Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Actual news – alcohol treatment hits 90% target, consumption and hospital admissions plummet

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Reporting Scotland today but not making it to their website, so a direct feed from Scottish Health Action of Alcohol Problems, claiming an ‘unmet need’ for alcohol treatment services. Not mentioned by BBC Scotland, these facts. First, on existing services: From Public Health Scotland on 25 June 2024: Alcohol and drug treatment services both seeing around 90% of referrals within 3 weeks, year after year, with a tiny, not statistically significant, gap in performance. The news is that these services are both target-hitting consistently and should be getting media attention for that but they never do. Source: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times-1-january-2024-to-31-march-2024/ Second, … Continue reading Actual news – alcohol treatment hits 90% target, consumption and hospital admissions plummet

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Six sub-polls suggest modest SNP recovery, growing Reform threat and ongoing crisis for the others leading to good result in the constituencies for the SNP

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From Opinium with sub-polls of around 160 Scots 18+years of age, on 29 and 13 (in brackets) November, 31 and 18 October (in brackets) support is (was): Con 15% (11, 14, 18) Lab 22% (27, 26, 25) LD 9% (14, 7, 11) SNP 31% (21, 29, 28) Reform 14% (11, 12, 18) Green 6% (5, 6, 8) This suggests ongoing crises for Scottish Labour and Cons, LD and Greens with steady modest recovery of the SNP and growing support for Reform eating away at Cons and Labour. Polls a few days earlier by More in Common and Find our Now … Continue reading Six sub-polls suggest modest SNP recovery, growing Reform threat and ongoing crisis for the others leading to good result in the constituencies for the SNP

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Yet more London-based right-wing babies telling us to steal from the poor

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks, once more, to AR for alerting me to this: The above two posh wee girls have done a wee project for the IEA in London, and Scotland on Sunday think we jocks, some aging, would benefit from hearing their wisdom on why universal benefits such as free prescriptions and tuition, are too dear for us. I fear, Kate Forbes may not be entirely opposed to their findings. The Reid Foundation, me, I suspect you and anyone who has lived beyond the confines, of prep-school, a private education, Oxbridge and a daddy-enabled internship, will be struggling … Continue reading Yet more London-based right-wing babies telling us to steal from the poor

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Latest – Scottish Labour policy challenged as new research reviewing more than 2 000 studies finds increased risk of thyroid cancer for those living near nuclear power plants

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From The National on 9 July 2024: SCOTTISH Secretary Ian Murray has repeatedly refused to say the new UK Labour government will not overrule its devolved counterpart to see nuclear projects built in Scotland. The Labour MP was speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland on Tuesday when he was pushed on whether the UK Government under Keir Starmer might step in to force through planning decisions, despite the area being devolved to Holyrood. Murray repeatedly refused to rule out any planning decisions being taken by the UK Government over the heads of local people or devolved representatives. Instead, he said it was “really … Continue reading Latest – Scottish Labour policy challenged as new research reviewing more than 2 000 studies finds increased risk of thyroid cancer for those living near nuclear power plants

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NHS Scotland is not lagging behind – Complaint to Editor of Times and their response, so much better than BBC Complaints

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By Professor John Robertson OBA To the Editor of the Times, regarding the above article, being widely copied in MSM and exciting Unionists, I submitted a formal complaint with this content; On cancer waiting times, you had: ‘The waiting times for cancer treatment are continuing to surge in England and Scotland, with only 73 per cent and 68 per cent of cases respectively meeting the 62-day target from the time of referral to the start of treatment.’ This is misleading as, based on your own graph below, the 73% figure applies to Scotland and not to England. On the 62-day … Continue reading NHS Scotland is not lagging behind – Complaint to Editor of Times and their response, so much better than BBC Complaints

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Factcheck – cancer waiting times NOT surging in Scotland and significantly better than in other parts of UK

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. Cancer waiting times The Times has: The waiting times for cancer treatment are continuing to surge in England and Scotland, with only 73 per cent and 68 per cent of cases respectively meeting the 62-day target from the time of referral to the start of … Continue reading Factcheck – cancer waiting times NOT surging in Scotland and significantly better than in other parts of UK

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Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. The backlog The Times claims that the backlog in England was only 290 326 and 72 793 in Scotland, at the end of June. Also, they claim that the backlog has been falling in England, while in Scotland it continues to climb and that this … Continue reading Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. A&E waiting times The Times claims that in September 2024 65.9% were seen within 4 hours in Scotland and 72.4% were seen in that time in NHS England. They’re confused or dishonest. Looking at the published data, from Public Health Scotland, … Continue reading Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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Even with the predicted council tax increase Scots will still pay far less than in other parts of UK as they have done for the last 17 years

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In July 2024, from the Scottish Government: Council Tax rates are regularly quoted as being lower in Scotland than in England. However, does a simple numerical comparison tell you everything you need to know? At face value, the official statistics show that the average Council Tax bill per dwelling in Scotland is over £350 per year lower. 1 The full report does go on to explain why direct comparisons are problematic but you can be sure that were this the other way round, MSM would not hesitate to shout: SNP Council Tax bills £350 higher! In November 2023, from Policy Mogul, … Continue reading Even with the predicted council tax increase Scots will still pay far less than in other parts of UK as they have done for the last 17 years

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Canadian ferry service prices to rise 30% to cope with 16 aging vessels 30 decrepit terminals

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From the Vancouver Sun, yesterday: The CEO of B.C. Ferries is warning the company may need to increase fares by 30 per cent or more in 2028, when its current fare structure expires. Nicolas Jimenez says in a written statement the provincially owned corporation had forecast last year that such a price rise would be needed to keep up with operating and capital costs. But, he said costs since then have jumped, including a 40 per cent increase in shipbuilding expenses since 2020. The rising costs have created “a growing funding gap” that Jimenez says will require “a sustainable funding … Continue reading Canadian ferry service prices to rise 30% to cope with 16 aging vessels 30 decrepit terminals