Year: 2025

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Labour Freedom of Information request on cervical cancer with figures edited and used to scare by omitting the wider facts

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Professor John Robertson OBA I used to teach Research Methods to BA Journalism students. Nice kids with ambitions to helpfully inform readers. I worry for them now. Corporate and state media care little for informing, seek only to attract readers with scares and titillation and, must surely damage the mental health of those who work within. First, that claim – Wait times for cervical examinations increase in all but one health area since 2019 – is based on a Labour Freedom of Information request with the results edited to pick out this negative example and fed to uncritical media but … Continue reading Labour Freedom of Information request on cervical cancer with figures edited and used to scare by omitting the wider facts

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What the Glasgow teen murder does NOT mean for Scotland – If you know a Sun reader please tell them this

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The Sun today, above, following the Record, two days ago with: Professor John Robertson OBA They’re just doing it to make money but it has consequences over time for regular readers – depression, anxiety, fixed negativity, agoraphobia (feart to leave the hoose) supporting Reform UK and so on. What follows is jus the same as my response to the Record article but I know from Talking-up Scotland‘s stats, that less than 1% of those who see the post on social media actually read the full blog piece. What’s wrong with it, factually? First, Murder by stabbing in Scotland has fallen in … Continue reading What the Glasgow teen murder does NOT mean for Scotland – If you know a Sun reader please tell them this

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As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above and: Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer’s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian. The facts behind my headline: From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior reporter not yet ‘inducted‘: Police Scotland is considering a request to send 120 officers to Northern Ireland following several nights of anti-immigration riots in Belfast and other parts of the UK. Jon … Continue reading As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries

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A passenger pushed to his death, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooding, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the wrong button, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations…it kind of makes you think maybe CalMac is the best in the world?

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today Red Funnel [should be Red Face] ferries on the Isle of Wight cancel sailings and disrupt travel because they spend too much on shareholder dividends and executive bonuses and thus don’t spend enough on maintenance or replacement.1 In October 2024, a late-arriving passenger was pushed into the screws, to his death, in Greece. Then the crews all went on strike for months, islanders ran out of food and, only three years before a ferry with 530 on board had sunk.2 In July 2024, a Channel Islands ferry kills French fishermen because the crew do not … Continue reading A passenger pushed to his death, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooding, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the wrong button, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations…it kind of makes you think maybe CalMac is the best in the world?

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Prof who doesn’t ‘give a flying fcuk’ resurfaces to lie about Scotland joining the EU

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Published in the Sunday Herald today, retired Prof of German History, Jill Stephenson, is enabled to repeat, above, the old claim that Scotland ‘is not qualified to join the on grounds currency, control of monetary policy, lender of last resort and deficit’. TuS gets a rare mention as a ‘separatist blog‘. Should we rename as ‘Splitting-up Britain?’ More on Prof Paterson, her colleagues in a covert letter-writing and radio phone-in group, later, but first the substance of her claim. She’s wrong, all wrong. The full answer is far too long for this place but you can read it at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-new-scotland-independent-scotland-eu/pages/11/ … Continue reading Prof who doesn’t ‘give a flying fcuk’ resurfaces to lie about Scotland joining the EU

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The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today: More than 700,000 Scottish homes are classed as not fit for habitation – with 600,000 more properties registered as below a legal tolerable standard since the pandemic, The Herald can reveal. Official surveys carried out for the Scottish Government show that in 2023, the number of Scots properties falling below the ‘tolerable standard’ in order to be fit for habitation has shot up from an estimated 54,000 (2%) in 2018 to 729,000 (27%) in 2023. The report is keen to link the above figures to child deaths: OMG, we think, until we … Continue reading The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp

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Covid fallout – How Scotland did better on Covid deaths, life expectancy, homelessness and mental health care

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: Britain performed worse than most other developed nations in its response to the Covid pandemic, according to an Observer analysis of international data, five years on from the first lockdown. The UK spent more money than most other countries on economic help yet still ended up with larger drops in life expectancy, more people too sick to work, huge levels of homelessness and soaring mental health problems among young people. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/08/five-years-on-britons-among-hardest-hit-by-covid-fallout There’s no mention of Scotland in the Guardian survey and there’s the regular use of data from England to back … Continue reading Covid fallout – How Scotland did better on Covid deaths, life expectancy, homelessness and mental health care

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Women’s health and ‘trusted journalism’ – Herald off to a predictable and laughable start

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today with the above footer: Women in Scotland fear they are still being left behind when it comes to medical services despite the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Plan. The Women’s Health Plan ran from 2021 to 2024 and had promised improvements to menopause services and better care for endometriosis, but the results of a new survey show women are still struggling to receive the care they need. Trusted journalism, eh? Is the source reliable? Well, it’s by McKeown Medical, a private profit motive-driven business. Were there no reliable sources? Clearly not. Oh, well, … Continue reading Women’s health and ‘trusted journalism’ – Herald off to a predictable and laughable start

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Falkirk SNP council tried to set lower council tax but Labour and Independents forced through largest council tax increase of 15.6%

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By Liz S BBC have an article on their website which is the top story on their Scottish Politics page and top story on the Tayside & Central page too and also it’s the sixth story on the main Scotland page with a headline that states: “Falkirk sets largest council tax increase of 15.6%” The text of the article explains that “The budget of the council’s SNP administration was defeated. Instead the motion of Independent councillor Laura Murtagh was backed by the Labour group and other Independents”. “Council leader and SNP councillor Cecil Meiklejohn said her administration’s proposed 13.7% would have brought … Continue reading Falkirk SNP council tried to set lower council tax but Labour and Independents forced through largest council tax increase of 15.6%

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Daily Record’s sickening lies to Scottish readers as murder by knife and possession of knives plummet in Scotland, only

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Professor John Robertson OBA That front page is a new low for even the Wrecker. What’s wrong with it, factually? First, Murder by stabbing in Scotland has fallen in a steady trend to half of the level 6 years ago – From Knife crime statistics: FOI release, published today, we see that there were 49 homicides by knife in Scotland in 2017/2018 and that there has been a steady and significant fall to 25, in 2022/2023, the most recent data.1 Second, ‘teens’ are dying in ever fewer numbers. The above victim was 15 years old. There are no data for 13-19 … Continue reading Daily Record’s sickening lies to Scottish readers as murder by knife and possession of knives plummet in Scotland, only