Tag: history

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Portuguese ferry company buys 10 electric ferries but only 1 battery, then the wrong batteries, then discovers the cannot cope with tides

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Professor John Robertson OBA, European Ferry Correspondent From Portugal Resident today: Agonising months of ups and downs with Lisbon’s electric ferry fleet have found a new explanation, if not any useful solution: they were not constructed for the work they are currently struggling to perform. “They should be sailing on lakes”, writes tabloid Correio da Manhã today. Tidal rivers like the Tejo are thus proving exceptionally challenging – as ferry passengers have found out to their intense frustration. Back in 2021, the €52.4 million purchase of 10 electric ferries quickly ran into trouble when it became clear that the state-owned Transtejo ferry … Continue reading Portuguese ferry company buys 10 electric ferries but only 1 battery, then the wrong batteries, then discovers the cannot cope with tides

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Man from Stewarton knows nothing at all about Scottish schools as he calls for Michael Gove’s ideas to be implemented here

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Michael Gove’s bookshelf with David Irving’s holocaust denying The War Path on it. Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to reader Legerwood for alerting me to this: Published in Herald today, a letter by Graeme Arnott of Stewarton, claiming: Premier league of achievement? Stuck with a failing model? This thesis does not survive a collision with the evidence. From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today: There are differences between the statistics on attainment in schools in the four UK nations which limit comparisons but the size of the gap between … Continue reading Man from Stewarton knows nothing at all about Scottish schools as he calls for Michael Gove’s ideas to be implemented here

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STV and BBC let ‘campaigners’ use a survey of 0.002% of Scotland’s asthma sufferers to suggest asthma treatment is worse in the country where it’s clearly far, far better – Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland and STV have been platforming a survey of only 515 sufferers of Asthma in Scotland, to claim: Its 2025 survey Life With A Lung Condition, which questioned 515 asthma sufferers in Scotland, found only 30% of respondents were receiving basic asthma care, which the charity defined as having an annual asthma review, an inhaler technique check, and a written asthma plan. That is below the figure for the UK, where 32% of asthma sufferers receive this level of care. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/campaigners-call-for-fully-funded-lung-health-strategy-for-scotland As always, we are not told that this is, at most around 0.002% of … Continue reading STV and BBC let ‘campaigners’ use a survey of 0.002% of Scotland’s asthma sufferers to suggest asthma treatment is worse in the country where it’s clearly far, far better – Scotland

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First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored

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Professor John Robertson OBA First Minister John Swinney’s major speech to the STUC today is being largely ignored. BBC Scotland fully covers all of Labour Leader, Ana Sarwar’s speeches including those to the modestly-attended party conferences. Swinney’s speech is wide ranging, optimistic and challenging on key issues such as the future of Grangemouth, Dundee University, energy, cost of living and poverty, yet the broadcasters and the so-called trusted press fail in their duty to report. He begins: It’s a pleasure to be here today to address the STUC Congress and particularly to be able to do that for the first … Continue reading First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored

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Starmer’s celebratory video for his (real) country’s patron saint, that is England

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By Liz S Well here we are again , another St George’s day and another yearly ‘special’ celebratory video from the now, checks notes, UK PM , Sir Keir Starmer. Prior to him becoming the new UK PM, as in when he was merely the official opposition UK leader , Keir used to also do a ‘special’ celebratory video for his (real) country’s Patron saint, that is England. Scotland & Wales are not given the same ‘special’ celebratory video from Sir Keir the UK PM as that job is delegated to the minions (understudies) in the respective two English colonies, i.e. Scotland & Wales via the respective Labour branch office managers. … Continue reading Starmer’s celebratory video for his (real) country’s patron saint, that is England

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Yes, yes, but when you look at the facts globally, CalMac is the best deal for passengers in the world

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald today struggling to keep the flow of bad news on ferries going, ignores the wider facts: Has anyone in the Scottish media looked at any other ferry services in other parts which might be exemplars of how to do things? They haven’t? Thought so. Too tired? Here, I’ll do it. First, Calmac has 33 vessels in service, with 5 new ones imminent, for 5.3 million passengers and ticket prices kept low by the biggest government subsidies in the world. In sharp contrast: New Zealand – 4 cases of running aground, drifting toward rocks and hitting … Continue reading Yes, yes, but when you look at the facts globally, CalMac is the best deal for passengers in the world

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BBC documentary links increase in drug-related hospital stays after three years of falling to surge in activity by County Lines drug gangs from England

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Professor John Robertson OBA This most recent increase in drug-related hospital stay rates, after three years of falling, has been jumped on by the likes of Jackie Baillie as evidence that the much vaunted Naloxone opioid overdose reversal programme, introduced by the SNP, before any other country in Europe, is not so impressive after all. What Baillie, no one really, has considered is another possible and plausible cause – increased and cheaper supply of more powerful and deadly opioids such as fentanyl into rural areas where there is less familiarity with them. In a documentary made for BBC Scotland and BBC 2 by independent … Continue reading BBC documentary links increase in drug-related hospital stays after three years of falling to surge in activity by County Lines drug gangs from England

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Now conveniently forgotten about by media and settlers – How the Scottish Government transformed the economies of Scotland’s island communities

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Legerwood for reminding us of this The above chart from the Evaluation of Road Equivalent Tariff [RET] on the Clyde and Hebridean Network Prepared for Transport Scotland March 2020 reveals a massive increase in ferry usage to the islands with a consequent economic boost, but increasing costs for the taxpayer in lost revenue. The comparison is based on ticket sales only and takes no account of retail revenue, which is likely to have increased as a result of the increased numbers of passengers. What is the RET? In October 2008, Transport Scotland introduced … Continue reading Now conveniently forgotten about by media and settlers – How the Scottish Government transformed the economies of Scotland’s island communities

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South Uist islanders get a free lift to Oban cutting their travel time and effort to Glasgow but John Daniel Peteranna is still not happy and tells a big fat lie about the extra crossing time, unchecked by BBC Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for alerting me to this. From BBC Scotland today: South Uist has been under particular pressure recently as state-owned ferry operator CalMac struggles with a shortage of ships while it awaits replacements for its ageing fleet. Winter maintenance has uncovered new problems with several vessels, forcing CalMac to rejig its schedules and move ferries onto different routes. Instead of sailing to Mallaig, it travels to Oban, 85 miles away from the normal scheduled port, which adds more than four hours to the crossing time. John Daniel Peteranna, from the South Uist Business … Continue reading South Uist islanders get a free lift to Oban cutting their travel time and effort to Glasgow but John Daniel Peteranna is still not happy and tells a big fat lie about the extra crossing time, unchecked by BBC Scotland

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BBC Scotland’s Lisa Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution

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By stewartb Lisa Summers’ ‘Analysis’ of the Scottish Nurses 8% pay deal: The gamble here is that it doesn’t know what deal will be offered to NHS staff elsewhere in the UK as negotiations are ongoing. However, the UK government has so far said it would recommend a 2.8% increase, a move described as “offensive” by unions. If the pay deal is significantly higher for Scotland, the government will have to find the money to pay for it with no additional money coming from Westminster … Ms Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution. The NHS is the responsibility of the … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Lisa Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution