Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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In the Guardian today: Killed women count – 80 women allegedly killed by men in UK in 2024 – Throughout the year, the Guardian aimed to report on every woman whose death has led to a man being charged. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2024/dec/31/killed-women-count-a-project-highlighting-the-toll-and-tragedy-of-violence-against-women-in-the-uk There, then follow 80 tragic accounts. I can’t imagine many would want to read all the way. I started to read and something jumped out at me but before I discuss that, some important facts about women victims of homicide across the ‘UK.’ According to the ONS, there were 174 females victims of homicide in England and Wales, in 2023.1 … Continue reading Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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I could walk 140 000 miles or repaint the Sistine Chapel ceiling before Operation Branchform admits defeat

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From the ever-excellent Wee Ginger Dug in the National today, 15 things that took less time to resolve than Operation Branchform: I’m guessing Ukraine and Russia do a deal before a Scottish court, the second it sees the charges against Peter Murrell and/or Nicola Sturgeon, chucks them out. All things must end. The Ukraine war will end this year and Operation Branchform, soon after. Branchform was clearly set up, on orders from the UK Government, to milk this ridiculous case as long as possible, ignoring the scornful laughter, to weaken the SNP, as it has, as soon as we saw … Continue reading I could walk 140 000 miles or repaint the Sistine Chapel ceiling before Operation Branchform admits defeat

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Scottish AI physio breakthrough you won’t hear of in Scottish media

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Thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Today, in the Times but getting no attention from Scottish media, the above and: The launch of the trial in Scotland was noted, in July 2024, by NHS Lothian at: https://news.nhslothian.scot/2024/07/12/uks-first-ai-physio-clinic-trialled-by-nhs-lothian/ and by the journal Pulse at: https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/musculoskeletal-rheumatology-sports-medicine/ai-physiotherapy-clinic-to-roll-out-on-nhs-this-year-makers-say/ but, again, ignored by ‘Scottish’ media. BBC Scotland prefers today to report an ambulance crashing with a car in Aberdeen while travelling to an emergency, rather than informing the public of this important development, its proudly proclaimed and royally chartered purpose, presumably because it might make Scotland not look sh…………. Continue reading Scottish AI physio breakthrough you won’t hear of in Scottish media

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As religious hate crime falls to lowest level for 20 years in Scotland, we are picked out for a campaign to fight it ‘across the UK’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today, by Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent, an image of a hate crime billboard in Glasgow and: Some of the UK’s largest police forces have reported increases in religious hate crimes in the past 18 months, figures reveal, with the number of incidents rising after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in autumn 2023 and again after the Southport attacks in England this summer. Forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands and the Metropolitan police recorded sharp increases in antisemitic offences in the weeks … Continue reading As religious hate crime falls to lowest level for 20 years in Scotland, we are picked out for a campaign to fight it ‘across the UK’

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First pupils who don’t sit maths fail it, now bigger ferry to help with summer demand emits more than smaller one which islanders moaned about – BBC Scotland News goes full steam up a creek

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Two days ago BBC Scotland had ‘Worrying’ 40% of Scottish pupils passed maths’ (Now removed from web!) then we discovered elsewhere that 68% of those who actually sat it, had passed. Today, we hear: CalMac’s new Arran ferry has a bigger [one third] carbon footprint than the diesel vessel that usually serves the route. At the end of the report we hear that ‘it’s wrong to compare them because Glenn Sannox is a bigger vessel! How much bigger is the MV Glen Sannox than the MV Caledonian Isles? It takes more than a third extra vehicles, 127 to 90, to … Continue reading First pupils who don’t sit maths fail it, now bigger ferry to help with summer demand emits more than smaller one which islanders moaned about – BBC Scotland News goes full steam up a creek

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As the Sunday Mail sickeningly exploits the story of a child coming from Morocco to the UK but denied treatment, to attack Scotland, how this small country has helped its big neighbour

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The above front page would be hard to dive below. There are only 12 beds in two facilities in the UK which can carry out this specialist procedure. A child living in Morocco cannot be helped quickly enough and NHS Scotland, one tenth the size of NHS England, is somehow blamed for a lack of capacity UK-wide. While the Sunday Mail may love to offer this kind of sickly tale, we never hear these stories: First, in the Guardian 12 September 2023 , but getting no coverage at all across the BBC or ITV or the press: … Continue reading As the Sunday Mail sickeningly exploits the story of a child coming from Morocco to the UK but denied treatment, to attack Scotland, how this small country has helped its big neighbour

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Despite far more patients assessed and cared for at home, NHS Scotland still maintains more hospital beds than NHS England

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once again to AR for alerting to me to this. The Sunday Times today has a report on the state of an imaginary NHS UK and the declining provision of hospital beds is presented as a major problem, which it is, if you have not done so in response to a major shift toward properly assessed and supported care at home. From People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services, published on December 17th 2024, by the Scottish Government: The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment to enable them … Continue reading Despite far more patients assessed and cared for at home, NHS Scotland still maintains more hospital beds than NHS England

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What about the ferries? Somerset nuclear power station takes 24 years, will be at least 14 years late and cost at least £46bn, nearly three times original cost, and the aircraft carriers, destroyers, the tanks and the fast trains….?

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From the Guardian yesterday: Originally priced at £18bn, the cost of Hinkley has ballooned to £46bn and then there’s the delays. Back in 2007, the then EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that by Christmas 2017 we would be using electricity generated from atomic power at Hinkley. We’re now in Christmas 2024 and Hinkley isn’t due to be completed until 2031. Due to a novel funding method, a lengthy construction timeline for Sizewell will saddle consumers with higher bills long before it delivers a single unit of electricity at a time when there is clear evidence that we can … Continue reading What about the ferries? Somerset nuclear power station takes 24 years, will be at least 14 years late and cost at least £46bn, nearly three times original cost, and the aircraft carriers, destroyers, the tanks and the fast trains….?

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The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald’s Helen McCardle asks that first question above then proceeds to circle around it with a mass of information and comment, ending up by claiming: The above needs the addition – ‘but at what cost in lives?’ So, after the pandemic, NHS England’s two-year waiting list for those with life-diminishing but not life-threatening conditions, such as arthritis, was cleared but Scotland’s was not. How did they do that? The NHS has spent a record £12.3billion outsourcing patients to private hospitals to try to clear waiting lists, figures show. Official data reveals a 12 per cent increase over the past … Continue reading The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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CalMac ferries so generously subsidised and over-sized that tiny winter island traffic is unaffected by a temporary safety limit

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Today headlining on the BBC Scotland website: CalMac cuts passenger numbers over safety failure They open with: Ferry operator CalMac has been forced to cut passengers numbers on its MV Isle of Mull vessel to just 45 after it failed a safety check. Problems were identified with the ship’s evacuation system during its annual overhaul. CalMac has confirmed passenger numbers must be temporarily limited to reflect the spaces available on its lifeboats. BBC Scotland open with the above before going on to milk the story for a further 7 paragraphs before this: CalMac says passenger bookings on the Lochboisdale route … Continue reading CalMac ferries so generously subsidised and over-sized that tiny winter island traffic is unaffected by a temporary safety limit