Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
1 Comment

Good news you won’t hear – 72 000 Scottish workers receive pay boost thanks to Scottish Government

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Not being reported by BBC Scotland or BBC Scotland Business, despite being announced 8 hours ago on the Scottish Government‘s news website, on automatic Google alerts or followed, you’d think, by all serious serious journalists: A record 4,000 employers in Scotland are now paying their staff at least the real Living Wage, boosting the salaries of 72,000 employees and supporting them with rising costs. The milestone has been reached at the start of Living Wage Week, which celebrates the transformative impact the real living wage can have for workers and businesses alike, and encourages employers to … Continue reading Good news you won’t hear – 72 000 Scottish workers receive pay boost thanks to Scottish Government

6 Comments

Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter is joined by Kemi Badenoch in darkly cynical campaign to smear Scotland with disgraceful suggestion SNP is ‘hiding something’ about grooming rape gangs here too

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today, on the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: Kemi Badenoch has described Police Scotland’s failure to investigate a grooming gang in Scotland as “utterly shameful”. The Tory leader also accused the Scottish Government of “blocking scrutiny” into the allegations and warned that its refusal to support a public inquiry would lead to questions about whether the SNP was “hiding something”. Labour’s Joani Reid has been ploughing this rancid furrow for some time now and the answer for Badenoch will be similar. First, is Badenoch guilty of the same opportunistic shifting hypocrisy as we saw with Reid when, under … Continue reading Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter is joined by Kemi Badenoch in darkly cynical campaign to smear Scotland with disgraceful suggestion SNP is ‘hiding something’ about grooming rape gangs here too

7 Comments

BBC Scotland still hiding where the buck should have stopped for the three Stonehaven rail deaths five years ago

johnrobertson834

From BBC Scotland today, the above and: The inquiry into a train derailment which killed three men in the north east of Scotland could now last under a fortnight, a hearing has been told. The Aberdeen to Glasgow train came off the rails at Carmont, in Aberdeenshire, on 12 August 2020 after it hit a landslide following heavy rain. Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died in the crash. Network Rail was later fined £6.7m after admitting a series of failings which led to the deaths. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77z5538zeko What is Network Rail? Who are … Continue reading BBC Scotland still hiding where the buck should have stopped for the three Stonehaven rail deaths five years ago

Leave a comment

New research reveals worst forms of homelessness up to two thirds higher in England than in Scotland

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA I’m not for a minute excusing any level of homelessness but, if these data were the other way round, we all know who’d be blamed and blamed repeatedly. From BBC Politics, today, the above and: The number of homeless people in England is higher than official government data suggests, according to new research from the charity Crisis. They say that around 189,000 families and individuals who faced the worst forms of homelessness such as rough sleeping, sofa surfing and living in tents were not included in official statistics. Official data is based on people declaring themselves … Continue reading New research reveals worst forms of homelessness up to two thirds higher in England than in Scotland

4 Comments

Sarwar’s pet professor should have read HMRC report showing that Scotland’s progressive taxation seems not to have ‘put people off Scotland’ as quality of life, lower housing costs, lower crime, better HNS and ‘post-pandemic appeal’, take it from near-zero to 8 000 a year

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA, SCE Higher Economics, 1969, C grade Professor Anton Muscatelli, former Principal Glasgow University, was born in Bari, Italy. His family migrated to Scotland, perhaps to escape local taxation hikes resulting from the activities of the local Capriati mafia clan? They and other factors no doubt seem to have been pretty effective at ‘putting people off Italy‘, with 15 million leaving between 1945 and 1970. Muscatelli is in the low-impact rating, not really peer-reviewed, Scotsman today, claiming that Scotland’s taxation is putting people off coming to, or staying in, Scotland. Muscatelli appears not to have ever written … Continue reading Sarwar’s pet professor should have read HMRC report showing that Scotland’s progressive taxation seems not to have ‘put people off Scotland’ as quality of life, lower housing costs, lower crime, better HNS and ‘post-pandemic appeal’, take it from near-zero to 8 000 a year

6 Comments

FIVE years of success in turning Scotland’s drug deaths trend around, the reasons for that and the reasons it’s not even better than that

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA This is simply untrue. The drug deaths trend in Scotland has been downward for these last five years, from 1 339 in 2020 to 1 017. A 24.2% fall, by a quarter in only 5 years after more than 20 years of increasing, is very significant and suggests a successful strategy by government, which I’ll return to. Here is the evidence in two graphs, for 2020 and 2025 from Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2024, published on 2 September 2025: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2024/ The full NRS report contains further evidence that this is a confirmed downward trend and notably … Continue reading FIVE years of success in turning Scotland’s drug deaths trend around, the reasons for that and the reasons it’s not even better than that

5 Comments

On Remembrance Sunday, peer-reviewed research proves that Scotland’s WW1 army war dead was a greater sacrifice, 63% higher than the rest of the UK

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA With the UK media again saturated with frankly disturbing jingoism based on myths about the two world, it seems like a good moment to repeat this attempt to resolve the alleged myth that Scots had given more in blood on the WWI battlefields. On 10th August 2014, with clear political intent, the Scotsman allowed Sir Hew Strachan to confirm it as a myth: Great War worst for Scots troops ‘a myth’ https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/great-war-worst-scots-troops-myth-1529401 In Patrick Watt’s Manpower, Myth and Memory: Analysing Scotland’s Military Contribution to the Great War in the Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, on 24th May 2019 based on extensive research, … Continue reading On Remembrance Sunday, peer-reviewed research proves that Scotland’s WW1 army war dead was a greater sacrifice, 63% higher than the rest of the UK

2 Comments

Scottish Government significantly widened access to free flu vaccine to give more than twice as many, per capita, protection from worrying new mutation

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Health today and being broadcast widely and frequently, the above and: Flu strikes every winter, but this year something seems to be different. A seasonal flu virus suddenly mutated in the summer. It appears to evade some of our immunity, has kick-started a flu season more than a month early, and is a type of flu that history suggests is more severe. The NHS has now issued a “flu jab SOS” as fears grow that this will add up to a brutal winter. There is a lot of nuance and uncertainty, but leading flu … Continue reading Scottish Government significantly widened access to free flu vaccine to give more than twice as many, per capita, protection from worrying new mutation

1 Comment

Edinburgh is top UK city in Holiday Happiness Index 25 places ahead of London

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA I know, it doesn’t quite fit the kind of mean image Scots sometimes have of some of the capital’s inhabitants but to outsiders, it seems, Edinburgh is a warm and friendly capital city. Dublin is at 23 and London is at 30, way behind. From Book Retreats last week: Where is your happy place? Teaming up with a Harvard psychologist and happiness expert, we combined the science and data to find the holiday destinations where you’ll feel your best. Today, people are no longer traveling just for landmarks or luxury. They’re traveling to feel something. To … Continue reading Edinburgh is top UK city in Holiday Happiness Index 25 places ahead of London

4 Comments

In Scotland with a GDP half the size of Washington State USA, the ferry service is much more punctual – 99% to 72% – but only it is fined?In

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA, Academic Reporter of the Decade The Herald today has the above, and: The Scottish Government-owned ferry operator CalMac was fined more than £20 million for failing island communities then handed a new £4 billion contract by ministers, the Herald on Sunday can reveal. Performance deductions imposed by ministers when CalMac fails to meet reliability and service measures on the contract hit a record £4.335m in its final year alone. £21m as a percentage of the £4bn contract is only 0.5%, so I thought I’d have a look around some other ferry services for comparison. Not what I expected. Wightlink and Red … Continue reading In Scotland with a GDP half the size of Washington State USA, the ferry service is much more punctual – 99% to 72% – but only it is fined?In