Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Police Scotland trusted by public up to 53% more than forces in England

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By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian today: Only four out of 10 people in England say they trust the police, with the UK’s biggest force, the Metropolitan police, getting the lowest confidence score, research has found. The poll surveyed nine English regions, in eight of which female respondents had greater trust in the police than male respondents. But for the Met in London, hit by a succession of scandals, women trusted Britain’s largest force less than men. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/18/only-40-of-people-in-england-trust-their-police-force-research-reveals From the Common Weal in October 2023: A report by the Scottish Policing Authority has found that in this last quarter trust and … Continue reading Police Scotland trusted by public up to 53% more than forces in England

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Islanders have photos of empty shelves caused by ferry fiasco but only on the Channel Islands

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From BBC Jersey, today: Shop shelves in Jersey have been empty of fresh produce since Monday due to cancelled freight ferries. Condor Ferries’ conventional sailings were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday “due to operational reasons”, the company said. The boats carry freight and fresh food, as well as passengers, to the Channel Islands. Condor Ferries has been contacted for comment. That’s all. Nobody blames the Channel Islands or UK governments for a failure to invest in new ferries. No islander says – ‘Right! That’s it! I’m off.‘ They have the proof of empty shelves, above. I seem to remember similar … Continue reading Islanders have photos of empty shelves caused by ferry fiasco but only on the Channel Islands

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Scotland ‘surpasses UK’ – rare sighting of Herald ‘Scotland is good’ story

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From the Herald’s token good journalist and the only one who could front a rock band credibly, Ian McConnell, today: It does happen. It means they can claim to offer both sides, be fair, balanced. Herbert Marcuse called it ‘repressive tolerance’. See: https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/publications/1960s/1965-repressive-tolerance-fulltext.html Continue reading Scotland ‘surpasses UK’ – rare sighting of Herald ‘Scotland is good’ story

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Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster!

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In the Guardian today, from Poly Toynbee, one always keen to suggest things are bad in Scotland under the SNP: Jammed 999 lines and not enough ambulances to go round: come see the sharp end of this NHS crisis There’s no mention of Scotland in the Guardian report. In January 2024, I wrote: Via the BBC’s How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app today, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance is 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800 Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023: Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency … Continue reading Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster!

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24 hours after Police Scotland reveal a massive drop in Hate Crime reporting, BBC Scotland repeat the Tory myth unchallenged

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By Professor John Robertson BBC Scotland this morning platforming the Scottish Conservatives twice and repeating the claim that the new Hate Crime law is overwhelming police staff. The above comes 24 hours after Police Scotland posted this: See that last line? Could that be news? To mention it alongside the Tory claim, might that be the kind of balance they love to claim they offer? Now I know the BBC Scotland staff saw the previous post last week, suggesting 7 152 reports, because they covered it at length. Will, they now claim they missed yesterday’s post from Police Scotland? Staffing … Continue reading 24 hours after Police Scotland reveal a massive drop in Hate Crime reporting, BBC Scotland repeat the Tory myth unchallenged

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Hate crime reports plummet 75% in one week to underwhelm Police Scotland’s staffing resource as anyone with half a brain knew they would

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By Professor John Robertson In the Telegraph last week: Hate crime reports in Scotland are on course to outnumber all other offences put together, figures show, as front-line officers warned they “can’t cope” with the surge. From Police Scotland today: The number of online hate reports being received by Police Scotland has dropped almost 75% in the second week since the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 on 1 April 2024. Management data released by Police Scotland shows there were 1832 online hate reports received between 8 and 14 April, 2024, down from 7152 the previous week. The vast … Continue reading Hate crime reports plummet 75% in one week to underwhelm Police Scotland’s staffing resource as anyone with half a brain knew they would

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Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year after Scottish Government Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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By Professor John Robertson The above graph is from Public Health Scotland today, at: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/drug-related-hospital-statistics/drug-related-hospital-statistics-scotland-2022-to-2023/ 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 Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year after Scottish Government Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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How are drugs coming into Scotland and from whom and where?

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Why Liverpool? This: Liverpool drugs gangs still have their eye on Scotland: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-drugs-gangs-still-eye-25476347 By NMRN County lines Drug gangs is the missing part in all reports promoted by the media and politicians when in reference to drugs in Scotland…..yet one would have thought it was a hugely significant factor……a tactical omission ? Perhaps it is something the Justice secretary could seek to explore and have investigated as to the consequences it has upon Scotland and the problems with the drugs accessibility here……. where data could be published which would at least give the Scottish public a sense of how some drugs were coming into … Continue reading How are drugs coming into Scotland and from whom and where?

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BBC Scotland’s Eva was ‘inoperable’ because of ‘nursing shortages’ caused by the demands of the private hospitals Scottish Labour must now support

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By Professor John Robertson BBC Scotland milking another sick child story again. I’m amazed Anas Sarwar is not bedside cuddling her. BBC Scotland, last year and today, pin the blame on the SNP in government with: Mr Adams had previously claimed that nursing shortages at the Edinburgh children’s hospital were contributing to some young patients waiting up to three times longer for spinal surgery than they were pre-pandemic. First, there’s no mention in their report that Scotland has far more nurses and doctors per head of population than England. In 2023, Under the SNP government, we have over 28,000 more … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Eva was ‘inoperable’ because of ‘nursing shortages’ caused by the demands of the private hospitals Scottish Labour must now support