Year: 2025

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As Labour Junior Minister accuses NHS Scotland of ‘airbrushing’ performance figures his own performance figures were defended by Jackie Baillie

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Professor John Robertson OBA Michael Shanks MP, now a junior minister for energy has been caught accusing NHS Scotland of presenting statistics in the same way as Labour Wales and Now Labour England do. I doubt he’ll ever feel obliged to apologise. It reminded me of his Rutherglen election campaign in July 2024 where Jackie Baillie accused me of unethical campaigning against him when I dug up attainment statistics which seemed to suggest a downturn for his school’s Modern Studies department during his time there, working hard, to become the Labour candidate, including, famously, running along every street in Glasgow. … Continue reading As Labour Junior Minister accuses NHS Scotland of ‘airbrushing’ performance figures his own performance figures were defended by Jackie Baillie

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‘Navy’s secret nuclear pollution hush-up’ of tritium that ‘smashes into your DNA’, which Scientific American says causes cancer, in a country (Scotland) where it’s surging in the under-50s, but it’s backed by Scottish Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA To add to the detail in the above National/Ferret report on the shocking attempt at a cover-up, the awful scale of WHAT they were trying to cover up. From the Daily Montanan, and covered widely across US media, in September 2025: From the CND, in September 2024: Radioactive air emissions have been increasing year-on-year at Coulport one of Britain’s nuclear submarine bases in Scotland. This development is of some concern as it would lead to increased health risks wherever the emissions were inhaled.  Investigations by The Ferret and The National newspaper found that emissions of radioactive tritiated water vapour had doubled at the Royal … Continue reading ‘Navy’s secret nuclear pollution hush-up’ of tritium that ‘smashes into your DNA’, which Scientific American says causes cancer, in a country (Scotland) where it’s surging in the under-50s, but it’s backed by Scottish Labour

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Falling trend in Scotland with 40% fewer women killed by men in last five ‘less violent years’, to level 13% below that in England, suggests a still shocking number but no national emergency

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Professor John Robertson OBA According to Homicide in Scotland 2024-25 and its 4 predecessor reports, there were 67 female victims of murder in the last 5 yrs, 40% down on the previous five up to 2019/2020.1 41% (27) were killed by partners or ex-partners, with the remainder primarily by other male relatives or acquaintances. I see no sign of the 39, above. The trend in the last 5 years has been flat – 10, 16, 13, 13, 15 suggesting a disappointing bottoming that may not reduce further but not in any way a ‘National Emergency.’ In the last 5 years … Continue reading Falling trend in Scotland with 40% fewer women killed by men in last five ‘less violent years’, to level 13% below that in England, suggests a still shocking number but no national emergency

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‘Whoever saves a single soul, saves an entire world’ Scotland’s stricter pandemic measures in schools

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Professor John Robertson OBA I have the above, not from reading scriptures of any religion, though the notion is in more than one, I remember it, I think, from the film ‘Schindler’s List.’ It came into my head after asking the question, in the light of the current and historical attacks on Nicola Sturgeon over her school closedowns and strict face mask-wearing edicts: How many children of school age died of Covid in Scotland England Wales between 2020 and 2022 The answer was: I’m a little ashamed to say, I thought, at first, there’s no point reporting these very small … Continue reading ‘Whoever saves a single soul, saves an entire world’ Scotland’s stricter pandemic measures in schools

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SNP leader did not just win approval, she delivered more than a thousand fewer Covid deaths

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Professor John Robertson OBA A regular media mantra is that FM Nicola Sturgeon got higher approval than PM Boris Johnson but that outcomes in terms of Covid-related deaths were very similar. BBC Scotland and the Scottish press feasted greedily on that last point. In an attempt to quickly gather the research on approval ratings, I asked Grok AI: Is there research evidence comparing the performance during the pandemic of Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon The response to the first part of a performance-rating, was as you’d expect: Polls consistently showed stark contrasts in perceived performance, especially in Scotland: A May … Continue reading SNP leader did not just win approval, she delivered more than a thousand fewer Covid deaths

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Labour’s price freeze being trumpeted merely keeps rail travellers paying far more in England than in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Business today: Rail fares in England next year are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced. The freeze until March 2027 will apply to regulated fares, which includes season tickets and off-peak returns. Scotland only gets a mention to remind us that the freeze only applies in England but there’s no mention that the Scottish Government scrapped peak rail fares in September 2025. Travellers will save 30-40% on peak-time travel only in Scotland. For example, London to Manchester (163 miles) peak return will still cost £150 to … Continue reading Labour’s price freeze being trumpeted merely keeps rail travellers paying far more in England than in Scotland

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Scottish teachers have enjoyed by far the best pupil/teacher ratio and consequent workload in the UK for at least 15 years now

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stewartb No less an authority(!) than the UK government on November 13 published this: ‘Reporting year 2025: Education and training statistics for the UK.’ Among the statistics given for the four constituent nations are pupil:teacher ratios for publicly-funded primary and secondary schools.  See https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-and-training-statistics-for-the-uk/2025 The ‘Headline facts and figures – 2025’ section has this on overall ratios for publicly-funded/maintained schools: ‘Pupil to teacher ratios were lowest in Scotland (13.3), and similar in Northern Ireland (17.1), England (18.0), and Wales (18.9).‘ Specifically for primary schools, the latest statistics on pupil-teacher ratios in for example Labour-run Wales and in Scotland are: Wales = 18.9 and Scotland = 16.1. Time … Continue reading Scottish teachers have enjoyed by far the best pupil/teacher ratio and consequent workload in the UK for at least 15 years now

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The devolved nations governments were not responsible for delays and mistakes in the early pandemic strategy – clear evidence that Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, on behalf of the UK Government, obstructed them at every turn

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Professor John Robertson OBA Under pressure to have a bit of time off, I’ve relied on AI for this. If you see any flaws in the report, please let me know. Is there evidence of Dominic Cummings trying to limit the influence of devolved nations at Covid Cobra meetings? Evidence from the UK COVID-19 InquiryYes, there is direct evidence from Dominic Cummings’ testimony to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry (Module 2, October 2023) indicating efforts to limit the involvement of devolved nations’ leaders (from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) in key COBRA meetings during the early COVID-19 response. This was framed … Continue reading The devolved nations governments were not responsible for delays and mistakes in the early pandemic strategy – clear evidence that Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, on behalf of the UK Government, obstructed them at every turn

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How dare SNP ministers responsible for already giving us the best pay and conditions in the UK, offer us even better working conditions before we can claim credit for negotiating it?

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald and the Scotsman and Scottish Labour just love the EIS. I was in education for nearly 4 decades. I never did a proper survey but it seemed like there was a lot of moaning going on. I’ve worked in chemical works, a power station, a psychiatric hospital laundry, sawmills and a parks department. It was often difficult – too cold, too hot, smelly, disgusting, too hard, scary – but in everyone of them, moaning all the time would just get you teased, sometimes cruelly, in often wickedly funny ways. In education, far too many … Continue reading How dare SNP ministers responsible for already giving us the best pay and conditions in the UK, offer us even better working conditions before we can claim credit for negotiating it?

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As with Google and now AI, did Victorians suspect that encyclopaedias would lead to fake news and affect children?

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Professor John Robertson OBA Watching BBC ‘s ‘Have I Got News for You’, last night, there was panel unanimity that, as Ian Hislop put it – ‘AI is strawndnry unreliable.‘ Readers will know that I’ve begun to use it more as a short-cut to finding evidence but that I do worry about the absence of media studies in the core curriculum in schools, to prepare younger, less-experienced, less sceptical minds, to understand the commonly market-oriented, pro-USA, pro-NATO and times pro-Christian ideological underpinning in the algorithms directing answers, to ask good questions and to push for better answers at times. Earlier … Continue reading As with Google and now AI, did Victorians suspect that encyclopaedias would lead to fake news and affect children?