In that case SNP Ministers should take the credit for CalMac’s great service
Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald today above. Read it all before commenting? No need. No way. Since a Mull councillor shouted that CalMac was the ‘worst ferry service in the world’, unchallenged on BBC Scotland, four years ago, I’ve been scouring for evidence. I’ve done this because as a recovering sociologist, media feeding frenzies like the one we’ve seen on Scotland’s ferries make me twitch. I think, hang on, maybe there’s a yawning chasm emerging here, between the world of panic being constructed and the facts on the ground and that I should be looking into that chasm. What … Continue reading In that case SNP Ministers should take the credit for CalMac’s great service
Contrary to Pam Duncan-Glancy’s claims Scottish colleges are TWICE as well staffed as those in England
Professor John Robertson OBA From STV News yesterday: Scottish Labour has criticised the SNP of “robbing young people of opportunities” as college staffing levels fall to their lowest point since the start of devolution. Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy has accused the SNP of treating colleges with “disdain” after Scottish Government statistics show in the second quarter of 2025, employment in Scotland’s colleges plummeted to just 11,800. https://news.stv.tv/politics/snp-robbing-young-people-of-opportunities-with-underfunded-colleges-labour From Department for Education (DfE) – Further Education Workforce in England, 2023/24, published in May 2025 and DfE – Further Education and Skills, 2023/24, published in January 2025, we can see that the … Continue reading Contrary to Pam Duncan-Glancy’s claims Scottish colleges are TWICE as well staffed as those in England
Suicides in Scotland – what the Daily Record does not tell you:
Reposted in response to today’s sickening Daily Record front page story
In response to another Daily Record sickener:
Reposted as Yorkshire schools launch strategy to reduce knife possession
Reposted as Yorkshire schools get knife arches
Reposted as BBC Scotland report on Lord Advocate today
Reposted as a child poverty charity repeats its politically motivated attacks on the Scottish Government in the Herald
The ‘creepy’ use of their own children to make political points is still with us
Professor John Robertson OBA In October 2025, a Lib Dem EdinburghCity Councillor, Sanne Dijksta-Downie, used her 6-year-old daughter’s cancer diagnosis and recovery to suggest some sort of crisis in NHS Scotland under the heading ‘COST-CUTTING EVERYWHERE’. Bizarrely, her first example of cost-cutting was that there were never enough pillows for parents staying over on the ward! She went on then to bemoan the quality of pizzas given to patients and cups of tea and biscuits requiring to be provided by charities. She then complains about having to help with feeding, washing and toileting. Isn’t that a good thing for the … Continue reading The ‘creepy’ use of their own children to make political points is still with us
Talking-up Scotland 