Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Extreme violence ‘Turk Line’ drugs gang supplying Glasgow dealers with cheaper more powerful drugs to prevent Scotland’s drug deaths from falling

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From West Midlands Police, yesterday: Five men have been jailed for more than 40 years after we dismantled a Coventry drugs line. Their drug dealing racket, known as the ‘Turk Line’, is believed to have operated across Coventry between December 2022 and August 2023. The gang would use cars to deal drugs from, registering them under the false alias of ‘Florentin Iosif’ at various addresses to avoid journeys used to drop off the drugs ever being linked back to them. Drugs were then often transported in cars registered to ‘Florentin Iosif’ but driven by different members of the group around … Continue reading Extreme violence ‘Turk Line’ drugs gang supplying Glasgow dealers with cheaper more powerful drugs to prevent Scotland’s drug deaths from falling

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Large complex new ferry comes into service in best ferry service in the World

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By Professor John Robertson, Genuine Ferry Correspondent BBC Scotland’s welcome for the largest and most advanced ferry ever in the UK, massively subsidised to keep workers in jobs and give islanders a cheap service to locations, privately owned systems across the globe would just abandon, is typically grudging and saturated with cringe: Ferries saga ship Glen Sannox finally delivered, The long-delayed ship at the centre of Scotland’s ferries saga has been handed over by the Ferguson shipyard, exactly seven years after it was launched. Got any evidence? Just this, all of this: First, The MV Caledonian Isles was taken off the Arran/Ayrshire … Continue reading Large complex new ferry comes into service in best ferry service in the World

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US ferry firm used toxic paper coating on tickets with risks to children including behaviour problems, cancer and disrupting hormone levels in fetuses

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From our regular ‘Imagine CalMac did this in Scotland’ series Yesterday in the Kitsap Sun of Seattle, Washington State, USA, GDP twice that per head of Scotland: Ferry riders may want to wash their hands after being handed a receipt for a car-and-driver fare, made with a paper that’s now in the process of being phased out. After a state worker flagged a potential safety hazard, this month Washington State Ferries will be the first state agency to phase out “thermal receipts” which contain the potentially harmful substance bisphenol [BPA].  https://eu.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2024/11/19/washington-state-ferries-ditches-chemical-laden-receipts/76342951007/ Yes, yes, they’re phasing them out but imagine the … Continue reading US ferry firm used toxic paper coating on tickets with risks to children including behaviour problems, cancer and disrupting hormone levels in fetuses

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With the Scottish Conservatives finished, BBC Scotland attempts to push the already fading Scottish Labour party horse over the line in 2026

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By Professor John Robertson OBA To discuss the problem of derelict buildings being left up too long, BBC Scotland choose, Colin Smyth, a Labour regional (list) MSP (not actually elected by locals) in a region (Scotland South) where there are no Labour constituency MSPs (6 SNP and 3 Cons). The above factory location is not named but there is a local MSP actually elected by the locals. Why were they not asked? Colin grew up in Dumfries. Why did BBC Scotland not approach Oliver Mundell the actual MSP for the area? As with many other recent examples, including Anas Sarwar arriving by … Continue reading With the Scottish Conservatives finished, BBC Scotland attempts to push the already fading Scottish Labour party horse over the line in 2026

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Only in Scotland, is the Auditor General a political stooge and media favourite assisting the Scottish Labour campaign for 2026

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and we know there are some small-scale examples of where they have changed public services but we’ve been talking about public service for the past 13 years and we’re not seeing anything of the scale and pace that is going to help the Scottish Government that are going to help them bridge the £1 billion gap in public spending. By Professor John Robertson OBA Above and headlining BBC Scotland today, the Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, criticises the Scottish Government again, in a sequence of such high profile media appearances. This is a uniquely Scottish experience as a public official, funded by all … Continue reading Only in Scotland, is the Auditor General a political stooge and media favourite assisting the Scottish Labour campaign for 2026

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Bomb Squad called to three locations in Glasgow City Centre is most unusual

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The current UK Government National Threat Level is: ‘substantial – an attack is likely.’ Why do I say this is unusual? As with IRA terror in the 70s to the 90s, Scotland has seen little of the Islamic terror which struck England in the first decade of the 21st Century after the Iraq invasion. In 2017, I could write: Scotland and Terrorism: Are we safer? السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ‎‎ I’m still not sure if I should be writing this.  I’m not going to tempt fate and say we won’t see anything like the Manchester attack here. I’m just going to present some information … Continue reading Bomb Squad called to three locations in Glasgow City Centre is most unusual

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Reverse Trojan Horse – Why the SNP and Labour should do a coalition deal in 2026 for independence by 2030

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When I first saw the above, my first reaction was: ‘DAFT, DAFT and…….DAFT.’ Then something flashed from the nether regions into the front of my brain, while walking the dog. First, some facts you’ll need: From a FindOutNow poll for the Alba Party on 16-23 October, 25% of Labour voters would vote YES in a second independence referendum. From a YouGov poll on 29 August to 3 September a majority of Labour voters 47%/40% would vote YES if independence meant re-joining the EU. Leaving aside their leadership, most Labour voters share similar positions with the SNP, on taxation, benefits, health, … Continue reading Reverse Trojan Horse – Why the SNP and Labour should do a coalition deal in 2026 for independence by 2030

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Yet another reason why British Labour Party leaders hope Scotland’s voters will NEVER ask the question: ‘How has Wales fared with Labour governing in Cardiff with devolved powers?’

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Since 2007/08, poverty rates among children in England, Scotland and Wales have been consistently lowest in Scotland and often highest in Labour-run Wales according to the Social Metrics Commission. By stewartb This blog post is a follow on from the recent TuS blog post – ‘Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it’ – prompted by the Guardian’s coverage of the Social Metrics Commission’s latest report. Source: Social Metrics Commission (2024) Measuring Poverty 2024( https://socialmetricscommission.org.uk/ ) Comparing rates of povertyThe table below summarises data on the percentage of the population in England, Scotland andWales … Continue reading Yet another reason why British Labour Party leaders hope Scotland’s voters will NEVER ask the question: ‘How has Wales fared with Labour governing in Cardiff with devolved powers?’

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Failing to tell us that the early prison release scheme in Scotland has already been a success as re-offending rate plummets

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By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland this morning telling us that MSPs will debate legislation to cut the minimum term served by short term sentence prisoners from 50% to 40% to relieve overcrowding. Wouldn’t be interesting to know if previous early release schemes have been successful? Imagine they had caused a surge in crime? BBC Scotland don’t inform on this despite it being their day job to do so. I’ll do it. In October 2024, after previous batch of early releases the Scottish media were full of headlines like: On in ten prisoners released early back behind bars and Dozens of … Continue reading Failing to tell us that the early prison release scheme in Scotland has already been a success as re-offending rate plummets

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Liz Kendall reveals 40 000 more Scots pensioners predicted to suffer fuel poverty leading to greater cancer risk and ending up joining the assisted dying programmes she is first minister to support

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Liz Kendall, UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, wrote today to reveal this, for the UK as a whole: An extra 450 000 UK pensioners pushed into poverty by 2030 means around 40 000 in Scotland. From the Herald on 1 August 2024, only one month after the General Election: From the National Records of Scotland in 2019: The association between mortality and low indoor temperature observed by the Eurowinter Group was also found by Wilkinson (2001) in a study on excess winter deaths in England. This used postcodes to link data on characteristics of over 21,000 houses … Continue reading Liz Kendall reveals 40 000 more Scots pensioners predicted to suffer fuel poverty leading to greater cancer risk and ending up joining the assisted dying programmes she is first minister to support