Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Researchers say NHS England A&E ‘in distress’ over the winter with twice as many waiting more than 12 hours in A&E than in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland seems to have no video evidence of corridor care of the kind shown by BBC Breakfast this morning (above) and Jackie Baillie, Labour health spokesperson had to use us evidence from English wards to lie that there is comparable evidence from Scotland. I feel so sure that had Reporting Scotland anything like the above, we’d see it repeatedly. BBC Breakfast, this morning, reported that the Health Foundation had found ‘the NHS (sic) was in distress this winter.’ There is no mention of Scotland in the full report. They summarised: BBC Scotland did not follow-up. … Continue reading Researchers say NHS England A&E ‘in distress’ over the winter with twice as many waiting more than 12 hours in A&E than in Scotland

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We’re going to need a bigger stronger boat – Channel Islands’ Danish ferry not strong enough for lorries is disastrous for families and health of islanders

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A ferry f***up? Deputy Kirsten Morel was in charge of Jersey’s ferry tender process but seems to think we’d understand that it was difficult for him. Professor John Robertson OBA The media in Scotland have been platforming regularly the notion that CalMac and the SNP Government are to blame for the privately-owned Ardrossan harbour not being maintained and improved in time for the new bigger ferry everybody on Arran, it seems, was desperate for. They’ve also been dramatizing the notion that the folk of South Uist (pop 1 754) have been traumatised by having to accept a free ride to … Continue reading We’re going to need a bigger stronger boat – Channel Islands’ Danish ferry not strong enough for lorries is disastrous for families and health of islanders

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Mythbusting: “(Scotland’s) wind power is unreliable, inefficient and harmful to nature”

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By JB From Europe’s largest renewable energy producer Statcraft  2nd April 2024: “Wind power is often characterised by incorrect, inaccurate and misleading claims.” Six stubborn myths about wind power 1. “Wind power takes up large areas of land.”  If you count the entire area around and between the turbines in a wind farm, there is no doubt that a wind farm is the energy source that requires the largest area of land per MWh produced, even if the direct impact on nature is small. However if the land where the wind turbines are located can be used at the same time … Continue reading Mythbusting: “(Scotland’s) wind power is unreliable, inefficient and harmful to nature”

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As toxic waste leaks from more than 100 landfills in England, Scotland’s sites are all known and level is now only one third, of that under Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian: More than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed. Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found. Although councils are supposed to keep track of the dangers of these sites, funding has long since disappeared and some local authorities had no idea they were responsible, … Continue reading As toxic waste leaks from more than 100 landfills in England, Scotland’s sites are all known and level is now only one third, of that under Labour

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Only 0.33% turn out to protest ferry move and ‘ghost town’ threat

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Professor John Robertson OBA On 12th April 2025, The Scottish Sun reported: We’ve been left to live in a ‘ghost town’ thanks to Scotland’s £400m ferry fiasco, it’s a disgrace. Today fed-up locals gathered at Troon Harbour to protest over the failings and to demand answers. Dozens of campaigners gathered with banners at the protest. There might be more than two dozen in some of the images. Let’s be generous and give them 50? How many folk live in Ardrossan? 10 670. Arran? 4 629. Total is 15 299. So, 0.326% could be bothered to turn out for a threat … Continue reading Only 0.33% turn out to protest ferry move and ‘ghost town’ threat

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Stanford research finds Labour’s preferred small modular reactors will produce even more highly radioactive nuclear waste

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By JB Stanford-led research finds small modular reactors will exacerbate challenges of highly radioactive nuclear waste Small modular reactors, long touted as the future of nuclear energy, will actually generate more radioactive waste than conventional nuclear power plants, according to research from Stanford and the University of British Columbia. A study published in May 31 2022 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has reached the conclusion. “Our results show that most small modular reactor designs will actually increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal, by factors of 2 to 30 for the reactors in our … Continue reading Stanford research finds Labour’s preferred small modular reactors will produce even more highly radioactive nuclear waste

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In the wake of SNP progressive tax and benefit changes, shoplifting in Scotland is now significantly lower than in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2024, published yesterday: The number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has passed half a million for the first time, figures show. PA says: A total of 516,971 offences were logged by forces last year, up 20% from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2003, according to the ONS. Shoplifting offences have been running at record levels for the past two years and … Continue reading In the wake of SNP progressive tax and benefit changes, shoplifting in Scotland is now significantly lower than in England

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Scotland’s islanders to get 10 TIMES the subsidy for their ferries than those in more affluent British Columbia, to keep fares amongst the lowest in the developed world

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Richmond News today: Right now, B.C. Ferries, which according to the union carries more than 21 million passengers and $8 billion in cargo each year, receives about $35 million annually from Ottawa.1 BC Ferries has 41 vessels serving 47 locations to 21 million passengers per year.2 CalMac has 36 vessels serving 50 locations to only 5.3 million passengers per year.3 Yet the Scottish Government, from taxpayers living in places like Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Coatbridge and Dundee, will be a bit more generous than BC: Transport Scotland is proposing a total subsidy of £3.7 billion over a … Continue reading Scotland’s islanders to get 10 TIMES the subsidy for their ferries than those in more affluent British Columbia, to keep fares amongst the lowest in the developed world

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They get the feast we get the crumbs, again – Labour’s GB energy projects ‘across the country….of England

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By Liz S “Miliband said, “I’m not going to take a decision that is going to raise prices in some parts of the country. That is not what I’m going to do” Really ? Yet when he was interviewed by ITV in March of this year, where they reported that he said this (and he did , because he also tweeted this himself). ‘It’s going to make a difference to so many pupils and so many patients’ Ed Miliband says schools and hospitals will get ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ off their energy bills as they get new solar panels The plans … Continue reading They get the feast we get the crumbs, again – Labour’s GB energy projects ‘across the country….of England

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Scotland’s prison population falls to more than 300 below capacity

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the data tables for Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: April 2025 published today, we can see that Scotland’s prison population has fallen from a peak of 8 326 in February 2025 to 8 147 last week. Weekly figures fluctuate but suggest no significant growth trend.1 In June 2024, Scotland’s prison population was feared to climb to a maximum of 9 1502 but has not, thanks to the early release programmes. The maximum capacity of Scotland’s prisons is 8 475.3 Tight but not a crisis. Has the early release programme been risky? Sources: Continue reading Scotland’s prison population falls to more than 300 below capacity