Tag: history

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Islanders furious as New Zealand government’s ‘dilly-dallying’ gets it into $800 million (£600 million) cancellation debt without even a contract signed for new ferries to replace the unsafe ones still being used

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Professor John Robertson OBA From NBR in March 2025, the above. What happened? From the New Zealand Herald: Within months of unceremoniously scrapping the previous Government’s iRex project, Finance Minister Nicola Willis was advised by the crack team, set up by herself, to go back to try to salvage something with the scorned shipbuilder. This new figure of $800 million is a shock after earlier reports: New documents reveal the coalition has set aside $300 million to cover broken infrastructure contracts and a break-fee with Hyundai, after the government ended a contract with the Korean company to build two new Interislander ferries. … Continue reading Islanders furious as New Zealand government’s ‘dilly-dallying’ gets it into $800 million (£600 million) cancellation debt without even a contract signed for new ferries to replace the unsafe ones still being used

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How ‘two 13-year-olds charged after Scottish primary hit by ‘sectarian arson attacks’ tells us to calm down

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the National today and no doubt all over the Scottish media with dramatic headlines, two 13 year-olds are charged with vandalism in the form of ‘anti-Catholic‘ graffiti on the wall of a primary school. I do feel for the staff, parents and the children. It will have been unsettling and it is unacceptable. I was pleased that the FM will visit the school to show support but let’s keep things in perspective. This is not evidence of surging or worsening hate crimes against Catholics. Hate crime based on religion, including against Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and … Continue reading How ‘two 13-year-olds charged after Scottish primary hit by ‘sectarian arson attacks’ tells us to calm down

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Water bills in Labour Wales to increase by TWO to THREE times more than in Jackie Baillie’s taps

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By stewartb Wales Correspondent I missed this on April Fools’ Day. The Daily Record published an article below the headline: ‘Water bills in Scotland to soar today – find out how you are affected’. Perhaps it was a ‘slow’ day in the office. After all, the BBC News website and others had covered the rise in charges introduced by Scottish Water way back in January. On January 28, the BBC News website published a detailed, informative piece headlined: ‘Scottish Water bills set to rise 9.9% in April’. The article gave lots of factual information. Perhaps the Record’s motivation for regurgitating old news becomes … Continue reading Water bills in Labour Wales to increase by TWO to THREE times more than in Jackie Baillie’s taps

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Channel 4 reports 150 knife attacks in schools in England & Wales but has no figures for Scotland and the reason is simple

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Legerwood for alerting me to this. Channel 4 tonight had the above story. Had this been drug deaths you can be sure the Scottish data would be presented to remind us of our status as the drug death capital of Europe. I am not aware of directly comparable figures for Scotland and neither are Channel 4’s researchers, it seems, but there is evidence to point to them being significantly lower. In 2006/2007, there were just over 4 000 recorded crimes of ‘having in a public place and article with a blade or point.’ By 2016/2017, the … Continue reading Channel 4 reports 150 knife attacks in schools in England & Wales but has no figures for Scotland and the reason is simple

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BC Ferries in Canada just beginning to think of replacing four ferries between 7 and 19 years older than the oldest major CalMac vessel

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Global News yesterday: BC Ferries is going to get four new major vessels for its fleet. The new vessels will replace the aging Queens of Alberni [49], New Westminster [61], Coquitlam [49], and Cowichan [49], which are the oldest major ships still in use. BC Ferries applied for five new diesel-battery hybrid, all-electric-ready ships, but the independent British Columbia Ferries Commissioner approved four. This news comes as the Queen of Oak Bay suffered a mechanical issue on Monday morning. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/bc-ferry-breaks-down-as-commissioner-announces-4-new-vessels-coming/ar-AA1C1mcN?ocid=BingNewsVerp None of these vessels is even specified or designed yet, never mind actually ordered. The … Continue reading BC Ferries in Canada just beginning to think of replacing four ferries between 7 and 19 years older than the oldest major CalMac vessel

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No cheap, sickly, unreliable catamaran ferries for Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA, Navel Architect From the Bournemouth Daily Echo, two days ago: The Condor Liberation has made its final passage through Poole Harbour and out to sea. The ferry made its final departure from Poole at around 10am on Friday morning, March 28,, escorted through the harbour by a flotilla of our Harbour Master’s team and other working vessels, paying tribute to her years of service.1 How many years of service? Originally named Austal 102, it was built Austal at its shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia as a speculative order. It was launched in January 2010 and was laid up at the shipyard … Continue reading No cheap, sickly, unreliable catamaran ferries for Scotland

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Welfare cuts – The British Labour Party in Scotland is in a sorry state – ‘red Tories’ indeed!

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By stewartb Recall that on March 27, 2025 the BBC News website had this headline: ‘Sarwar defends UK government welfare cuts’. ‘Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has defended the UK government’s controversial welfare reforms. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed £5bn of cuts in the Spring Statement in a bid to meet self-imposed debt rules. The cuts have been condemned by charities, Holyrood ministers and some Scottish Labour politicians. Now by way of contrast, on March 28, the BBC News website has this headline in its Wales section: ‘First minister refuses to back welfare cuts’. ‘Wales’ first minister has refused to back … Continue reading Welfare cuts – The British Labour Party in Scotland is in a sorry state – ‘red Tories’ indeed!

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Infrastructure projects can stay in Scotland and take advantage of the speed of light

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By Liz S “Major infrastructure projects currently planned for Scotland being switched to other parts of the UK”. Is this another way of the BBC communicating (threatening) some people in Scotland would be better to STFU or else . I mean if we are talking “Energy” and “losing out” well the Labour Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband, tweeted this on 21 March 2025: “Great British Energy is coming to you. Our publicly-owned energy company is rolling out solar panels for schools and NHS sites across England. Cutting bills and saving money for frontline services”. “Coming to you” ? Like coming to the … Continue reading Infrastructure projects can stay in Scotland and take advantage of the speed of light

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Channel Islanders sickened as new Danish ferry service cancels sailings on very first day due to ‘technical issues’ only days after hearing there will be no Sunday service at all for more than a hundred thousand of them

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Professor John Robertson OBA, International Ferry Correspondent From ITV today: DFDS has cancelled its sailings between Jersey and St Malo for the first day it serves the island. The Danish firm, taking over from Condor, says the cancellations on Friday 28 March are due to “technical issues” with preparing one of their ferries, the Tarifa Jet, to run to and from Jersey. https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2025-03-27/dfds-cancels-sailing-between-jersey-and-france-on-opening-day Surely they checked the boat out a few days beforehand, to enable a professional start to the contract? Kind of makes you think they must be a rubbish company putting profits ahead of passengers? There were warnings. Only two … Continue reading Channel Islanders sickened as new Danish ferry service cancels sailings on very first day due to ‘technical issues’ only days after hearing there will be no Sunday service at all for more than a hundred thousand of them

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SNP Government to give free ferry passes to all under 22 year-old islanders in Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Orcadian today but getting no mainstream media coverage: Orkney residents aged under 22 will soon be able to travel between islands free of charge, the Scottish Government has announced. The new scheme comes into force at the beginning of April, allowing young residents to travel for free as foot passengers on inter-island ferry services within Orkney by showing their Young Scot or National Entitlement Card. Residents in Shetland and the Outer Hebrides are being given the same government subsidy. https://orcadian.co.uk/under-22s-to-travel-free-on-inter-island-ferries/ Emma Roddick MSP (SNP) had already announced this to a similar media silence in … Continue reading SNP Government to give free ferry passes to all under 22 year-old islanders in Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides