Tag: travel

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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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49 year-old Canadian ferry causes Easter Monday ferry fiasco stranding 300 passengers

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Economic Times of Canada, today: Holiday travel plans took a frustrating turn for many on Easter Monday as a key BC Ferries vessel, the Queen of Coquitlam, suffered a mechanical breakdown, leading to disruptions on the busy Langdale-Horseshoe Bay route. The incident, occurring around 1 pm Vancouver time, stranded passengers for approximately three hours and resulted in the cancellation of multiple sailings. Passenger Rohana Rezel, who was onboard with his family, described the unexpected halt after a timely departure. “They said once the tugboat gets here, it’s going to be about another 40 minutes … Continue reading 49 year-old Canadian ferry causes Easter Monday ferry fiasco stranding 300 passengers

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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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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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Five years of threats, violence and death in Perth as English County Lines drugs gangs seize homes in towns and villages across rural Scotland but BBC Scotland will not report it

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today, the Courier reports the above. Notice that word in the last line? Yes, it’s another County Lines drug from an English city (there is no other type) gang bringing ‘threats, violence and death‘ to parts of Scotland which were formerly less familiar with such trauma. The County Lines business model provides new more powerful and cheaper drugs in small towns and villages, based on children acting as mules to bring the supply in on buses and trains, backed up by heavies from the cities to suppress any local opposition. Neither BBC Scotland nor BBC Scotland … Continue reading Five years of threats, violence and death in Perth as English County Lines drugs gangs seize homes in towns and villages across rural Scotland but BBC Scotland will not report it

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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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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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On Malta, timetables are purely expressions of intent – ferries leave when they are ready and if the gangway has not fallen into the sea

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By JB Didn’t see this across ‘our’ media, after all The herald and STV, are shouting about “new direct flights from Glasgow to ‘fantastic’ holiday destination” Glasgow Airport sees new twice-weekly Malta flight launched | The Herald Ryanair announces new direct flights to Malta | STV News People stranded at Gozo fast ferry terminals after gangway falls in sea. No politician, no MP, no council, no councillor, no government or government official and no ferry operator blamed.  From The Times of Malta 2 March 2025. People stranded at Gozo fast ferry terminals after gangway falls in sea  Voyages were cancelled … Continue reading On Malta, timetables are purely expressions of intent – ferries leave when they are ready and if the gangway has not fallen into the sea

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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