Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Reporting anti-semitism in Scotland badly

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that’s according to Jewish charity the Community Security Trust. It says 68 incidents were recorded here in Scotland. Reporting Scotland, once more headlining a worry about life in Scotland that the website does not feature: Once more, numbers with no context. UK-wide, the CST reported 4 103 cases. With one eleventh of the population, all things being equal, you might expect Scotland to have had around 370 cases but had 68, just over one-sixth of the level. Might that be newsworthy here? What were the Scottish examples in the report? One example of a mass-produced evangelical leaflet sent to a … Continue reading Reporting anti-semitism in Scotland badly

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Is there no BBC Scotland reporting immune from omissions to favour the Union?

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By stewartb The initial purpose here was to comment solely on a divergence of view between the National Farmers Union in Scotland (NFU Scotland ) and the Tory Party. The difference became evident in responses to the First Minister’s speech to NFU Scotland’s annual conference in Glasgow on 9 February. But reading the coverage of the same speech on the BBC News website’s Scotland page, additional noteworthy aspects emerged! The FM was setting out the Scottish Government’s future funding plans for the agriculture sector as necessitated by the transition away from the EU Common Agriculture Policy, post-Brexit. Responding at the … Continue reading Is there no BBC Scotland reporting immune from omissions to favour the Union?

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Where’s David? Hiding a Scottish Tory oil & gas shares scandal

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From the Guardian today not on the front page, and only beyond that, in the National: The Conservative MP David Duguid failed to declare his wife’s £50,000 shareholding in BP while speaking in debates about windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry, the parliamentary commissioner has found. The parliamentary commissioner for standards carried out an investigation into the MP for Banff and Buchan and former Scotland Office minister after the Guardian revealed Duguid’s wife’s shareholdings. Parliamentary rules require MPs to declare while speaking in debates the financial interests of a spouse or other family member, where there could be considered a conflict. … Continue reading Where’s David? Hiding a Scottish Tory oil & gas shares scandal

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Why are we measuring ferry costs over strange periods of time such as eight months and five and a half years? What are we and the Cons up to?

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over an 8 month period last year. The overall sum from a freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives is the highest annual spend on record. The above story, another Reporting Scotland special not being reported elsewhere, is another feed from opposition parties and echoes the Herald’s front page: CalMac’s spend on unplanned maintenance of the ageing ferry fleet has more than trebled in five-and-a-half years, it can be revealed. These random measures – 8 months and 5 and a half years – as opposed to normal annual changes, tell you straight off, it’s worth looking at them carefully. … Continue reading Why are we measuring ferry costs over strange periods of time such as eight months and five and a half years? What are we and the Cons up to?

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‘One of the biggest and oldest vessels in Scotland’s lifeline ferry network’ is only half the age of US ferry in for check-up

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The Herald, five days ago, was telling us One of the biggest and oldest vessels in Scotland’s lifeline ferry network is set to be sidelined for nearly three months. The 30-year-old MV Caledonian Isles which serves on the Arran route, one of the busiest on the Scottish coast, and is due to be replaced, has been out of action since going for an overhaul at the start of January. In March 2023, the P&J helpfully listed all 34 CalMac vessels, revealing that, other than the wee, short-crossing, MV Isle of Cumbrae, at 47 years of age, all the others are … Continue reading ‘One of the biggest and oldest vessels in Scotland’s lifeline ferry network’ is only half the age of US ferry in for check-up

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More than 50 English hospitals still have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow

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In November 2023, we could write for the period July 2022 to June 2023 : More than 50 English hospitals have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow Today, we can repeat a similar tale for the period October 2022 to September 2023. The funnel plot below, and previous examples reported here, comparing predicted deaths with actual deaths, shows two things in particular: The funnel plot below for NHS England shows two things in particular. Continue reading More than 50 English hospitals still have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow

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Drooling over a miserly 5 days off unpaid and ignoring Scottish Government’s real help for carers

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From BBC Scotland today Lindsay McCurley from Glasgow is a single parent carer. She looks after her teenage son Nathan, who has autism. She is among thousands of people across the UK who struggle with trying to care for a relative long-term while also trying to stay in paid employment. But now a change in the law, due to come into force on 6 April, means people who care for relatives outside of work can take an extra week of unpaid leave every year. The Carer’s Leave Act, which will apply across the UK, allows employees with long-term care commitments … Continue reading Drooling over a miserly 5 days off unpaid and ignoring Scottish Government’s real help for carers

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Fact Check – Lib Dems reveal nearly 3 TIMES as many wait more than 12 hours in English A&Es than in Scotland

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In 2023, 58 782 people waited for more than 12 hours in Scotland’s Emergency Departments. All things being equal, with 10 times the population, NHS England should then have had around 588 000 waiting for more than 12 hours. However, according to ‘analysis of the official data by the (UK) Liberal Democrats‘, reported in the Guardian today, the figure was 1 540 945, pro rata, nearly 3 times as many. Have the Scottish Lib Dems been asked to comment? Will the Scottish Health Secretary offer to help NHS England? Will BBC Scotland report this? Three No’s? Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/our-areas-of-work/acute-and-emergency-services/urgent-and-unscheduled-care/accident-and-emergency/#section-3-2 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/12/england-15m-patients-at-least-12-hours-a-and-e Continue reading Fact Check – Lib Dems reveal nearly 3 TIMES as many wait more than 12 hours in English A&Es than in Scotland

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Anger as New Zealand ministers told ferries needed ‘urgent attention’ BEFORE project axed

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Yesterday, we heard that aging Australian ferries were being brought back into service to replace cheap Chinese-built ferries blowing up. Today, we hear: KiwiRail told ministers its ill-fated ferry project required “urgent attention”, just days before it got axed. The Interislander operator today released its briefing to the incoming ministers, which had been prepared at the end of November. Shortly after the report was written, the project to buy two new ferries and upgrade two ports was axed when the government refused to spend an extra $1.5 billion. In recent times, we’ve heard of cheap Vietnamese-built privately-owned ferries running aground on Orkney … Continue reading Anger as New Zealand ministers told ferries needed ‘urgent attention’ BEFORE project axed

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Scotland’s large natural resources yet the poverty and austerity that much of its population endures 

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By Jim Stamper With Scotland’s population just over 8% of the UK’s, Scotland effectively gives over 90% of the income from our oil and gas to the rest of the UK.  With the Scottish Stock Exchange amalgamated into the London Stock Exchange in 1973 conveniently no income is allocated as coming from Scotland.  Also, according to National Grid statistics, up to 3.5 Gigawatts of electricity can be transferred between Scotland and England, 90% going from Scotland to England.   Also a proposal exists to construct a link enabling the transport of up to 2GW of energy from Scotland’s renewable energy reserves … Continue reading Scotland’s large natural resources yet the poverty and austerity that much of its population endures