Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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In a media vacuum Scotland’s unique 100% record-breaking IVF programme brings life and saves lives but is never reported

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA From IVF waiting times in Scotland Quarter ending 30 June 2025 published yesterday: During the quarter ending 30 June 2025, 320 patients were screened. The 90% standard was met, with all patients attending a screening appointment within 52 weeks of referral. 38.8% were treated in 0-13 weeks, 30.9% in 14-26, 9.4% in 27-39 and 20.9 in 40-52 weeks.1 The target has been met consistently since 2016, 70% in half the time, but never ever reported in the media. Why is it more … Continue reading In a media vacuum Scotland’s unique 100% record-breaking IVF programme brings life and saves lives but is never reported

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The Arthur’s Seat honour-based murder was imported from Leeds four years ago – there has never been one by a Scot yet media choose that as their only example for a change in law for England & Wales where there are as many as 15 every year

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA The Guardian, today, has: UK to clarify definition of ‘honour’-based abuse in drive to cut violence against women and girls and, at the end, this: Yasmin Javed, whose daughter Fawziyah Javed was pushed off Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland by her husband after learning she was pregnant and had planned to leave the marriage, said she was “pleased” the government had listened to calls from campaigners. “I hope that this will help many more people affected by HBA and ensure that the multiple perpetrators … Continue reading The Arthur’s Seat honour-based murder was imported from Leeds four years ago – there has never been one by a Scot yet media choose that as their only example for a change in law for England & Wales where there are as many as 15 every year

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Water restrictions have NOT been imposed on customers like you and me in Scotland

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA I’ll be quick on this one. They, the MSM and politicians, would just love it if Scotland had the same water shortage problems as England does and they’ve pounced on these ‘restrictions‘ in only Aberdeenshire’s Ythan and the North Fife areas. So, are the folk there suffering a hosepipe ban, running out of water for a bath on these steamy days? No, ‘restrictions’ does not mean the general public. From STV, yesterday: The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency has now imposed restrictions in … Continue reading Water restrictions have NOT been imposed on customers like you and me in Scotland

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How an independent Scotland would be far better able than the UK to control illegal immigration

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA As illegal migration becomes a priority issue for Scots in a recent poll, the SNP and the wider independence movement needs to adapt to this evidence of a trend before it enables too much Reform UK electoral success in May 2026. This trend is not surprising. It’s a simple consequence of media coverage of protests outside hotels housing illegal migrants, the anti-immigrant drift in the other parties fearful of Reform UK and the BBC ‘s shameful promotion of Nigel Farage – 38 … Continue reading How an independent Scotland would be far better able than the UK to control illegal immigration

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Official figures reveal nearly 92% of children and adolescents treated within target and half of them within 5 weeks for mental health care but the Record trusts Alex Cole-Hamilton better

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA Above, the truth the Daily Record did not publish today. Below, what they did publish On June 4th 2025 (my 74th birthday), I wrote: NHS Scotland beat a waiting times target for the second time in a row despite increased demand – how will the media spin this to get SNPBad? I’m ahead of BBC Scotland, as I write at 11.02am, but I can smell them scurrying around, phoning someone who can be trusted to say the statistics, the same stats they … Continue reading Official figures reveal nearly 92% of children and adolescents treated within target and half of them within 5 weeks for mental health care but the Record trusts Alex Cole-Hamilton better

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As UK Minister reports failure to urgently support domestic abuse victims in England and Wales, why BBC Scotland is avoiding this dark topic

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK has the above headline story with: The main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted to the BBC. Police, social services and healthcare workers across the UK have largely relied on the Dash questionnaire to assess risk since 2009. But there are now mounting concerns from academics and those working in the sector that the checklist does not correctly identify victims at the highest risk of further … Continue reading As UK Minister reports failure to urgently support domestic abuse victims in England and Wales, why BBC Scotland is avoiding this dark topic

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‘Patients are suffering?’ Yet Scotland has almost twice as many GPs per head as England and Wales and around half a million more Scots report easy access to a GP than would have if they lived there instead

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Reporting Scotland this morning has a short report starting with: GPs say patients are suffering because of ongoing funding problems This is not even based on one of the BMA’s typically flawed and unreliable surveys of their members. I’t’s ‘The BMA Doctors union’ saying it, so that’ll be just Iain Kennedy again. Is there anything Dr Kennedy never tells you? Just this: FTE GPs per 100,000 population: Sources: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/pressures-in-general-practice-data-analysis https://www.gov.wales/general-practice-workforce-30-september-2024-html https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/general-practice-demographics-data-visualisation/general-practice-demographics-data-visualisation-up-to-1-october-2023/ Are patients in Scotland suffering more than in England & … Continue reading ‘Patients are suffering?’ Yet Scotland has almost twice as many GPs per head as England and Wales and around half a million more Scots report easy access to a GP than would have if they lived there instead

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James Cook’s reporting does not hold water in a country with 5.5 million litres per person, 40 times that in England

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland‘s James Cook, today: Rivers at critical level as Scotland’s water supplies feel the strain – Water levels are way below average after the driest spring since 1964 and a hot summer. The problem is especially acute in the east of the country, where the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is now introducing curbs on some water use. It said two catchment areas – Ythan in Aberdeenshire and North Fife – had reached significant scarcity, the highest level of alert. but then 8 paras down when it’s safe for him to mention it, we see how … Continue reading James Cook’s reporting does not hold water in a country with 5.5 million litres per person, 40 times that in England

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Many thanks again to those who have donated and for the too kind comments but there’s no hiding from the brutal facts of Talking-up Scotland’s apparent value – limited

johnrobertson834

Friends, I continue to struggle these days and ageing is not helping, but have since the last crowd funder (£15k) been able to ‘outsource’ some of the work – reading, posting and reposting work by readers, some research, some calculations, monitoring several email and social media accounts and so on. Already, the latest crowd funder (£2.6) looks like, at the very least, seriously reducing my scope to pay for that. So, apologies if you make a great comment and it stays at just that. I hope to continue my own media monitoring core stuff, solo. John Bella Caledonia, which I … Continue reading Many thanks again to those who have donated and for the too kind comments but there’s no hiding from the brutal facts of Talking-up Scotland’s apparent value – limited

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‘Endless supply of young men from larger cities in England’ fuelling Scotland’s drug deaths and a surge in violent crime

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to rtpscott for alerting me to the above. Surge in violent crime and drug deaths? Inverness – from 88 cases in 2018 to 326 in 2022, a 270% increase. Consider the contrast with large urban areas such as Glasgow which only saw a 6% increase in crimes of violence [1 563 to 1 651] to illustrate the appalling consequences of the County Lines gang penetration of small town Scotland. Drug deaths in Highland have continued to climb, despite a national decline, … Continue reading ‘Endless supply of young men from larger cities in England’ fuelling Scotland’s drug deaths and a surge in violent crime