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Cyprus catamaran ferry turns over and sinks losing up to 26 in wind speeds far below those felt daily by CalMac boats with no loss of life ever while UK-based Townsend Thoresen have lost nearly 200

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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 Yesterday’s tragedy in Cyprus caused me to wonder if any CalMac ferry had ever sunk with the loss of life? When you look at the far worse weather conditions around the West Coast of Scotland, surely there have been incidents? You can see below that many CalMac vessels sail in far stormier conditions than you would find in the Eastern Med. Yesterday, off Kyrenia, winds were gusting at up to 22kph, high for the area, but way below what CalMac mono-hulls can manage. Have … Continue reading Cyprus catamaran ferry turns over and sinks losing up to 26 in wind speeds far below those felt daily by CalMac boats with no loss of life ever while UK-based Townsend Thoresen have lost nearly 200

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Scottish Government’s reluctance to support and caution on e-bike/scooter trials will have massively reduced traumatic brain injuries

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In the Guardian today, the above, and: Electric scooter riders are three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries than motorcyclists, according to an analysis of accidents in England and Wales – which found women were particularly at risk of serious harm. Brain injuries accounted for more than a third of adult injuries on e-scooters, but riders also sustained more internal organ and blood vessel damage than did motorcyclists or pedal cyclists, the study found. The government has backed trials of rental e-scooters in England since 2020, but an additional 1m or so e-scooters are privately owned in the UK. These … Continue reading Scottish Government’s reluctance to support and caution on e-bike/scooter trials will have massively reduced traumatic brain injuries

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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

Depopulation is one of the biggest population that the Hebrides faces (sic) and not having a functioning ferry service only exacerbates that. You know, To try and live your life where you cannot come and go when you need to, that is why many people now decide they cannot live out their lives in the Hebrides. Joe Reade, from Somerset, Taster-in-Chief at the Island Bakery on Mull may be the man who first launched my research to find out how other countries did it after wondering himself if CalMac might be the ‘worst in the world.‘ I feel sure it … 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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Washington State’s ferry fiasco is so bad politician wants to return to the 1930s for a solution

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Washington State and the cluster of islands around Seattle, with a GDP double that in Scotland, has been served by Washington State Ferries in a manner that would shock ferry users in Scotland. From KIRO Seattle, four days ago: With the Washington State Ferry system continuing to struggle to stay at full capacity and no new boats expected until 2030, at the earliest, is it time to bring back the Mosquito Fleet? One lawmaker is pushing the idea, … Continue reading Washington State’s ferry fiasco is so bad politician wants to return to the 1930s for a solution

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These Tory ministers sold profitable harbours like Ardrossan to enable shareholders to milk rather than to maintain them, Labour then did nothing and now the SNP Government is blamed for not buying it back quick enough?

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Professor John Robertson OBA For more than a year now Scotland’s media have been blaming the Scottish Government for problems at Ardrossan harbour and it’s Arran ferry service. Little media coverage has targeted the owners, a Manchester billionaire. How did we get here? I asked AI, carefully. Today, known as Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind and The Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market, these men above, were successively secretaries of State for Scotland, at the time, driven by PM John Major’s ongoing Thatcherite sell-offs, who managed the privatisation the Clyde Port Authority which included Ardrossan. Was the authority state-owned? It was was … Continue reading These Tory ministers sold profitable harbours like Ardrossan to enable shareholders to milk rather than to maintain them, Labour then did nothing and now the SNP Government is blamed for not buying it back quick enough?

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Do you ever get fed up with me reporting how after 18 years without LabCons just about every public service in Scotland has been protected by the SNP? Now it’s our well-regulated RAAC ‘which can easily last 50 years, and should be able to carry on for several decades after that’

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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 BBC England on 9 September 2025, has: A hospital which has its ceilings held up by thousands of props has been rated the worst performing in the country. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, came bottom of the league table of 134 acute hospital trusts in England. As a hospital which has crumbling reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), QEH has been prioritised for a rebuild by the national New … Continue reading Do you ever get fed up with me reporting how after 18 years without LabCons just about every public service in Scotland has been protected by the SNP? Now it’s our well-regulated RAAC ‘which can easily last 50 years, and should be able to carry on for several decades after that’

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Herald writer’s latest ferry fiasco fake news is blown out of the water by the evidence

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 Today, the Herald has the above, and: A coalition of islands has lodged a formal objection over a Scottish Government ferry fiasco compensation fund which they have condemned as “unlawful, unjust and divisive”. Six Hebridean islands has come together to lodge a formal protest to the Scottish Government about the £4.4 million scheme that was intended to support islanders after years of CalMac ferry disruption. Nowhere is there any detail on just who the members of this great coalition … Continue reading Herald writer’s latest ferry fiasco fake news is blown out of the water by the evidence

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News you won’t hear – Record numbers of hip and knee operations performed last year in Scotland

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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/detailsor, if you prefer, a bank transfer, at sort code 089300 account 1421 7339 Professor John Robertson OBA I didn’t see this at the time of publication, 7 days ago, for the obvious reason the Scottish media didn’t report it. Today, the media across the UK do have the story of knee implants that are faulty and have been know to be faulty for ten years and recently the Herald, your supposedly trusted information source had a story about a Glasgow hospital praised for incredible … Continue reading News you won’t hear – Record numbers of hip and knee operations performed last year in Scotland

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Eight months later BBC Scotland tries to undermine zonal pricing for Scotland with evidence and threats reminiscent of 2014 from companies based in England and Spain

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in July 2024 in the National: THE boss of an energy company has said Scotland could have “the cheapest electricity in Europe” if the UK Government introduces regional pricing. Eight months later BBC Scotland feel ready to acknowledge but to undermine the idea, with: Could Scotland have Europe’s lowest electricity bills? The boss of one of the UK’s biggest energy providers says people living in Scotland could have the cheapest electricity in Europe. Greg Jackson, who founded Octopus Energy, wants the electricity market to be reformed to introduce zonal pricing. He argues that if prices were based on local generation, the high … Continue reading Eight months later BBC Scotland tries to undermine zonal pricing for Scotland with evidence and threats reminiscent of 2014 from companies based in England and Spain

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Update on More Herald lies – Generously subsidised and massively oversized Oban to Barra ferry is not sailing today because of adverse weather and it’s a completely different ferry getting extra rust treatment

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily, finishing in 8 days, to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS, Global Ferry Correspondent of the Year and Honest Man Update – Jamie Whiteford – Still Indy – They cannot even get their lies right. The vessel that normally plies this … Continue reading Update on More Herald lies – Generously subsidised and massively oversized Oban to Barra ferry is not sailing today because of adverse weather and it’s a completely different ferry getting extra rust treatment