Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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At least SEVEN long years later Anas Sarwar’s multi-million family firm is forced to stop paying poverty wages….maybe….says unnamed union rep…just in time before the election

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Picture: John Devlin Today, BBC Scotland are headlining a story that a Usdaw (who?) union rep says Anas Sarwar’s family business are now paying the living wage. The rep is clearly camera shy. Might the workers be unhappy with the claim? BBC Scotland attempt to cover up the fact that Sarwar’s wife and kids get dividends and have been for years on the back of low-page workers. In September 2017, I wrote: Anas Sarwar is a shareholder in United Wholesale (Scotland) Ltd which is currently advertising jobs at £7.50 an hour rather than the £8.45 ‘real’ living wage and far … Continue reading At least SEVEN long years later Anas Sarwar’s multi-million family firm is forced to stop paying poverty wages….maybe….says unnamed union rep…just in time before the election

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Labour to ban Scots zero-hours contracts, maybe, as they climb to levels already in England & Wales but offer no rebuke to Mrs Sarwar as Scotland leads on Real Living Wage

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From the Herald, today: The Labour Party which is the favourite to form the next UK government has pledged to ban ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts as their use hit record levels in Scotland, the Herald on Sunday can reveal. Official figures reveal that the average number of Scots on zero-hours contracts has soared to an average of 100,000 in the past year – a 42% rise on 2019, the year before the pandemic. According to Statista, there are around 1.2 million zero hours workers across the UK. The Scottish rate is now exactly the same as in the rest of the … Continue reading Labour to ban Scots zero-hours contracts, maybe, as they climb to levels already in England & Wales but offer no rebuke to Mrs Sarwar as Scotland leads on Real Living Wage

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Labour candidate sets out priorities for Central Ayrshire to return to 1980s poverty

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The Irvine Times on 24th May, platformed Labour candidate, Allan Gemmell to studiously ignore the awful prospect of what a New Labour UK Government and a client government in Holyrood, might mean for the good folk of Central Ayrshire. I’ll come back to the promises he made after listing only a few of the losses he forgets to mention: Prescription charges of £10 per item for you Tuition fee debt of around £36 000 for your children £1 200 a year worse off for households with children in the bottom third of income Higher council tax and less affordable housing … Continue reading Labour candidate sets out priorities for Central Ayrshire to return to 1980s poverty

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Cryptosporidium in the Capital, Diarrhoea in Devon, a Toilet in the Thames, a Lavvy in the Lake and Sick sheep in the Swale? Eh…drug deaths…..ferries…

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By Professor John Robertson Today, in the Guardian, we see: Thames Water has sent samples of water for lab testing after dozens of people reported becoming unwell with stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea in south-east London. Earlier this month, unsafe drinking water led to more than 100 cases of a waterborne disease in Devon, with people asked to boil their water because of contamination fears. After cryptosporidium, a disease that can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, was detected in the water supply in the Brixham area of Devon 10 days ago, 17,000 households and businesses were told by South … Continue reading Cryptosporidium in the Capital, Diarrhoea in Devon, a Toilet in the Thames, a Lavvy in the Lake and Sick sheep in the Swale? Eh…drug deaths…..ferries…

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Police Scotland less likely to stop and search children and minorities

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this> By Professor John Robertson The Guardian today has the above and: Hundreds of children under 10 faced stop and search by police last year, including some who were strip-searched, the Observer can reveal. At least 432 children under the age of criminal responsibility were searched by the police forces in England and Wales in 2023, according to data.police.uk, an official site for open data on crime and policing. Nearly a quarter of all the searches were conducted on those from black, Asian, or other minority ethnic backgrounds – disproportionately high compared with population representation. First, putting the … Continue reading Police Scotland less likely to stop and search children and minorities

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Have I got anti-Scottish news for you

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I’ve watched and enjoyed HIGNFY for decades but they are seriously testing me now. Recently, we’ve had Ian Hyslop increasingly attacking the SNP based on tabloid headlines rather than facts. He even repeated the football moronic ‘Humza Useless’ line recently. Last night, they let Tory Baroness Davidson tell of the alleged SNP ’embezzlement’ case, only days after the announcement of a General Election. I have a licence. Continue reading Have I got anti-Scottish news for you

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Labour rub salt on the wound that they are gleefully creating……..

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By NMRN Labour rub salt on the wound that they are gleefully creating…….. Reported today that “Labour are demanding that the SNP and other ‘smaller’ parties are cut from televised leadership debates during the General Election campaign, according to reports. Broadcasters are reportedly focusing on two head-to-head contests between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer before July 4″…… SNP one of the “smaller parties” ??……however in Scotland the Labour party have only two elected MP’s and they are the third party at Holyrood and so here in Scotland they, Labour, are one of “the smaller parties”…..while the SNP are the majority as in the largest party in Holyrood and so currently are the Scottish government……they also have the most elected MP’s in Scotland who sit in … Continue reading Labour rub salt on the wound that they are gleefully creating……..

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Raynor praises Welsh Labour Government for being far less successful than SNP Government in Scotland

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By stewartb The BBC News website’s Wales section has this headline today: ‘Wales held back by UK Tory rule – Labour’s Rayner’. The article reports on Labour’s deputy leader launching the party’e GE campaign in Llandudno. We learn that she stated the following (with my emphasis and comment): ‘Addressing the launch, Ms Rayner praised the Welsh party’s achievements in government in Cardiff, despite what she labelled “14 years chaos” under the Conservatives at Westminster”. Has Scotland (miraculously) been immune to these 14 years of Westminster-induced chaos? She then listed Labour’s key achievements as she saw them: “You see what Welsh Labour has done, whether … Continue reading Raynor praises Welsh Labour Government for being far less successful than SNP Government in Scotland

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London calling: How the BBC stole the Election

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By NMRN Remember ‘London calling: How the BBC stole the Referendum‘. Well they, the BBC, are trying to do it all over again but this time they are trying to steal this General election for the Labour party to gain them seats in Scotland. Cue……BBC Clarifications & Corrections latest addition….. “Radio News Bulletins 19 April 2024 In some brief news items we said that the former Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party Peter Murrell had been charged with the embezzlement of “public funds”. We should have said “SNP funds”. 23/05/24“ “Public funds” v “SNP Funds”……big difference …….and someone somewhere was on the ball and highlighted this to the BBC as an ‘error’ (another one…..that just … Continue reading London calling: How the BBC stole the Election

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‘The Canary in the Coalmine’ – Abortions shocking 36% more common in England & Wales

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By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today: There were 251,377 abortions for women resident in the two nations in 2022, official figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) show. With 9% of the population of England & Wales, all things being equal, you might expect, Scotland to have had around 22 600 abortions in the same year. According to Abortion Rights in May 2023, it had 16 584, around 6 000 fewer. The abortion rate in England & Wales is a shocking 36% higher than in Scotland, after 17 years of SNP rule and 14 years … Continue reading ‘The Canary in the Coalmine’ – Abortions shocking 36% more common in England & Wales