Year: 2025

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Latest hospital mortality figures reveal that Scotland does have a one-tier health service unlike the one in that other place

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily 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 By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios October 2023 to September 2024 published today: The above funnel plot shows that all of Scotland’s hospitals had the level of mortality previously predicted in earlier data … Continue reading Latest hospital mortality figures reveal that Scotland does have a one-tier health service unlike the one in that other place

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10th sub-poll in a row confirms Reform UK in second place, death of Cons and SNP 21 points ahead of Labour for second time in a row

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily 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 By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS Since the 2nd of December 2024, I’ve been monitoring the Scottish sub-polls of 100-200, in UK-wide Westminster polls which have a breakdown for Scotland. Each sub -poll, in and of itself, is … Continue reading 10th sub-poll in a row confirms Reform UK in second place, death of Cons and SNP 21 points ahead of Labour for second time in a row

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Scotland’s private sector economy surges in UK league but the news ‘falls of the BBC News editor’s table’

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily 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 By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWSIn the Herald today, by their only decent journalist, Ian McConnell: Scotland last month surged up the league table of UK nations and regions in terms of the performance of its private sector … Continue reading Scotland’s private sector economy surges in UK league but the news ‘falls of the BBC News editor’s table’

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I see we are about to nationalise it but why should we, the Scottish taxpayer, pay much for the Ardrossan dock, fully owned and neglected by a Manchester billionaire tax exile ?

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First posted nearly a year ago By Professor John Robertson OBA Front page in the Herald today, 18 paragraphs putting responsibility for the maintenance of the Ardrossan dock, one of the two hubs for Arran crossings, onto the First Minister, based on the prompting of Katy Clark, Labour MSP and Baroness of Kilwinning. After reading those 18 paragraphs, would any reader wonder who owns the dock? CalMac? Scottish Government? North Ayrshire Council? Nope, it’s James Whittaker, a Manchester billionaire. Read on. In the UK Defence Journal in April 2024: “The facilities at Ardrossan have not been maintained to an acceptable standard,” stated Duncan Mackison, Interim … Continue reading I see we are about to nationalise it but why should we, the Scottish taxpayer, pay much for the Ardrossan dock, fully owned and neglected by a Manchester billionaire tax exile ?

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Released prisoners now 27% less likely to re-offend than they were when Labour was in power

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily 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 By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS This morning, BBC Reporting Scotland Down has a scare story interview with the Governor of Barlinnie prison [above] on overcrowding and the latest Scottish Parliament law on early prisoner release. The underlying … Continue reading Released prisoners now 27% less likely to re-offend than they were when Labour was in power

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TWICE as many wait over 8 hours in NHS Wales A&E departments but Holyrood Mag finds a way to hide that fact and others favourable to NHS Scotland as well as to fake their figures

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stewartb An article about NHS Scotland in Holyrood Magazine today has a very odd statistic. Am I missing something? See: Holyrood Magazine (February10, , 2025) Bed Bound: The chronic problem of delayed discharges is tying up resources across the NHS. Here is the text with the problematic stat (the named reference is to the author of a recent IFS report): ‘The honest answer is that it’s probably too early to tell, although Phillips says there are some signs of recovery in England’s NHS based on available data. Meanwhile, figures published last week showed more than 180,000 patients waited more than eight hours … Continue reading TWICE as many wait over 8 hours in NHS Wales A&E departments but Holyrood Mag finds a way to hide that fact and others favourable to NHS Scotland as well as to fake their figures

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MI5, CIA, SNP and the GRA – Have I watched Homeland and the Diplomat too often?

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Express today has: Nicola Sturgeon was CIA agent who stoked gender wars to foil Scexit, claims top nationalist – Former diplomat Craig Murray suggests that American spooks used USAID funding to split the SNP, adding that the former First Minister was likely ‘bribed, indoctrinated and blackmailed’ https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-cia-agent-who-34647121 Mad, eh? Who would believe any of that? I’m saying nothing….well nothing much but I have worried and written at times of a more subtle form of CIA presence – a form of cultural imperialism which manifests itself in ‘Atlanticism‘ – a tendency to admire US politics, especially … Continue reading MI5, CIA, SNP and the GRA – Have I watched Homeland and the Diplomat too often?

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Latest of NINE bias-free sub-polls has SNP 21 points ahead of Labour, further evidence that Sarwar is the problem, the Cons are in deep trouble and Reform is in second place again in Scotland

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From Opinium today, based on polling on 5-7 February 2025, with a 1 475 total sample including 124 Scots, the above results. Saying essentially the same as the previous 8 sub-polls and now based on a total sample of more than 1 000, unaffected by the dubious sampling adjustment used in most Scotland-only polls, to reflect the 2014 referendum result, the SNP is well-ahead and Labour/Cons are collapsing under the Reform UK assault. We also see, clear as day, the Scottish Labour support under Sarwar at barely half that of UK Labour under Starmer, as both Conservative and Labour social … Continue reading Latest of NINE bias-free sub-polls has SNP 21 points ahead of Labour, further evidence that Sarwar is the problem, the Cons are in deep trouble and Reform is in second place again in Scotland

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How BBC Scotland tried to suggest CalMac ferries were unsafe 7 years ago but has failed to update on the safest ferry service in the world

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily 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 By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS This just popped up in a search for related ferry matters. In July 2017, before the ‘ferry fiasco’ narrative really got going, I thought, BBC Scotland had this: CalMac ferries lifejackets were … Continue reading How BBC Scotland tried to suggest CalMac ferries were unsafe 7 years ago but has failed to update on the safest ferry service in the world

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Mental health services – 18% improvement in one year as almost 90% of children and adolescents now treated within target

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today is headlining their own Disclosure team’s interviews with teenagers from one Glasgow unit. It sounds tragic. While taking nothing away from the unacceptability of the treatment reported, BBC Scotland also has a responsibility beyond that, to inform the public of the wider context so that one negative report does not, unfairly, come to represent reality for their audience. The latest figures, from Public Health Scotland, tell another important and different story: For the quarter ending September 2024: 89.1% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an … Continue reading Mental health services – 18% improvement in one year as almost 90% of children and adolescents now treated within target