Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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News you won’t hear on climate change – actually doing something?

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You won’t see this on BBC Scotland – Murrell! Murrell! Sturgeon! Murrell, more ferry delays…. Nor on BBC Scotland Business – climate change targets scrapped (lie), bank closures, shouting at fish markets….no Murrell….isn’t embezzlement a kind of business? From the Scottish Government today: The Scottish Government is stepping up action to tackle climate change with a suite of new policies on transport, including increasing the number of electric vehicle chargers, and land use. The increase in charging points comes as part of a wider climate package that also includes an integrated ticketing system which can be used across all public transport. … Continue reading News you won’t hear on climate change – actually doing something?

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England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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From the Guardian today: English primary schools cutting teacher numbers amid budget pressure, survey finds. A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders and teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that three-quarters said their primary schools were cutting teaching assistant roles, while a third were also cutting teacher numbers. From GOV.UK in November 2023, pupil-teacher ratios: Any class-teachers out these will be shouting things like ‘I’ve got 30’ and ‘I’ve never had fewer than 25’, and so on. That’s because the above ratios take into account promoted staff with no or reduced class-contact times, so in Scotland, … Continue reading England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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The Bradford gang that tried to spread misery into Auchinleck?

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I have a google alert for ‘county lines.’ Every day I get links to media reports on that, across England and Wales. I haven’t had one by a Scottish media outlet. BBC Scotland have not mentioned them since 2021, and only once then. From Yorkshire Live today: Bradford gang spread misery and class As in huge county lines operation. A Bradford county lines gang who spread drugs and misery throughout a town and city in East Yorkshire has been jailed. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bradford-gang-spread-misery-class-161742927.html ‘Bradford’ reminded me of the November 2023 ‘riots’ in Auchinleck and Cumnock (East Ayrshire) and the local reports ignored by the media: and: … Continue reading The Bradford gang that tried to spread misery into Auchinleck?

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£15bn for Thames Water – just charge 10% to our Scottish colony says Westminster?

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Open Forum By Professor John Robertson In the voice of Paul Merton: An open forum? We’ve never had one of those before! The report from the Guardian above, prompted a friend of TuS to ask the above question. Now, if you want to argue about education or media effects, maybe these days, health, crime and transport, I’m up for that, but the economy? For some reason, my brain won’t go there with any conviction. However, I know, based on the evidence of comments over the last 10 years in TuSland, that you lot are smart, perhaps even ‘qualified’, perhaps (better?) … Continue reading £15bn for Thames Water – just charge 10% to our Scottish colony says Westminster?

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Has any part of the NHS in the UK been able to match delivery capacity with increasing demand for health services?

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By stewartb Workforce statistics need very careful analysis based on trusted, objective assessment which gives readers ‘perspective’. No longer confident in the BMAs credentials in this regard and certainly not in the The Herald’s reporting on NHS Scotland. NHS Scotland’s total workforce in Q4 2023 was 160,567 (whole time equivalents), up 18.9% over the past ten years and up 14.1% in the past five years alone. The Q4 2023 the workforce included: In Q4 2019 the workforce included: Source: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics-publications/?pageid=1302 Looking further back in time, using this source: ‘NHS National Services Scotland (28 June 2011 ) NHS Scotland Workforce – Data … Continue reading Has any part of the NHS in the UK been able to match delivery capacity with increasing demand for health services?

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School suspensions 4 times more, and full expulsions shocking 600 times more, common in England’s not so fair and pleasant land

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Many thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this via the Guardian: Pupil suspensions in England hit record high, rising by nearly a third year on year, DfE figures show From the Scotsman, no friend of the SNP Government, on 25 March 2024: Across Scotland, there were 11,675 cases of temporary exclusion of any length of time, with just one pupil being expelled, as previously revealed by The Scotsman. The figures compare to 39,553 temporary exclusions and 164 permanent in 2007, when the SNP came to power. So, with 10 times the population, all things being equally progressive and hopefully not … Continue reading School suspensions 4 times more, and full expulsions shocking 600 times more, common in England’s not so fair and pleasant land

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The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP… reads almost like a Crime novel

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By NMRN The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP…involves a surreal situation which reads almost like a Crime novel….involves a Tory MP, Mark Menzies (never heard of him) who is the MP for Flyde in Lancashire, where apparently he called an elderly party volunteer saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”……An eventual sum of £6,500 was paid to secure his release. The money is reported to have come out of local Conservative party funds and the party is carrying out an an investigation……I assume the Police are also carrying out an investigation and if not … Continue reading The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP… reads almost like a Crime novel

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Something else BBC Scotland fed by the Scotsman were trying to hide from you today

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By Professor John Robertson On the Scotsman’s front page and repeatedly on BBC Scotland broadcasts, the story that the Scottish Government ‘plans‘ to ‘scrap’, ‘ditch’ and ‘drop’ one climate change target is presented as humiliation and embarrassment. Way down the page, we read something very important: Green MSP Ross Greer said it was “a difficult day for the planet and Scotland”. He also argued that the Scottish Government’s targets had been made on the assumption of a cooperative UK Government. Mr Greer told BBC Scotland news that previous governments had not taken enough climate action and his party had “massively … Continue reading Something else BBC Scotland fed by the Scotsman were trying to hide from you today

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What BBC Scotland and the BMA Scotland were hiding from you this morning

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BMA Scotland, headed up by Dr Iain Kennedy, who has now shed the union flag on his twitter account, have a piece on consultant vacancies all over the media from 06:30 this morning on BBC Scotland. They’ll have had this one oven-ready for some time now. Why today? From the real BMA in London today: The BMA England GP committee has warned health service officials that the profession is ‘now in dispute’ with NHS England following the overwhelming vote to reject the 2024/25 contract. Is the profession in dispute with NHS Scotland? The silence talks. Continue reading What BBC Scotland and the BMA Scotland were hiding from you this morning

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Scotland’s ferries policy manifestly functional says this expert

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In the Herald today: Scotland’s ferry policy is “manifestly dysfunctional” and must be overhauled, an expert has said. In a submission to a Transport Scotland consultation on its Island Connectivity plan, Roy Pedersen criticised the current process of “the state procuring large, inefficient ships! which he says “will increase the already high financial cost to the Scottish taxpayer”.  Pederson’s report is 36 pages long but judging by the above claims, he has missed any international comparisons of the kind any rigorous research would require. Academics call it a ‘review of literature’ without which no research will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. If … Continue reading Scotland’s ferries policy manifestly functional says this expert