Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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‘Free speech’ – Why ditching of Facebook factcheckers and Musk X ideology are good for the Scottish independence movement

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I know, not the kind of guys you’d invite or who’d want to come round I suppose, but sometimes you can’t choose your friends. Musk and now Zuckerberg look like implementing full ‘free speech’ including the abandonment of factchecking. All right-thinking folk are up in arms, or are they? Last night a friend and long-time SNP member told me his wife, not a member, had cancelled her Facebook account after hearing of the changes at Facebook. Looking at these billionaires, I get it but I can’t regret it. For years but increasingly so in recent months, Facebook has been removing … Continue reading ‘Free speech’ – Why ditching of Facebook factcheckers and Musk X ideology are good for the Scottish independence movement

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A&E attendance at lowest for a year and roughly the same winter level for years

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The Herald today, has: Flu-hit A&E units running at four times over capacity Clear in the above graph, overall pressure on A&E services, at the end of December was relatively low and, on average, little different from previous years. After Health Secretary, Neil Gray, praised staff for ‘coping’ with the above surge in flu cases, the Express wrote: ‘Shameless’ Neil Gray’s pats himself on the back over NHS despite record lows and crisis-hit service Kind of makes you wonder if professional journalism should be banned. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/healthcare-system/urgent-and-unscheduled-care/accident-and-emergency/interactive-charts/how-long-people-spend-in-ae/ Continue reading A&E attendance at lowest for a year and roughly the same winter level for years

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Shock figures show ambulance crews are assaulted more than FOUR TIMES as frequently in Labour’s ‘lawless England’

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Thanks to one of our Anonymouses for this: From the ‘Scottish’ Daily Express yesterday: Shock figures show ambulance crews are assaulted EVERY DAY in the SNP’s lawless Scotland. Ambulance staff in Scotland were verbally or physically assaulted almost every day on average last year, with the abuse against the nation’s mercy crews up by 11%. The Scottish Ambulance Service recorded 346 shocking incidents in 2023/24 including cases of spitting, punching and threatening staff with bottles or other weapons. 1 All things being equal, with 12 times the population, the UK might be expect to be having around 12 cases per day? From Sky News, … Continue reading Shock figures show ambulance crews are assaulted more than FOUR TIMES as frequently in Labour’s ‘lawless England’

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Fifth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead and Reform is eating the Cons and Labour

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Today, from Deltapoll, based on data collected from 1 532, on 30th December 2024 to 3rd January, we see: Con – 23% Lab – 30% Lib Dem -12% Reform – 22% Green – 9% The Scottish subset of 133 has: Con 12% Lab – 17% Lib Dem – 14% Reform – 17% Green – 8% SNP – 32% A sub poll of only 133 has clear limitations in terms of reliability but this is the latest of 5 [c800 subjects in total] all telling the same story, of Cons, Lab and Reform all doing less well in Scotland than elsewhere … Continue reading Fifth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead and Reform is eating the Cons and Labour

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Sky News try to push the child grooming scandal north of the border with one Scot* out of thousands of victims

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Amazingly, Sky News and, I hear, Channel 4 News find a woman in Glasgow to talk about her experience of being groomed and raped. *That this took place in Glasgow, ten years ago or so, is not confirmed. It’s an amazing find. Until the recent (2002) abuse of 4 children of primary school age in Glasgow by 7 men, there is no report of anything like a ‘grooming’ gang with multiple victims in Scotland. Channel 4’s FACTCHECK in August 2014, makes no mention of Scotland or Glasgow, only: By date of conviction, we have evidence of such exploitation taking place … Continue reading Sky News try to push the child grooming scandal north of the border with one Scot* out of thousands of victims

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Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA An expansion of private healthcare is now a central strategy to cut waiting lists in England, from a party where many of its leaders, have received large donations from private healthcare firms, yet less than a year earlier Oxford University’s PROVED research UK Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care.’ From Oxford University researchers reported in The Lancet, on 29 February 2024: A new review has concluded that hospitals that are privatised typically deliver worse quality care after converting from public ownership. The study, led by University of Oxford researchers, has been published in The Lancet Public … Continue reading Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but one of Joseph Goebbels’ many students in Scottish Labour knows how to make it seem the opposite

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Yesterday in the Guardian, Anas Sarwar is quoted as: having accused the Scottish government of “weakening every institution in Scotland“, and causing Scotland “to be stuck in a rut where Scots have to wait too long for healthcare, feel insecure both economically and often in their communities, and fear for the future opportunities of their children.” If feel sure you don’t need to be told just how inaccurate all of that rant is. I don’t doubt he too knows it’s not true. None of that matters in his drive for power. He has learned: Make the lie big, make it … Continue reading Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but one of Joseph Goebbels’ many students in Scottish Labour knows how to make it seem the opposite

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Former Labour and Jack McConnell aide desperately attempts to spread ‘grooming gang’ pandemic into Scotland based on no evidence at all

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In the wake of the accusations that Keir Starmer was neglectful in his role as chief prosecutor at the time of the Rotherham Grooming [Mass child rape] Gang scandal, former Labour First Minister, Jack McConnell’s aide, Susan Dalgety, writes in the Scotsman on Saturday 4th January: Why Scotland needs urgent national investigation into child sex abuse by grooming gangs1 Leaving aside the irony of Scottish Labour calling for an inquiry into a phenomenon barely reported in Scotland at the same time as UK Labour refuses one where the phenomenon is widely reported in England, what evidence of need does Dalgety … Continue reading Former Labour and Jack McConnell aide desperately attempts to spread ‘grooming gang’ pandemic into Scotland based on no evidence at all

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NHS 18-week treatment target – Starmer aims to still lag behind Scotland nearly two years after coming to power

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Health today and headlining across TV broadcast news today: The government has unveiled a new pledge to cut the list of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in England by nearly half a million over the next year. A key Labour election pledge, now included in the government’s six main priorities, is for 92% of patients to begin treatment or be given the all-clear within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament. This has been an official NHS target for some time, but has not been met since 2015. Currently, only … Continue reading NHS 18-week treatment target – Starmer aims to still lag behind Scotland nearly two years after coming to power

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Royal Yacht cost nearly half a billion to repair and had 8 times as many crew, for 250 guests, no cars or HGVs, as the MV Glen Sannox will have to look after 852 passengers, 127 cars and 16 HGVs

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Thanks to cuckooshoe and one of our anonymouses, for this. In Business Insider, November 10th 2022, we read that the Royal Yacht Britannia cost the taxpayer £11 million per year to maintain from 1953 to 1997, £484 million! The 126m vessel had 271 crew members for up to 250 guests, no cars and no HGVs. The 102m MV Glen Sannox will have 32 crew members for 852 passengers, 127 cars and 16 HGVs. Continue reading Royal Yacht cost nearly half a billion to repair and had 8 times as many crew, for 250 guests, no cars or HGVs, as the MV Glen Sannox will have to look after 852 passengers, 127 cars and 16 HGVs