New Zealand’s Cook Strait Ferries – unreliability alarms international tour operators in sharp contrast to Scotland’s island tourism surge ignoring media ferry frenzy
Above the only 27 year-old, Spanish-built, MV Aratere, retired after a sequence of breakdowns including two incidents of drifting out-of-control toward rocks with hundreds on board. Cook Strait Ferries, linking the north and south islands of New Zealand, currently runs only two quite young (under 30) ferries but the service is a national scandal of poor service with dangerous incidents, unreliability and the utter fiasco of the government cancelling urgently needed replacement contracts. The consequence of this unreliability, not of any media frenzy as there has been little, is the serious damage to tourism. From RNZ, two days ago: Fed-up … Continue reading New Zealand’s Cook Strait Ferries – unreliability alarms international tour operators in sharp contrast to Scotland’s island tourism surge ignoring media ferry frenzy
Washington State Ferries – ancient vessels, antiquated booking system crashes yet is not replaced and a scramble for tickets
Washington State Ferries operate out of the affluent city of Seattle in the USA and serve 20 ports with 21 vessels. 9 of these large ferries, above, aged between 45 and 59 years are older than the just retired CalMac boat, MV Isle of Arran, aged 42. WSF have a long history of poor service beyond that which CalMac users can imagine, of unreliability, soaring prices, violence on the ramps and flooding car decks and some of the oldest vessels in the developed world, above. More recently, last summer, from Fox 13 Seattle: Summer ferry reservations are highly sought after, … Continue reading Washington State Ferries – ancient vessels, antiquated booking system crashes yet is not replaced and a scramble for tickets
BC Ferries in Canada – ancient vessels, mass cancellations, rocketing prices, near misses on rocks and a repair that only lasts 40 minutes
BC Ferries, operating out of affluent Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada with a fleet of 41 vessels serving 47 ports is still running the above five large vessels aged 45 to 50 years. CalMac’s oldest large ferry, the MV Isle of Arran, aged 42, is currently being retired. Over the Easter weekend, there were ‘mass cancellations’ after two large vessels broke down1 and the Queen of Surrey (above) remains out of service2 after her first repair only lasted 40 minutes before she broke down again.3 Days later, we hear: BC Ferries is now recovering from its Easter long weekend issues, … Continue reading BC Ferries in Canada – ancient vessels, mass cancellations, rocketing prices, near misses on rocks and a repair that only lasts 40 minutes
A9 accidents and deaths plummet in recent years
From Transport Scotland – Total number of collisions on the A9 between Perth and Inverness: EIR release published today, the above figures for the five years from 2012/2022 to 2025/2026 (2 February). Barring any tragic events in March 2026, the results reveal a dramatic reduction for two years in a row, from 2023/2024. The overall fall in the last two years of around one-third, 33% and by three-quarters, 75%, in fatal incidents from 2022/2023. This data covers personal injury accidents from the A9 Perth to Inverness ( Inveralmond Roundabout to Longman Roundabout, not including roundabouts. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202600504907/ BBC Scotland is … Continue reading A9 accidents and deaths plummet in recent years
Shocking incompetence as Lammy oversees the release in error of more than THREE times as many prisoners as Constance in Scotland
Justice Secretaries David Lammy [England & Wales] and Angela Constance [Scotland] From Sky News in the last hour: 179 prisoners freed ‘in error’ in England and Wales in single year – Pressure mounted on Justice Secretary David Lammy last year following a series of high-profile manhunts. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/179-prisoners-freed-in-error-in-england-and-wales-in-single-year/ar-AA20Y6K8 You know where I’m going. The most recent official parliamentary data (as of 5 December 2025) shows 5 liberations in error in financial year 2025-26 up to that point. This covers roughly the first 8 months of the financial year (April to early December 2025). No specific updated total for the full period to March … Continue reading Shocking incompetence as Lammy oversees the release in error of more than THREE times as many prisoners as Constance in Scotland
Lord Offord’s revelation does seem credible considering Sarwar declared in 2025 that he would be prepared to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis
By Liz S Anas Sarwar, last night in the CH4 leader’s debate, was exposed by Malcolm Offord of trying to concoct a plan for his Labour party & Offord’s Reform UK to work together “to remove the SNP”. (BTW Paisley Town Hall ,that was where Offord said Sarwar had “bounced up to him saying we need to work together” and was where the BBC’s Debate night did their leaders debate). Now Offord’s revelation does seem credible , especially considering Sarwar once declared in 2025 , that he would be prepared “to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis” . So Sarwar … Continue reading Lord Offord’s revelation does seem credible considering Sarwar declared in 2025 that he would be prepared to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis
If Offord is a ‘pathetic, poisonous, odious LITTLE man’ then so is Anas
From BBC Scotland today: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has branded Reform UK’s Scottish leader “a liar” and “a pathetic, poisonous, odious little man” after the pair clashed on a Channel 4 debate. Sarwar has a problem with correctness. He has previous in mocking stroke victims and that with his laddish manner suggest he’s hiding a few unreconstructed lines of humour. Last night, furious with Malcolm Offord for suggesting he had ‘bounced’ up to him a make a deal to oust the SNP, he couldn’t help himself and called him ‘little’. What height are the two, fighting a bromance and clearly … Continue reading If Offord is a ‘pathetic, poisonous, odious LITTLE man’ then so is Anas
US citizens living near nuclear waste dump, 100 times smaller and less hazardous than Sellafield, to get clear-up
From CBS News, yesterday: After decades of cancer cases and public outcry, the federal government this week will begin the long-awaited cleanup of a nuclear waste dump in Armstrong County. The site in Apollo was a dumping ground for hundreds of 55-gallon drums containing radioactive nuclear waste. But come this week, a half-billion-dollar project to safely remove it will finally begin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave KDKA an exclusive look at the painstaking, intensive and expensive process to rid the site of radioactive waste in Armstrong County. https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/nuclear-waste-dump-apollo-armstrong-county-cleanup/ The Apollo plant is in Apollo Borough in the South West of … Continue reading US citizens living near nuclear waste dump, 100 times smaller and less hazardous than Sellafield, to get clear-up
East Tennessee cancer victims living ‘in the shadow’ of nuclear sites to be compensated despite having far lower rates and deaths than Scots living ‘in the shadow’ of Sellafield only 43 miles away, upwind and upstream, across the border with England
From 6 News in Tennessee, USA, yesterday: For decades, communities in Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties have lived in the shadow of nuclear sites, now, help is finally here for those impacted. A federal program has come to East Tennessee, offering compensation to people diagnosed with cancer linked to radiation exposure. Watch the video in full at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euLZm6uyPsQ Why this area? From the Tennessee Environmental Council: Most Tennesseans think of Oak Ridge when radioactive issues are mentioned, but Tennessee is actually a major player when it comes to disposing of radioactive waste, with processors across the state: Up to 75% … Continue reading East Tennessee cancer victims living ‘in the shadow’ of nuclear sites to be compensated despite having far lower rates and deaths than Scots living ‘in the shadow’ of Sellafield only 43 miles away, upwind and upstream, across the border with England
How I predicted Scottish Labour’s willingness to work with anyone to remove the SNP, 8 years ago
You can just see that can’t you? Anas Sarwar ‘bouncing’ up to Lord Offal with a plan to get the SNP between them. Who thought Sarwar ever had a principle beyond ‘me first?’ Anyhow, in October 2018, I sensed the fit between the right-trending Labour Party then and that other extreme-right party, the DUP, and wrote: As the Scottish Labour Party in Scotland loses support to the Scottish Tories and to the SNP, attracted by unionist loyalty on the one wing and ‘The Real McKay’ progressive taxation on the other, its leader plans to abandon progressive politics to the SNP … Continue reading How I predicted Scottish Labour’s willingness to work with anyone to remove the SNP, 8 years ago
Talking-up Scotland 