Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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It’s a first as the Secretary of State for Scotland does something useful – trying to punish exclusively English drug gangs ‘cuckooing’ hundreds of vulnerable adults in Scotland

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From STV yesterday: Cuckooing is to be made a specific criminal offence in Scotland in a package of new laws to make streets safer. The legislation, designed to better … Continue reading It’s a first as the Secretary of State for Scotland does something useful – trying to punish exclusively English drug gangs ‘cuckooing’ hundreds of vulnerable adults in Scotland

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Why is BBC Scotland not reporting latest crime figures? Because they’re down and murder has plummeted 17% in last 5 years?

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From Recorded Crime in Scotland: year ending December 20241 published yesterday and from Homicide in Scotland 2020-2021: statistics2, published in October 2021, we can see: After peaking horribly in … Continue reading Why is BBC Scotland not reporting latest crime figures? Because they’re down and murder has plummeted 17% in last 5 years?

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Police investigate 90 ‘suspicious’ hospital deaths but the Health Secretary is not even mentioned

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian yesterday, this shocking report, above, and: The number of patient deaths being investigated as possible manslaughter at a … Continue reading Police investigate 90 ‘suspicious’ hospital deaths but the Health Secretary is not even mentioned

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Inverness ‘wilful fire-raising incident’ – is this a second Scottish community fighting back against the plague of English County Lines gangs?

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  BBC Scotland Highlands & Islands had this very brief report last night. Police say they are treating a blaze at a house in Inverness as a wilful fire-raising incident. … Continue reading Inverness ‘wilful fire-raising incident’ – is this a second Scottish community fighting back against the plague of English County Lines gangs?

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BBC Scotland and Prof Paterson shamefully misinterpret statistics to cast another cohort of Scottish students and staff as failures when they are not

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From BBC Scotland today: The attainment gap between Scotland’s richest and poorest school pupils increased last year, according to new figures. The Scottish government has said since 2015 that … Continue reading BBC Scotland and Prof Paterson shamefully misinterpret statistics to cast another cohort of Scottish students and staff as failures when they are not

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LATEST – As crime falls across the board in Scotland in 2024, ignored by media, it’s now more than THREE times as common in England & Wales and violent crime is now 60% more common in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Note: We all know crime reporting figures fell during the pandemic measures, such as social distancing and lockdown in 2020 to 2022, so there’s little point in comparing the … Continue reading LATEST – As crime falls across the board in Scotland in 2024, ignored by media, it’s now more than THREE times as common in England & Wales and violent crime is now 60% more common in England & Wales

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Diagnostic waiting times fall steadily since end of pandemic measures

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From NHS waiting times – diagnostics Waits for key diagnostic tests, published today, the above chart reveals a dramatic reduction, for 5 consecutive months, in the time waited for … Continue reading Diagnostic waiting times fall steadily since end of pandemic measures

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Access to NHS dentistry 23% higher in Scotland

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From Public Health Scotland today: 5,206,528 people were registered with an NHS dentist as of 31 December 2024 (95.6% of the Scottish population). 1 I can’t find directly comparable figures for NHS England. I suspect they want to keep that one quiet after the media reporting, but from a UK Parliament report in 2023: 1 in 5 Britons (22%) are currently not “registered” with a dentist. Of those who were not “registered” 37% said this was because they couldn’t find an NHS dentist.2 Note that access to NHS dentistry is worsening in … Continue reading Access to NHS dentistry 23% higher in Scotland

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Nearly 50% more waiting for care at home packages in England than in Scotland

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From Public Health Scotland today: The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was 2,957 on 3 February 2025.1 All things being equal, … Continue reading Nearly 50% more waiting for care at home packages in England than in Scotland

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Every part of the UK fears crime more than Scots do and they have good reason to

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From YouGov today, The most important issues facing the country, we can see, above, that 14% of Scots rate crime as one of the most important issues and over … Continue reading Every part of the UK fears crime more than Scots do and they have good reason to