Professor John Robertson OBA
We all, right across Scotland, know the name of nurse Sandie Peggie in NHS Fife but did you know the names of the eight nurses in Darlington, County Durham pursuing an identical case regarding a trans colleague?
Do you think the folk in County Durham know their names just as we know Peggie?
It seems less likely.
Why?
Here’s an AI report.
Has the Fife case had more media attention in Scotland than the Darlington case has had in England and if so by how much?
To address your query directly, yes, the NHS Fife case (Sandie Peggie) has received substantially more attention in Scottish media than the Darlington case (Rose Henderson) has in English media. This assessment is based on an expanded search of unique articles from December 2023 (when the Fife incident began) through December 9, 2025, focusing on major outlets. The disparity is partly due to the Fife case’s recent judgment (December 8, 2025), which triggered a coverage surge, while Darlington’s hearings (October-November 2025) and ongoing judgment await have sustained but lower-volume reporting.Methodology
- Scottish media: Searches across Herald Scotland, The Scotsman, Daily Record, The National, and BBC Scotland (site:bbc.co.uk/scotland).
- English media: Searches across The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun, Express, The Times, GB News, and Northern Echo (local to Darlington).
- Counts: Unique articles directly covering the cases (e.g., tribunal details, incidents, outcomes). Duplicates (e.g., near-identical updates) were excluded. Results yielded 18 for Scotland and 19 for England, but after filtering for uniqueness and relevance, the effective counts are as shown below.
- Quantitative gap: Scottish coverage of Fife is ~2.25 times higher than English coverage of Darlington (18 vs. 8 unique reports).
| Region/Case | Unique Reports | Key Themes in Coverage | Notable Surge Periods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland: NHS Fife (Sandie Peggie) | 18 | Local NHS policy failures, women’s rights vs. trans inclusion, political fallout (e.g., calls for resignations). Heavy focus on judgment day (Dec 8, 2025). | Dec 2025 (10 articles); Feb-Oct 2025 (8 articles on hearings/proceedings). |
| England: Darlington (Rose Henderson) | 8 | Nurses’ distress, trust’s “re-education” response, legal battles over anonymity/privacy. More procedural than outcome-driven. | Oct-Nov 2025 (5 articles on hearings); Feb-May 2025 (3 articles on case launch). |
The AI report goes on to try to explain the contrast:
Why more in Scotland? The Fife case is hyper-local to Scotland (Kirkcaldy hospital), aligning with Scottish media’s emphasis on devolved NHS issues and gender policy debates under the Scottish Government. The December 8 judgment—finding harassment by NHS Fife but dismissing claims against Dr. Upton—sparked immediate analysis, opinion pieces, and statements from figures like Maya Forstater (Sex Matters). In contrast, Darlington’s English coverage is sparser, often bundled into broader “gender wars” narratives without a decisive ruling yet. English nationals like Daily Mail (5 articles) drove most Darlington reports, but local Northern Echo contributed minimally (only procedural mentions).
I like this reserved non-judgemental approach to the the Scottish media’s ’emphasis.’ in AI. We’re all thinking ‘agenda’, ‘bias?’
Now we can ask this question knowing that unlike some sources it does not itself have an agenda and will answer objectively based on the evidence it has gathered:
Might this reveal bias in the Scottish media to undermine the Scottish Government and by association the Scottish National Party?
The full answer is long and you can read it at: https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1998314521702572430 but here is a summary:
Your question raises a valid point about whether the higher volume of Scottish media coverage on the Sandie Peggie/NHS Fife case (18 unique articles vs. 8 for the Darlington case in English media) could indicate a bias aimed at undermining the Scottish Government (led by the SNP since 2007). To evaluate this, I examined political leanings of key Scottish outlets, tones in their Fife coverage, and broader patterns in NHS scandal reporting. While the disparity partly stems from the case’s recency (judgment on Dec 8, 2025) and hyper-local relevance to Scotland’s devolved NHS, there is evidence suggesting selective amplification in unionist-leaning media, which often critiques SNP governance. However, this isn’t uniform—pro-SNP outlets also covered it critically, framing it as an NHS failure rather than a partisan attack.
Conclusion: Evidence of Bias? It might reveal bias, particularly in unionist-dominated outlets (controlling ~60% of Scottish print reach), which use the case to erode SNP trust on devolved issues—potentially by 20-30% more critical framing than neutral reporting would warrant. However, the coverage isn’t a coordinated “hit job”; pro-SNP media engaged similarly, and the story’s newsworthiness (women’s rights clash post-Supreme Court) justifies volume.
I’m not sure where it gets the 60% figure from, but I agree it’s not a ‘hit-job.’ It’s a culture where the participants don’t need to be told to be biased because they have long internalised the bias as ‘normal’ and work toward leaders in the culture, reporting in ways which they know will be acceptable to them, keep them secure in their jobs and enhance their prospects.
I’ve asked:
I agree it’s not a ‘hit job’ but could it be an example of a culture of bias against the case for Scottish independence where that bias has become normalised and where reporters habitually report in ways that will please their supervisors, get things published and enhance their career prospects without being told by supervisors how to report?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
In respect to the Darlington Nurses well part of their complaint to the Tribunal in England was that:
NHS bosses “penalised” female nurses complaining about a transgender woman using their changing room, an employment tribunal has been told.
Their Barrister said “they had suffered indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation due to County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust’s Transitioning In The Workplace policy” and their Barrister also stated that their “complaints about the “harmful effects” were “shunned and ignored” before the nurses were “penalised and buried” in an “oppressive and ineffectual investigation process” carried out by the trust”
So it will be interesting to see if they have a ‘partial’ win in respect to this or whether all of their complaints are then upheld by the Tribunal in England and they fully win their case against the NHS Trust in their area……..but if so , will this be presented as having consequences for politics and Employers within England……..as it was presented as such in Scotland by the BBC , dependent on the outcome of the Sandie Peggie Tribunal case.
I am sure that many people within Scotland may now be aware of Sandie Peggie’s name and her face , irrespective of whether they buy papers or not , as people can still browse papers via the newspaper stands in shops and supermarkets and so see her face and name in the front page headlines, some of which, as headlines, are quite misleading to say the least. (The Daily Express stated it was a “Victory” for her……..in bold headlines…..what else could we expect from these unprofessional buffoons and propaganda merchants).
Also BBC Reporting Scotland (and other BBC mediums) have done their bit to keep this as a ‘controversial’ subject that then, as per, leads to it’s politicisation within Scotland but not, it seems, within England with the Darlington Nurses case.
Indeed how many people do know about the Darlington Nurses compared to what is clearly the media’s and politicians nominated UK ‘Face that represents this topic’ aka Sandie Peggie.
Same old same old……..rinse and repeat.
Liz S
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Of course it is clear bias as we would expect from our disgusting media. As someone who is a town resident and has some inside knowledge of this case it was portrayed by her legal team and the media of course as a victory for Peggie but the reality is it failed to give them any satisfaction of bringing the transgender legislation into disrepute. I could say much more about the character of the nurse but legal constraints prevent me but there are many at the hospital and in Kirkcaldy itself who are familiar with the persons directly involved have overwhelming sympathy and support for the doctor.
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