Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Scotland is first to recognise and to invest in research into Childhood Dementia but BBC Reporting Scotland shamefully hides this positive action within tragedy for FORTY paragraphs

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to officially recognise childhood dementia and the Scottish Government has provided £118 000 to Alzheimers Scotland to employ two Childhood Dementia Development Officers but for Sophia that’s coming too late. BBC Reporting Scotland today at 1pm had a report on the above, featuring an interview with a father that had me in tears. So moved, I did not notice the above comment that came half-way through but amid the tragedy, surely that’s the news. In the fuller online report, that key news is not in the headline and only appears in the 40th out of 50 paragraphs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yj634ml71o Shameful exploitation … Continue reading Scotland is first to recognise and to invest in research into Childhood Dementia but BBC Reporting Scotland shamefully hides this positive action within tragedy for FORTY paragraphs

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A1 Edinburgh to Lamberton road deaths and overall accident rates plummet to counter to opposition party claims

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Eight months ago, the Scotsman had the above, platforming some opposition politicians. It’s behind a paywall so who cares. Note the ‘alarming’ casualty toll. Finding the above report was triggered by seeing Transport Scotland number of collisions on the A83: FOI release, published today, which revealed: I wonder if this FOI was requested by those well-known figures, Edinburgh MSPs, Alex Cole-Hamilton (Lib Dem) and Daniel Johnson (Labour). If they did, they should be disappointed but, knowing their deep duplicity, they’ll just add them all up to get a big number and ignore the clearly improving trend they surely did not … Continue reading A1 Edinburgh to Lamberton road deaths and overall accident rates plummet to counter to opposition party claims

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As gangs of youths run riot in Clapham for second night will Scotland’s plummeting anti-social behaviour figures cause a problem for media operating in ‘SNP soft touch on crime’ Scotland?

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In the Telegraph and other media today, the above story and: Another day, another mini-riot, as gangs of marauding youths run amok – this time in Clapham, south London. A few days ago social media was full of footage of what seemed to be teenagers (they were all in hoodies so one can’t be sure how old they were) causing chaos in Wolverhampton, throwing eggs at anyone they could find. Video then emerged of hundreds of young men and women rushing a streetwear pop-up shop in Soho in central London. The footage was notable only for being not remotely notable; … Continue reading As gangs of youths run riot in Clapham for second night will Scotland’s plummeting anti-social behaviour figures cause a problem for media operating in ‘SNP soft touch on crime’ Scotland?

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Dear George (Monbiot), here’s why ‘this country’ is not a dump’

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George Monbiot in the Guardian today: This country’s a dump. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean it literally. From the point of view of criminal waste gangs, it is one big potential landfill. The chances of being caught range between minimal and nonexistent, and the penalties are mostly laughable. Successive governments have given criminals a licence to print money. Last week, the Commons public accounts committee reported that illegal waste dumping is “out of control”. The UK is now blighted with between 8,000 and 13,000 illegal waste sites. Most consist of a few lorry loads. Some contain tens of thousands of tonnes of waste, which … Continue reading Dear George (Monbiot), here’s why ‘this country’ is not a dump’

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A Guardian picture tells a story of Scotland’s place even amongst England’s liberal elite

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See those Ivory Coast players in orange, very bottom left in the (just) ‘More sport’ afterthought section? That’s the report of Scotland’s 1 nil defeat last night, right at the bottom. I read the Guardian all the time but won’t pay until they change their editorial policy to oppose Scottish independence at the same time as not opposing any other country’s departure from the brutal empire they apparently now regret. I wrote this on February 19 February 2026, six weeks ago. Not even an acknowledgement far less a response. Katherine Viner, Editor, the Guardian, katharine.viner@guardian.co.uk Dear Katharine I’d really like … Continue reading A Guardian picture tells a story of Scotland’s place even amongst England’s liberal elite

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Increased violence against teachers in English schools DOES make sense

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BBC Breakfast today had an extended piece on violence in the classroom increasing. It made sense in the context of worsening youth violence against adults across society, in England. There are similar reports from BBC Scotland. They don’t make such good sense. More on that below. First, of direct relevance, from the Guardian on 31 December 2025: The number of violent offences involving an adolescent attacking their parents or step-parents has increased by more than 60% in the past decade, according to figures recorded by the UK’s biggest police force. Data released by Scotland Yard reveals that there were 1,886 such offences … Continue reading Increased violence against teachers in English schools DOES make sense

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Scotland’s own global celebrity drug baron is not your main concern

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The media operating in Scotland have loved Scotland getting to this ‘world-cup’ of global celebrity drug barons ‘masterminding hits’ on other global celebrity drug barons and the associated relatively minor collateral violence back home in Scotland. As that peaked in the summer of 2025, the Telegraph had: A wave of violence The flames have been there for all to see. Over six weeks in March and April, there were more than a dozen arson attacks in the two cities, with cars, homes, garages and businesses set alight. In other incidents, shots have been fired and two people, a pensioner and a 12-year-old boy, seriously … Continue reading Scotland’s own global celebrity drug baron is not your main concern

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Number of properties for private rent increases to second-highest level since records began to cast doubt on ‘housing emergency’

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From Housing statistics: Scottish Landlord Register Data published today, the above data suggesting a robust, largely unchanging picture to further expose the ‘housing emergency‘ narrative, so popular with critics of the Scottish Government, as mere propaganda. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-landlord-register-data/ Continue reading Number of properties for private rent increases to second-highest level since records began to cast doubt on ‘housing emergency’

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NHS Scotland’s faster cancer treatment service could have saved 5 000 lives in the last 10 years

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From Public Health Scotland Cancer waiting times 1 October to 31 December 2025, published today: There were 4,797 eligible referrals, a decrease of 0.2% from the previous quarter, and an increase of 28.8% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019. 72.6% of patients started treatment within 62 days, compared with 70.7% in the previous quarter. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-october-to-31-december-2025/ The equivalent figure for NHS England was 70.2%. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/CWT-CRS-National-Time-Series-Oct-2009-Dec-2025-Provisional.xlsx Now BBC Scotland will tell us that 70.2 and 72.6 are essentially the same, not ‘significantly’ different, but remember, that 2.4% difference of 4 797 referrals, is 115 patients in one quarter. So, 460 per … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s faster cancer treatment service could have saved 5 000 lives in the last 10 years