Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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BBC England reports on brutal County Lines drugs gang travelling into Scotland, Police Scotland News reports on these gangs 17 times in 2024 alone but BBC Scotland? Well you know….

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In the above BBC England report, the word Scotland does not appear but in every other report by West Midlands news outlets on the same day, they refer to their police teams working with Police Scotland. Why would Police Scotland do that? Because, English County Lines gangs, based on Police Scotland estimates, have for at least five years now, brought a wave of terror into at least 60 Scottish small towns and villages. They bring with them cheap drug supplies, extreme violence, the use of child drug carriers on the rail lines, people trafficking, prostitution, the exploitation (cuckooing) of vulnerable … Continue reading BBC England reports on brutal County Lines drugs gang travelling into Scotland, Police Scotland News reports on these gangs 17 times in 2024 alone but BBC Scotland? Well you know….

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Rural crime up but there’s something we’re not telling you

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The Reporting Scotland team were clearly delighted to tell you this morning that rural crime in Scotland climbed by an estimated 34.9% to a whopping £1.8 million in 2023, according to an NFU Mutual report. It’s not on their website. I suppose they need the space for those possible future bin collector strikes. £1.8 million, eh? Seems a lot. With 12 times the population, that must be around £22 million for the UK as a whole. It isn’t? BBC Scotland, contemptuous of whatabootery, unless it makes us look bad, don’t mention that it was £52.8 million, more than twice as … Continue reading Rural crime up but there’s something we’re not telling you

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BBC Scotland has never mentioned the English cities from which these gangsters travel to terrorise small towns and villages across Scotland while STV has done so 16 times – they refuse to respond despite the new data offered as proof

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New complaint today: In an earlier response to me, on the plague of extreme violence, cheap drugs and child abuse perpetrated by exclusively English city-based County Lines gangs, BBC Scotland senior news editors have insisted “there is no substance in your suggestion that BBC Scotland is “Uniquely…hiding this phenomenon.” I have carried out a Google search for ‘BBC Scotland County Lines’ and for ‘STV County Lines.’ The results are that, since 2019 when these gangs were first known of, BBC Scotland has only twice ever mentioned ‘County lines’ in a headline while STV has done so 14 times. In a … Continue reading BBC Scotland has never mentioned the English cities from which these gangsters travel to terrorise small towns and villages across Scotland while STV has done so 16 times – they refuse to respond despite the new data offered as proof

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Unique SNP drug death prevention scheme reduces load on hospitals for 4th quarter in a row and down by one third in only one year

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By Professor John Robertson Why is the above happening? In major part for this reason: After a pilot phase ending in 2018, the Scottish Government began to embed Naloxone opioid overdose reversal kits across NHS Scotland. Shortly after, the kits which can be administered by anyone, were adopted by Police Scotland, ambulances and prisons, and made available to libraries, community centres, taxi drivers and to the friends and relatives of users. Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a national naloxone programme, empowering individuals, families, friends and communities to reverse an opiate overdose. Anyone in Scotland can … Continue reading Unique SNP drug death prevention scheme reduces load on hospitals for 4th quarter in a row and down by one third in only one year

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STV is 7 times more likely to report on County Lines from English cities terrorising small-town, Scotland in the public interest.

johnrobertson834

In response to my follow-up complaint showing objectively that BBC Scotland has only ever mentioned the term ‘County Lines’, in the headline to a story, twice, in 2019 and 2021 and never mentions that the flow of drugs is from English cities into Scotland. A BBC UK report in March 2024, mentions Scottish towns but does not use the term nor does it locate the gangs in English cities, as is the case, exclusively. BBC Complaints wrote to me yesterday: We raised your complaint with senior news editors at BBC Scotland. They have little to add to the response you’ve … Continue reading STV is 7 times more likely to report on County Lines from English cities terrorising small-town, Scotland in the public interest.

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The deadly consequences of living next to nuclear dumps – BBC Scotland writer fails to make the connection to his own workplace on Clyde-by-Faslane-Coulport

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By Professor John Robertson A BBC US & Canada story popped up in my google alert today. The name Andrew Picken, one of the authors, caught my attention. He’s a BBC Scotland reporter. There is no mention of Scotland in the report which considers the deaths from cancers of a UK marine and his wife, 30 years after living for 2 years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina USA. Of particular interest to us but not to Picken, it seems, is this: In 2021, Joe and Carol were living in Portsmouth when blood tests ahead of a hip replacement operation … Continue reading The deadly consequences of living next to nuclear dumps – BBC Scotland writer fails to make the connection to his own workplace on Clyde-by-Faslane-Coulport

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Four weeks in and Labour Work and Pensions Secretary doing nothing for BBC Scotland’s struggling carer

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From BBC Scotland today: Brian Closs is a full-time carer for his two autistic teenagers and has been receiving income support with child benefit, carers allowance and child tax credits. But these benefits are being phased out by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of a “managed migration” to universal credit payments. Money is already tight for Brian, 55, but in order to receive his new benefit he has to claim and then wait more than a month for his new payment. The controversial “five-week wait” means he will fall further into debt unless he asks for … Continue reading Four weeks in and Labour Work and Pensions Secretary doing nothing for BBC Scotland’s struggling carer

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UK Labour to delay 40 new hospitals while SNP delay only 2 – half as many pro rata

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In February 2024, the Scottish Government put on hold new hospitals for Airdrie and Fort William, after major cuts to the funds returned to Scotland by the Treasury, despite soaring whisky, food, oil and gas revenues. A BBC Scotland report at the time, did not mention the cuts until the last 2 of 45 paragraphs but did manage to platform ‘practising GP (sic or sick))’ Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP (Con) and Dr Iain Kennedy of the BMA Scottish branch, earlier. Today, the Guardian tells us that 40 planned new hospitals, badly needed for the crumbling NHS England estate, are to … Continue reading UK Labour to delay 40 new hospitals while SNP delay only 2 – half as many pro rata

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Labour control of Holyrood would lead to 40% surge in those needing to pay privately for operations

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Thanks to A.M.MacJ https://x.com/ammacj for alerting me to this: Regulars will know what sums are coming. On those having to pay themselves for private medical care (right-hand column above), with 1.7 times the population of Wales, Scotland might be expected to have had around 29 500 (1.7 x 17 000) such admissions, but had only 21 000. 29 500 is 40% higher than the actual 21 000. So after a bit of Labour-rule in Scotland, we might expect a 40% surge in private care? Source: https://www.phin.org.uk/news/phin-private-market-update-june-2024-united-kingdom Continue reading Labour control of Holyrood would lead to 40% surge in those needing to pay privately for operations

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Scottish Government settles with GPs to save 300 000 appointments every week and avert ‘catastrophe’ expected in NHS England

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in the Guardian today, the above and this: Industrial action by GPs could have a “catastrophic” impact on A&E units, the 111 telephone advice service and mental healthcare, a senior NHS leader has told the Guardian. Family doctors who run GP surgeries across England are about to finish voting on whether to reduce the care they provide – including limiting the number of patients they see to 25 a day – in protest at the previous government increasing their budget by only 1.9% this year. https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/28/gps-capping-patient-numbers-could-have-catastrophic-effect-on-ae-says-nhs-chief In Scotland: The Government have now written to BMA Scotland with the details – they are … Continue reading Scottish Government settles with GPs to save 300 000 appointments every week and avert ‘catastrophe’ expected in NHS England