Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Why NHS Scotland has not had to wait for Martha’s rule to deal with Labour’s ‘death traps’ of hospital acquired infections

johnrobertson834

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON In the Guardian today: More than 400 lives may have been saved as a result of Martha’s rule, which lets NHS patients request a review of their care, official figures reveal. Helplines received more than 10,000 calls in the first 16 months of the scheme after its introduction in England in 2024, according to data seen by the Guardian. Thousands of patients were either moved to intensive care, received drugs they needed or benefited from other changes as a direct result of … Continue reading Why NHS Scotland has not had to wait for Martha’s rule to deal with Labour’s ‘death traps’ of hospital acquired infections

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Scotland’s job market no doubt ‘challenging but not ‘floundering’ as in ‘Britain’

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON In the Guardian today: Britain’s job market ‘floundering’ as companies remain cautious about hiring. Data shows labour market is still in a fragile position due to economic uncertainty, with few signs of recovery There’s no mention of Scotland in the piece, leaving the thousands of Scottish readers to either think it must be just the same here or, maybe, look elsewhere for the facts. On hiring, there are signs of stabilization or modest improvements in permanent and temporary … Continue reading Scotland’s job market no doubt ‘challenging but not ‘floundering’ as in ‘Britain’

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Three reasons why QEUH will never have a Grenfell-like ‘towering inferno’

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON The Daily Record today, has the above and: Robert Menzies, an architect who worked on the super-hospital, slammed the refusal of Scottish ministers to replace discredited Kingspan K15 cladding. Robert Menzies played a part in the building’s design process as a consultant/architect involved in technical and review aspects, which would have encompassed safety considerations (including fire safety engineering elements he has since critiqued). But he was not the principal designer or a dedicated fire safety engineer; his contributions … Continue reading Three reasons why QEUH will never have a Grenfell-like ‘towering inferno’

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England’s Pisa scores are based only on a tiny selective sample of higher achieving schools making Paul O’Kane’s sad desperate attempt to claim they are better than Scotland just another under-educated failure from Scottish Labour

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Paul O’Kane Labour MSP and former head boy, seems delighted to be suggesting that Scotland’s schools education system is worse than England’s, with the above, from those other head boys at the IFS. Paul and the lads at the IFS are clearly out of their depth here. There’s something important in the actual figures from the OECD, in this table: See the wee asterisk there? What does it mean? Notes: Values that are statistically significant are marked in … Continue reading England’s Pisa scores are based only on a tiny selective sample of higher achieving schools making Paul O’Kane’s sad desperate attempt to claim they are better than Scotland just another under-educated failure from Scottish Labour

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14% more NHS England consultants quitting ‘like rats on sinking ship’

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON In the Herald today, based on an interview with Dr Joanna Bredski, Consultant Psychiatrist in Borders Region, formerly in Yorkshire, chair of the BMA Scotland Consultant’s committee, this crazed headline In 2023/2024, the most recent official figures, 4.3% of NHS Scotland consultants left.1 In the same year, the figure for NHS England was 4.9%, 14% higher.2 Does the good doctor have any explanation as to why we have fewer rats quitting? Fewer opportunities for lucrative private work in … Continue reading 14% more NHS England consultants quitting ‘like rats on sinking ship’

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Why is Amnesty International UK, in London, having a go at Scotland when there’s so much more support for human rights abuse right next door in Westminster?

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON I used to be an Amnesty International activist in a small way, 20 years ago, writing to authoritarian governments on behalf of political prisoners until thoroughly pissed of by the chair’s support for Israel and on discovering that most of these political prisoners had utterly unacceptable and hypocritical views on women’s rights. Under a TuS post on Reform UK, long-time and much valued, commentator, ArtyHetty wrote: I have some recent emails from ‘Amnesty international UK’ in Lonodn, and … Continue reading Why is Amnesty International UK, in London, having a go at Scotland when there’s so much more support for human rights abuse right next door in Westminster?

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Reform’s Scottish leader may or may not be racist but he’s definitely wrong as knife crime falls in Scotland

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From BBC Scotland yesterday, the above and: The leader of Reform UK in Scotland has denied fuelling racial tensions with comments he made following a stabbing in Edinburgh. Malcom Offord has been criticised by both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens for linking the incident in the Calders area on Monday to a “massive insurge of immigrants”., external Lord Offord said he based his comments on photographs he had seen and claimed statistics showed a rise in crime by people … Continue reading Reform’s Scottish leader may or may not be racist but he’s definitely wrong as knife crime falls in Scotland

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Scotland’s teachers biting the hand of the ‘best friend they could have’ and even Jack McConnell’s Labour think tank director says ‘Scotland’s teaching unions must be broken’

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON In the long-time Labour-supporting New Statesman, by the long-time critic of the SNP and Director of Lord Jack McConnell’s ‘Enlighten’ think tank, Chris Deerin writes: Scotland’s teaching unions must be broken The country’s education system needs radical reform.You can always rely on the EIS. The Educational Institute of Scotland, the country’s largest teaching union, has for decades been the main block to effective reform of the nation’s schools. Its instinctive belligerence and obstructionism are key reasons that educational … Continue reading Scotland’s teachers biting the hand of the ‘best friend they could have’ and even Jack McConnell’s Labour think tank director says ‘Scotland’s teaching unions must be broken’

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Scotland’s SIXTH tower block fire contained on one-floor further proves there can be no Grenfell here – here’s why

johnrobertson834

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From BBC Scotland, yesterday, the above image, and: A man has died after falling from a window during a tower block fire in North Lanarkshire. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) were called to reports of a blaze on the 12th floor of the building on Shields Drive, Motherwell, at about 22:08 on Thursday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7jz7kjl7o Notice the phrase – ‘on the 12th floor of the building?’ Why did the fire not progress up the side of the … Continue reading Scotland’s SIXTH tower block fire contained on one-floor further proves there can be no Grenfell here – here’s why

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Short video – What has the SNP ever done for you? How about stopping private companies using NHS facilities, NHS equipment and NHS staff to enable the private companies to generate a huge profit?

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Full version at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/03/06/what-has-the-snp-ever-done-for-you-how-about-stopping-private-companies-using-nhs-facilities-nhs-equipment-and-nhs-staff-to-enable-the-private-companies-to-generate-a-huge-profit/ Continue reading Short video – What has the SNP ever done for you? How about stopping private companies using NHS facilities, NHS equipment and NHS staff to enable the private companies to generate a huge profit?