Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
6 Comments

Go out and buy the Herald today? Words you rarely, actually never, hear here

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA You’ll have to excuse be if I have no scoobie as to why the Herald is leading with the above, presumably Alba-inspired, story: Scotland is expected to generate nearly three quarters of Britain’s onshore wind power with in five years — sparking fears the country is facing North Sea oil-style exploitation as a green energy supplier for England. The Herald on Sunday can reveal that a new roadmap from the UK Government -owned energy management company NESO (National Energy System Operator) shows Scotland’s onshore wind farms would produce up to 20.5 gigawatts at any one time — almost 70% of … Continue reading Go out and buy the Herald today? Words you rarely, actually never, hear here

2 Comments

Homeless deaths plummet in Scotland as they soar in other parts of the UK but….

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC UK, 8th October 2025: The number of people who died while homeless in the UK reached a record high last year, according to new figures. The Museum of Homelessness, which compiles the data, said that 1,611 homeless people died in 2024. The figure is 9% higher than the year before, with the majority of deaths being linked to suicide or drugs, with spice and nitazenes becoming increasingly deadly. The figures show that 1,142 deaths were in England, an increase of 16% on the year before. London had the highest total number of deaths, but … Continue reading Homeless deaths plummet in Scotland as they soar in other parts of the UK but….

6 Comments

Unelected Ayrshire Tory MSP prefers not to tell you about the 99% on time treatment of children and adolescents with mental health problems

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Daily Record yesterday: A row is brewing over delays to complete a multi-million pound mental health inpatient unit, designed to care for children aged 12 to 18 in Ayrshire. The £19m National Secure Adolescent Inpatient Service, known as Foxgrove, was initially due to be completed more than three and a half years ago. Now Scottish Conservative shadow public health minister- and List MSP for South Scotland- Brian Whittle– has gone on the offensive and attacked the SNP-led Scottish Government for its handling of the scheme. He said: “This shocking delay is having a devastating impact … Continue reading Unelected Ayrshire Tory MSP prefers not to tell you about the 99% on time treatment of children and adolescents with mental health problems

1 Comment

It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

johnrobertson834

stewartb Many expert commentators argue that long waits in A&E are caused – to a substantial degree – by delays in discharging hospital in-patients when medically ready for discharge and that this is caused by deficiencies on social care. It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party government in Westminster – despite its campaigning rhetoric – will bring about reform to England’s social care sector and its financial resourcing anytime soon. The Health Foundation think tank published a blog post on October 22 entitled: ‘Social care: a year in, what prospects for reform?’ It included these statements. First for context: ‘Labour … Continue reading It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

2 Comments

NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

johnrobertson834

stewartb making this comment below, yesterday, reminded of how previously, he, I and others have revealed the trickery used by NHS England, operating in a Tory/competitive/managerialist culture, contrary to the public service model still operating in Scotland, have found ways to massage their published statistics. When comparing statistics on long periods spent in A&E in England with those in Scotland, it is always important to check the exact nature of the metric being used. For NHS Scotland, it is always likely to be time spent since arrival up to admission, discharge or transfer. For NHS England the metric in use could be … Continue reading NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

3 Comments

Families in Labour-run Bath and North-East Somerset wait 40 to 200 times as long for social housing as those in SNP-run Glasgow or across Scotland

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie once more alerting me to this: In the Guardian today, the above and: The stats are stark: families on Bath and North East Somerset council’s social housing list face a 200-year wait for a four-bedroom property and the latest available figures show England is building just a little over 10,000 social homes a year. Tackling this crisis was a key element of Labour’s election promise to build 1.5m homes over five years, with the government in July announcing plans to spend £39bn building 300,000 affordable homes over a decade, 60% of them for social rent. But hopes of hitting … Continue reading Families in Labour-run Bath and North-East Somerset wait 40 to 200 times as long for social housing as those in SNP-run Glasgow or across Scotland

4 Comments

Road fatalities trend is relatively flat in last ten years but the level was nearly 70% higher under last Labour government

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Yesterday, STV had: Surge in number of people killed in crashes on Scotland’s roads Statistics for 2024 show 161 people were killed in reported road collisions in Scotland. They did not have the above graph revealing: A one year increase in a falling ten-year period with only yearly fluctuations is neither a surge nor even much of a trend except down. From 2007, when the SNP first came to power, road deaths are now at a level 67.7% lower than under that last Labour administration. In 2007, as the the SNP began 18 years of government … Continue reading Road fatalities trend is relatively flat in last ten years but the level was nearly 70% higher under last Labour government

2 Comments

There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting us to this. In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: Almost 100% of children in 73 neighbourhoods in England are living in income-deprived families, according to new measures that factor in the impact of soaring rents. Changes to official measures reveal the neighbourhoods where in effect all children live in low-income households. Of these, 31 are in inner London boroughs with high housing costs such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Haringey and Westminster. The new indices of multiple deprivation confirm that attempts at levelling up have failed to shift stubbornly high levels of deprivation in so-called … Continue reading There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

2 Comments

Let’s be sure we learn this lesson from history as global uranium demand and Labour’s nuclear plans threaten the lives of the people of the Orkney Islands: Edited

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Frances McKie for alerting us to this again, as she did in March 2025. In Investing.com, two days ago, the above graph and: When the U.S. government announced an $80 billion commitment to build new nuclear reactors, Cameco Corp (NYSE:CCJ) became the talk of Wall Street. The stock skyrocketed 20% in a single day, adding $9 billion to its value and reaching an all-time high of $106.91. Analysts gushed. Investors piled in. It was the obvious winner. But here’s what almost nobody noticed: America is about to need far more uranium than it can get, and the companies … Continue reading Let’s be sure we learn this lesson from history as global uranium demand and Labour’s nuclear plans threaten the lives of the people of the Orkney Islands: Edited

8 Comments

Long A&E waits for the over 90’s shocking 36% more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK’s Breakfast show is covering an Age UK report suggesting a corridor care crisis in ‘NHS’ hospitals and the Guardian, above, is reporting Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year increasing serious harm for them. NHS Scotland figures are not mentioned. Scotland’s media today are, of course, only front-paging Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Rachel Reeves. Age UK‘s report is nowhere on the BBC News websites. They are unlikely to get round to the long waits for over 90’s in Scottish hospitals for this simple reason. From a Freedom … Continue reading Long A&E waits for the over 90’s shocking 36% more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland