Alex Cole Hamilton reveals CalMac to be more than 97% reliable with his second-class research
Professor John Robertson OBA Here we have another of those Freedom of Information requests by the opposition parties stored up to try to maintain the SNPbad narrative through the holidays. You’ve already seen the Tory ones on ambulance and fire statistics. Here we have the Lib Dems reporting: More than 10,000 ferry sailings cancelled due to faults – Freedom of information data obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems showed 10,809 sailings were cancelled since January 2023. Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene said: “These figures reveal just how much chaos the SNP are causing island communities. “Our island communities are being … Continue reading Alex Cole Hamilton reveals CalMac to be more than 97% reliable with his second-class research
One Canadian city with 50% more GDP than the whole of Scotland gets round to planning to replace 90 year-old ferry, more than twice the age of CalMac’s oldest large ferry
Professor John Robertson OBA From NSAUGA ONTARIO LOCAL NEWS, two days ago, The above image and: Anyone who regularly travels to the Toronto Islands to enjoy a day at Centreville, the beach or the adorable (and hidden-ish) Franklin the Turtle Children’s Garden knows that the ferry (even if delayed) is part of the fun. Now, the city is working to replace its aging ferry fleet with sleek, new electric vessels. Recently, the City of Toronto announced that construction has started at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in the city’s downtown core. While the construction and ferry upgrades won’t happen overnight, … Continue reading One Canadian city with 50% more GDP than the whole of Scotland gets round to planning to replace 90 year-old ferry, more than twice the age of CalMac’s oldest large ferry
To save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters, the Scottish taxpayer must also contribute around £100m
Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to rtpscott for alerting me to this: From Daily Business two days ago: British taxpayers could be on the hook for more than £1 billion following the collapse of the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. HMRC is said to be owed £250m in unpaid taxes, while the facility’s decomissioning costs could be up to £3bn. The refinery is at risk after its owner, State Oil, filed for insolvency on Monday. The Official Receiver has reached a deal with the commodities trading giant, Glencore, that will ensure supplies of crude oil to the refinery. Ministers … Continue reading To save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters, the Scottish taxpayer must also contribute around £100m
‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’
stewartb The ease of asking questions of these AI tools is ‘interesting’! My question: ‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’ ChatGPT said:‘Applying or not applying a 2014 independence referendum weighting to political opinion polls in Scotland can significantly affect the reported results, especially when measuring support for Scottish independence.’ Here’s a breakdown of what this weighting does and why it matWhat is the 2014 weighting?This weighting adjusts the results of a poll to reflect how respondents say they … Continue reading ‘How much difference does it make to the results of political opinion polling in Scotland if the polling company does or does not apply a 2014 weighting to its survey findings?’
‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?’ Intelligence response
stewartb: I asked the question of Chat GPT (for free) as a place to start – other AI tools are available. From Chat GPT – (see https://chatgpt.com ) My question: ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?‘ ChatGPT said in response: ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland “weighted to 2014,” it usually refers to weighting the data based on how people voted in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. I’n Detail: In Scotland, “2014” almost always refers to the independence referendum, held on 18 September … Continue reading ‘When a polling company reports a survey of political opinion in Scotland weighted to 2014 what does it mean?’ Intelligence response
Want a No lead? Ask Survation. Want a crazy big No lead? Ask YouGov. Want a Yes lead? Don’t fiddle with the sample
Professor John Robertson OBA The two recent polls by Ipsos and Norstat showing Yes leads, have reversed what seemed to be a counter trend with four No leads, from Survation but especially, with bizarre whopping No leads, from YouGov. These four polls were ‘counter‘ in the most obvious of ways – counter to the plummeting reputations of Labour in late 2024 and early 2025, as they went full-on austerity two and especially for the poor, the elderly and the disabled. How did they manage it? Simple, they adjusted their sample to look just like the sample in the 2014 referendum … Continue reading Want a No lead? Ask Survation. Want a crazy big No lead? Ask YouGov. Want a Yes lead? Don’t fiddle with the sample
Just Yorkshire Water spends 345 times as much as Scotland on sewage spills clear-up
Professor John Robertson OBA This morning the Herald front page was all about the supposedly high cost of Scottish Water’s sewage spill clear-ups. In 2024, the most recent figure, according to the Herald’s freedom of information ‘scoop’, it was £136 268. Figures for the whole of England are not easy to find, but in August 2024, RWB Group, Specialist Providers of Inspection, Surveying, Flood Response, Drainage Repairs & Environmental Services, and Channel 4 reported: The UK water regulator, Ofwat, recently proposed substantial fines totalling £168 million for three major water companies—Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water—due to their repeated … Continue reading Just Yorkshire Water spends 345 times as much as Scotland on sewage spills clear-up
Cost of sewage spill clear-ups plummets for second year in a row but the Herald ignores it’s own figures to get a big headline number
Professor John Robertson OBA In a classic primary school method (failed), the Herald writer gets the Scottish Water figures for sewage spill clear-ups, spots the falling trend, shrieks, then just ignores that and adds them all up to get a big number and still pretend it’s bad news. The costs were: 2021 – £397 745 2022 – £539 717 2023 – £344 303 2024 – £136 268 Couldn’t be clearer, a sharply falling trend, down to less than a third in the last two years – rejoice? No? I wonder, what have the costs in England been? Later. Continue reading Cost of sewage spill clear-ups plummets for second year in a row but the Herald ignores it’s own figures to get a big headline number
Dear England, we can help you see through the media spin distorting your reality
Brenda Robb Today the media are full of articles, opinion pieces and comments on UK Labour’s plan to transform the NHS. We in Scotland would like to check if you are happy with what is being said because we have considerable experience of political & media spin distorting the real issues. Wes Streeting is offering a 3 pronged approach. Let’s start with the digital app, the doctor in your pocket. This promises several things – unprecedented control over your care, instant access to health advice, organising appointments made easier. It all sounds good doesn’t it? But take the health advice, … Continue reading Dear England, we can help you see through the media spin distorting your reality
Traveller movement was included in Covid data systems for vaccination but only in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA From Closing Statement of behalf of Public Health Scotland (PHS) in the UK COVID-19 Inquiry relative to the Module 4 hearing, published today: PHS would highlight two parts of the evidence in this regard. Firstly, the inquiry heard that data from the Traveller Movement was not included in the NHS [England] “data dictionary”. The point made was that inadequate data capture led to services not being commissioned for this group, which did not form part of local planning. Yvonne McNamara, Chief Executive Officer of the Traveller Movement spoke about this as did the experts, Dr Ben … Continue reading Traveller movement was included in Covid data systems for vaccination but only in Scotland
Scotland's First and biggest Rebuttal Service -Talking-up Scotland 