Tag: ireland

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Off the Table — at Your Peril

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 This week, our new ‘listening’ Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, took both Scottish independence and Irish reunification “off the table”. Why? I can only assume that a border poll in Northern Ireland, granted under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, would make Westminster’s refusal to allow Scotland another referendum increasingly difficult to defend — both domestically and internationally. But there is something else about this that should alarm everyone living in the United Kingdom. A Prime Minister hiding behind … Continue reading Off the Table — at Your Peril

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Scots fought in greater numbers against fascism in Spain than any other nation including Ireland

johnrobertson834

___________________________________________________________ Help Talking-up Scotland keep going. Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 ___________________________________________________________ I was born into centuries of only coalmining with Presbyterianism and a good few decades of following ‘The Rangers’ but absolutely no active churchgoing or belief. They hated the ministers like all authority figures and the men only went for birth, marriage and death, with booze. Working in US-owned petrochemicals which were not closed shops, in the 1960s, my father got to know Catholics and drifted from the Rangers and the bigotry, to Falkirk with a dash of 70s peace, love and … Continue reading Scots fought in greater numbers against fascism in Spain than any other nation including Ireland

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Scotland subsidises its ferries far more than any other country, subsidises island life far more than any other part and the Mull service is 98% reliable for half empty vehicle decks!

johnrobertson834

The Scotsman today quotes a Labour MSP saying ‘Our islands have been let down, time and again, by the SNP.’ Readers will know that CalMac is almost certainly the best – cheapest, most frequent, most reliable, safest – in the world. How reliable, currently, has CalMac been for, say Mull? In February 2026, latest figures, in a winter month- 387 out of 392 scheduled sailings operating – 98.2%; 366 on time, 94.3%. All of the cancellations were for unsafe weather conditions. https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/dkrpvvnm/mull.pdf Is the Scottish Government using our taxation to give the islanders a wee bit extra to try to stem … Continue reading Scotland subsidises its ferries far more than any other country, subsidises island life far more than any other part and the Mull service is 98% reliable for half empty vehicle decks!

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Affluent Canadian region hangs on to far older, unreliable and frankly pot ugly vessels – islanders leave saddened by lack of aesthetics

johnrobertson834

CalMac‘s oldest ferry, the MV Isle of Cumbrae (above) is 50, launched in 1976. the MV Isle of Arran is 43 and there are another 4 built in 1986, so 40 years-old. In British Columbia‘s (Canada) archipelago ferry service – BC Ferries – which operates in an economy with twice the GDP of Scotland, with only a fraction of government subsidy to keep ticket prices down and in warmer, less stormy, more southerly, seas, they keep them going long after the MSM operating in Scotland would be calling for them to be replaced to stop islanders starving, missing medical appointments … Continue reading Affluent Canadian region hangs on to far older, unreliable and frankly pot ugly vessels – islanders leave saddened by lack of aesthetics

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Is Tory monarchist and arch-loyalist Murdo Fraser MSP resiling from his past remarks praising the qualities of the late queen, Elizabeth?

johnrobertson834

stewartb In an increasingly desperate pursuit of his political agenda, to rile up certain Unionists, is Tory monarchist and arch-loyalist Murdo Fraser MSP resiling from his past remarks praising the qualities of the late queen, Elizabeth? In The Scotsman (September 13, 2022): ‘King Charles needs no better role model than the late Queen Elizabeth – Murdo Fraser MSP’. ‘The tremendous outpouring of national grief and emotion we have seen over the past few days has been a recognition from a generally unemotional nation of the lengthy and enduring service provided by Queen Elizabeth over the 70 years of her reign.’ (my emphasis) Who … Continue reading Is Tory monarchist and arch-loyalist Murdo Fraser MSP resiling from his past remarks praising the qualities of the late queen, Elizabeth?

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Swinney and Sinn Fein – The staggering hypocrisy of Murdo Fraser and the media operating in Scotland

johnrobertson834

See her smile at the former IRA leader – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18607911 There’s Con List MSP Murdo Fraser outside Holyrood three days ago to groom the relatives of Scottish soldiers killed in the Troubles in Northern Ireland and damn the First Minister for meeting with the Sinn Fein leadership. He writes: It was good to meet a group of our veterans and representatives of bereaved families from the Troubles outside Parliament today, protesting about the comments of Scotland’s First Minister on Sinn Fein. John Swinney’s comments last week that we should “move on” from concerns about him working with Sinn Fein show … Continue reading Swinney and Sinn Fein – The staggering hypocrisy of Murdo Fraser and the media operating in Scotland

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Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland

johnrobertson834

I understand why the relatives of Scottish soldiers, often just boys at the time, will be upset by links with Sinn Fein but their anger would be better directed at the UK government and senior officers who sent them, ill-prepared, into a brutal civil war, in the first place. The UK has full diplomatic relationships with political parties of government in countries, from Ireland, through Kenya, to Israel and Malaysia, where similar young Scottish soldiers were sent, similarly ill-prepared, to die. Should we ask UK ministers to apologise? This is another media/opposition campaign, exploiting these parents and relatives in an … Continue reading Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland

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Call for disastrous privatised Danish ferry contract to be made public to Jersey islanders as fiascos come in armadas

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brenda Robb for alerting me to this. From the Jersey Evening Post, two days ago: THE contract between the government and ferry provider DFDS ought to be released in the interest of transparency amid growing public concern about the service being provided, a senior scrutineer has said. DFDS has come under fire after a series of complaints about freight charges, passenger delays and its winter timetable which axed … Continue reading Call for disastrous privatised Danish ferry contract to be made public to Jersey islanders as fiascos come in armadas

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English County lines gangs far outnumber and totally out-gun far-right in Scotland

johnrobertson834

The Ferret ‘fact-checker’ is punting another scare story to try to convince Scots that right-wing terror groups are active here and might trigger the same kind of riots seen in England and Northern Ireland. Reading through their report, I see evidence of around 20 individuals, a few knives and no guns. None of these individuals or wee groups has ever actually done anything. Police Scotland estimate at least 55 County Lines drug gangs from English cities operating in Scotland, with typically 4 enforcers each and an array of weapons including guns. So, English County Lines gangs – 200 plus enforcers, … Continue reading English County lines gangs far outnumber and totally out-gun far-right in Scotland

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The Largs-Cumbrae ferry is 6 years YOUNGER than a Clyde-built equivalent still in service in Ireland

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson The Herald is desperately try to make money off their ‘scoop’ on the Largs to Cumbrae ferry being 48 years old and ’23 years past its sell by date.’ Any idiot knows that sell by dates are not eat by dates. 48 years for a wee crossing ferry is not old. The aging ferry myth – Ireland has twice the GDP growth but is still using 7 of CalMac’s 50 year-old ferries Readers will know that the supposed failure of the SNP Government to invest in new ferries, despite the highest subsidies in the known world, … Continue reading The Largs-Cumbrae ferry is 6 years YOUNGER than a Clyde-built equivalent still in service in Ireland