Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’

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I couldn’t put it better than or as well as, Leah Gunn Barrett: This was published in the December 30th Edinburgh Evening News. I wrote it in response to Ian Murray’s regular Thursday column, which was full of the usual drivel about how an English Labour government will be good for Scotland. Ian Murray promises Labour will go into the 2024 election year with a positive policy platform that will put Scotland’s interests first. When have we heard that one before?  He says, presumably with a straight face, that Keir Starmer has changed Labour into a credible alternative to the … Continue reading ‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’

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Typical Herald – off the rails in a taxi

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By Alasdair Galloway The Herald runs a shocking expose on the newly nationalised ScotRail, that it has spend £331,061 on “putting on taxis for passengers whose trains were cancelled since the Scottish Government took public ownership of ScotRail”. SNP criticised as £330k spent of taxis since ScotRail was nationalised | The Herald (heraldscotland.com) The question of course is ScotRail’s culpability in this situation since a passenger may be stranded for reasons that ScotRail can do nothing or little about (eg emergency repairs or train breakdown).  We could also consider if there is a trend here. Is it worse since ScotRail … Continue reading Typical Herald – off the rails in a taxi

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NHS Scotland – A wee heresy

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By Alasdair Galloway As regular readers of Talking Up Scotland will be well aware John and Stewartb have long and honourable records of showing how much better the NHS in Scotland perform (ambulance waiting times, A&E waiting) compared to the NHS in other parts of this sceptred isle. As well as this valuable service they regularly call out claims to the contrary – misreports – often from the BBC and the Herald. Let me be quite clear that I have absolutely no problem with this, and in fact agree fully with both. And yet …..and yet …. Can we honestly … Continue reading NHS Scotland – A wee heresy

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Deadly E.coli-contaminated cheese is from Lancashire where unpasteurised milk for cheese production is allowed unlike in Scotland

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BBC Scotland has an extended report on the death in Scotland and does, in the text, tell us the cheese is from Preston in Lancashire. Prof Pennington, above, is on BBC Breakfast to tell us twice that E.coli is more common in Scotland than in England but fails to mention that Scotland, with only 8% of the UK population, has a far higher presence of the bacteria-carrying animals with, for example, almost 30% of the UK herd of breeding cattle and 4% of the massive EU herd. https://www.nfus.org.uk/farming-facts/what-we-produce.aspx We also do not hear from Pennington or any other media, as … Continue reading Deadly E.coli-contaminated cheese is from Lancashire where unpasteurised milk for cheese production is allowed unlike in Scotland

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Pisa seems unlikely to be valid basis upon which to compare and rank countries, regions and economies.

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stewartb Yet another, recently encountered critique of Pisa rankings with those readers of TuS who have developed an interest in this famed OECD initiative in international comparative education (with my emphasis): From Sjøberg, S. & Jenkins, E. (2022) PISA: a political project and a research agenda, Studies in Science Education, 58:1 (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057267.2020.1824473 ) ‘Conclusion: As a major international comparative study, PISA differs from much earlier work in the field of comparative education. It is quantitative rather than qualitative and is UNDERPINNED BY A PRIORI ASSUMPTIONS about the relationship between science and mathematics test scores and economic development. As noted above, those … Continue reading Pisa seems unlikely to be valid basis upon which to compare and rank countries, regions and economies.

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Young Scots only just over half as likely (5.9% to 10%) to be lazy sods according to top English journalists

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Above from the Times, 94.1% of young people are in education, work or training. How many of the others have decided to be house husbands, wives or carers? Nearly all of them? I wonder what is the situation in England is after their superior Pisa rating based on a handful of high-performing schools? In the Telegraph last year, 1 in 10? 10%. Maybe Pisa is a useless predictor? Continue reading Young Scots only just over half as likely (5.9% to 10%) to be lazy sods according to top English journalists

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We can’t end poverty when we’re trapped in the failing UK

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Leah Gunn Barrett This letter was published in The National on December 21st and explains why Scotland, a naturally wealthy nation, suffers from high levels of endemic poverty. The cure is simple – we must end our colonial status and restore our sovereignty. There’s been a chorus of criticism of the Scottish government over its recent budget from unionist politicians and media. But why should anyone be surprised over Scotland’s dismal state? The reason is our status as a de facto English colony.   As a colony, we don’t own our own resources so we can’t provide heat and power for the costs … Continue reading We can’t end poverty when we’re trapped in the failing UK

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CalMac’s 100% performance as thousands travel on nearly 200 Boxing Day journeys

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On Boxing Day, as weather conditions improved and before Storm Gerrit struck, Scotland’s government-owned ferry service helped thousands travel to and from friends and relatives in 50 locations in the islands and around small communities on the west coast. 196 out of 196 sailings were on time. BC Ferries in Canada – book in advance, get there early, ride-share but still expect long waits. Washington State Ferries – stay at home. Cross channel ferries? Long delays for ferry passengers coming into Dover after Christmas after staff sickness in France In Greece, smaller islands get no winter service at all. Sources: … Continue reading CalMac’s 100% performance as thousands travel on nearly 200 Boxing Day journeys

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As Reporting Scotland headline unreliable doctor’s union figures, remember the facts

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Dr Iain Kennedy, chair of BMA Scotland Enthusiastic Unionist and admirer of Sandesh Gulhane MP (Con) returns with another dodgy survey as part of a wider attempt to undermine the SNP. The facts, not mentioned: First, staffing: NHS Scotland has 181 000 staff, 1 for every 30 members of the population of 5.44 million. NHS England has 1.4 million staff, 1 for every 40 members of the population of 56 million. NHS Wales has 90 000 million staff, 1 for every 35 members of the population of 3.14 million. Sources: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/media/rgyfigzk/workforce-report-june-2022.html#:~:text=On%2031%20March%202022%2C%20NHS,156%2C875.6%20WTE%20(Figure%203.1). https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-workforce#:~:text=and%20staff%20wellbeing.-,Workforce%20by%20staff%20group,time%20equivalent%20(FTE)%20basis. https://heiw.nhs.wales/careers/working-in-nhs-wales/#:~:text=The%20NHS%20is%20the%20largest%20employer%20in%20Wales%20with%20over%2090%2C000%20staff. Almost without exception, across Scotland, there are … Continue reading As Reporting Scotland headline unreliable doctor’s union figures, remember the facts

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Daily Record gets Sturgeon tax wrong in sad effort to malign her

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In the Record today: Nicola Sturgeon can avoid paying the new higher rate of tax announced in the budget despite earning up to £300,000 from a book deal. The former First Minister set up a company to manage the income from her lucrative deal with publishers Pan Macmillan earlier this year. Sturgeon is the sole director of the firm which will be subject to just 19 per cent corporation tax on any profits it makes rather than the new 45 per cent rate set by the SNP/Green government in last week’s budget. Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy MSP said: “Everyone already assumed that Nicola Sturgeon had … Continue reading Daily Record gets Sturgeon tax wrong in sad effort to malign her