Front page in the Herald, a one-year drop in affordable housing output and Scottish Labour allowed to suggest they are in a position to criticise. From the impartial Grampian Online in January 2023: Scotland has continued the trend of outperforming the rest of the UK in delivering affordable housing. In the last financial year 9757 homes have been built for social rent, mid-market rent, and affordable ownership. Scotland continues to outperform the rest of the UK by building 13.9 homes per 10,000 population, compared with 8.0 in Wales, 9.7 in England and 13.0 per 10,000 in Northern Ireland. https://www.grampianonline.co.uk/news/scotland-outperforms-uk-in-building-affordable-housing-298925/ 13.9 … Continue reading New affordable housing: SNP Scotland 74% better than Labour Wales

By stewartb – a long read The constitution of a nation-state ‘sets the rules according to which a society is organised’ – ‘constitutions reflect a country’s history, traditions and circumstances’.   These are shorthand characterisations offered in the first (50 page long) report to emerge from an ongoing Review of the UK Constitution by the Institute for Government (IfG) and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge. Their aims are to examine the purpose of constitutions; to assess how the UK constitution fulfils that purpose; to highlight problems with the UK’s constitution that are being revealed; and to … Continue reading The UK constitution – it’s England’s creation and England will decide if, how and when it is reformed!

Headlining across ‘Scotland’s’ MSM today, stories of alleged ‘murky finances’ turn out to be just auditors advising that small donations of under £250 need to have a physical as well as an online ‘paper trail’. Insiders tell me this merely relates to petty cash and very low value cheques which are payable to SNP and cannot go elsewhere. Also, that auditors were under intense pressure from their professional body and others (political?) not to take on the SNP accounts and had to be extra careful to cover their backs. Yet this far more serious and really murky behaviour by the … Continue reading SNP probed over small donations from its mass support while the others rake in millions from ‘murky sources’ and conceal them from auditors

BBC Scotland News constructs a far more anxious and conservative world than STV News does: A comparative content analysis study of state and corporate media in a small, devolved nation. Professor John Robertson OBA – Retired Professor & Chair of Faculty Research Ethics Abstract A four-week survey [6 to 30 June 2023] of news reporting by BBC Scotland and STV gathered objective data on fifteen measures, including references to bad news, to the devolved government within reports and reports of ministers or their party being causally linked to the content.  Twenty episodes and 102 reports from both BBC Scotland and … Continue reading Research: BBC Scotland News constructs a far more anxious and conservative world than STV News does:

BC Ferries is the nearest thing to CalMac in terms of size and the number of destinations they serve up and down the West coast of Canada. They serve 47 locations with 41 vessels in very similar weather conditions to those on the West coast of Scotland. Calmac serves 50 locations with 31 vessels. CalMac is obliged to report daily reliability data but BC Ferries is not. CalMac is averaging 95.4% of sailings on time this Summer. https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-performance-data-browser BC Ferries in 2020 (the most recent I can find) managed 90.2% on time. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h41/h98/8822250045470.pdf In recent days, CalMac has been cancelling … Continue reading British Columbia Ferries should take advice from CalMac

Only the Daily Record, the Courier and the Evening Standard are reporting these dramatic events from yesterday: Four gang members have been jailed and a missing child rescued after police rumbled a major drugs line from London to Dundee. Officers from the Met Police launched a probe after concerns were raised for the welfare of the 16-year-old on November 14 last year. Detectives discovered the youth, from Croydon, had travelled north of the border earlier that month – closely followed by Malik Paul, 26, Michael Nwadire, 28, Dylan Newman, 21, and Ellis Davey, 22. Operation Orochi was launched with officers racing to Dundee … Continue reading Why are Scotland’s ‘national’ media not reporting the terror of English county lines gangs in Scotland?

Ever-sinking with few hands left on board, the Herald of Glasgow, like the lost Channel ferry, the Herald of Free Enterprise is desperately baling out anything it can to stay afloat and has now reached its bowels. Today, Senior News Reporter, Martin Williams has this: Where to begin? ‘Forced to bring in relief vessels?’ Isn’t that what you do when you have a breakdown? Isn’t that good? They have relief vessels. ‘Fresh chaos?’ 99% of more than 520 sailings on time across Scotland, for days now and a 95% average across the Summer. There is a causeway to South Uist … Continue reading Ferries, ferries, ferries – Herald wins award for sinking below the facts

Above, BBC Scotland reporting a Holyrood committee discussing ferry problems and below, the effects of one missing ferry on one island, well half of it, seen with Pacific Quay’s powerful new telescope: Below, the much reported missing ferry returning today to South Uist. See it? Lower, just on the horizon. Below again, a very good news story on a ferry fares freeze, to help all of the islanders: 2nd bottom, 2nd left? Here, take my binoculars. I’m off to the optician. Continue reading Standing on Pacific Quay, why do missing ferries look bigger than those coming in to dock?

From Public Health Scotland, on 27 June 2023, the latest monthly data reveal the number waiting in A&E at the University Hospital in Ayr has plummeted, between March and April 2023. Those waiting more than 4 hours has fallen from 996 to 785, 21% down in jus one month. Those waiting more than 8 hours has fallen from 558 to 376, 33% down. Those waiting more than 12 hours has fallen from 372 to 232, 38% down. These are very encouraging figures but, of course, not of interest to either the Ayr Cons or the Daily Record. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/data-and-intelligence/ae-activity/#section-3-2 Continue reading Ayr Conservatives silent as A&E times improve dramatically by up to nearly 40%

BBC Scotland this morning: A freeze on ferry fares for some of the country’s island communities has been extended, the Scottish government has announced. Ticket prices on the Northern Isles, Clyde and Hebrides ferry networks will be held at current levels from October until March 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66039376 Below, well below, in a media ‘Davy Jones Locker’, sunk: BBC Scotland reporting the ferry fare freeze announced by CalMac, 2nd bottom, 2nd left, and not using the word ‘some’. Below, BBC Highlands and Island, also not using the ‘some’ but placing the report after their headline story based on three islanders reporting … Continue reading Why is BBC Scotland hiding the ferry fare freeze then suggesting it is only for ‘some’ islands?