakdowns and disruption for passengers on the two ferries serving Cook Strait, in the space of only 10 months: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502312/timeline-the-troubled-cook-strait-ferries As with every other ferry operator globally, other than CalMac, reliable data on reliability are not published so we cannot quantify and compare that with CalMac’s 92.1% … Continue reading Two troubled ferry operators and 10 breakdowns in less than a year…in New Zealand

From data gathered by the House of Commons Library at the request of the SNP, above, Scotland has had the lowest council tax for 16 years under an SNP government, when compared with England and Wales. From SNP Media today: Whilst the average amount of council tax in Scotland has decreased by -7.1% (around £101) in real terms since the SNP came to power, in Labour run-Wales it has increased in real terms by 31.6% (around £445). In England under successive Tory and Labour governments, it has slightly increased. Council tax is also cheaper in every Band (A-H) in Scotland, … Continue reading Scotland has had the lowest council tax in the UK for SIXTEEN years thanks to SNP

In the Lancet today: A former minister for health in England wrote to me that “The COVID-19 inquiry will make us the laughing stock in the eyes of the world.” But it is worse than that. The level of criminal incompetence exposed by recent witnesses to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, has proven that many, if not most, of over 230 000 deaths were preventable. Amid the claims of extreme misogyny, profanity, and chaos that litter the evidence is a story of complete government breakdown. WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan 30, … Continue reading Why the UK Conservative Government is responsible for Scotland’s Covid deaths

The British Columbia Ferry Commission has set a price cap on ferry fares of 9.2 per cent for each of the next four years. The BC Ferries vessel Queen of Surrey passes Bowen Island while traveling on Howe Sound from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, B.C., on Friday, April 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Regular readers will have seen recent reports here of breakdowns and cancellations in the elderly and troubled ferry services of British Columbia, Washington State and New Zealand. Now we see the good folk of the Vancouver area are going to have to pay through the nose … Continue reading ‘Troubled’ ferry operator to increase fares by 36% over next 4 years!

In October 2023, 5 038 people waited more than 12 hours to be treated in NHS Scotland’s full emergency (ED) departments. All things being equal, with 10 times the population, 50 380 should have waited for this time in NHS England’s full (Type 1) emergency departments. In fact, the figure was a shocking 152 115, three times as many. This is a system in crisis. BBC UK/England is not reporting this. UK Labour is not attacking them for this failure. Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/data-and-intelligence/ae-activity/#section-3-2 https://rcem.ac.uk/rcem-this-is-the-start-of-another-extremely-difficult-winter-and-we-dont-have-the-beds-that-we-desperately-need/ Continue reading NHS England in crisis as three times as many pro rata wait for 12 hours in emergency departments as in Scotland

In the Daily Record by Paul Hutcheon last week: Anas Sarwar has said he would “love” for Holyrood to have control over the minimum wage and workers’ rights in the first term of a Labour Government. The Scottish Labour leader said devolving employment law would help set a “race to the top” for basic rights. Scottish Labour supports the devolution of employment law, but Starmer’s team has yet to agree the policy. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/anas-sarwar-would-love-power-31365020 Not in the Daily Record by Paul Hutcheon last week, this: ANAS Sarwar has been branded a hypocrite after it was revealed his family’s wholesale business still does not … Continue reading Anas Sarwar would ‘love’ for power over minimum wage to be devolved to Holyrood as long as he and his mum don’t have to pay it

The former head of communications for the Scottish Conservatives, presenting himself as just a journalist, is paid to present a report on the efficacy of lockdowns. There’s not a trace of any evidence. He writes pompously: It took me seconds to find this from highly-respected, high impact research journal, the BMJ Global Health, published two years ago: Is the cure really worse than the disease? The health impacts of lockdowns during COVID-19 Summary box Restrictive non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 (known as ‘lockdowns’) are associated with health harms However, it is challenging to determine whether lockdowns have caused the harms or … Continue reading Former Tory adviser lazily spreads dangerous fake news on lockdowns – they were far less harmful than Covid