Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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That’s it settled – £50 from each of you to save jobs in Scunthorpe and don’t talk to us about Barnett

johnrobertson834

Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: British Steel has formally been taken into public ownership 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. Keir Starmer on Thursday said that it was in the national interest for the government to take over the factory from its Chinese owner, Jingye, in one of the last significant actions overseen by him as prime minister after the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act received Royal Assent on Wednesday. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/16/british-steel-public-ownership-save-uk-supply-scunthorpe What will the upfront costs be? Around … Continue reading That’s it settled – £50 from each of you to save jobs in Scunthorpe and don’t talk to us about Barnett

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BBC Crime show confuses ‘Two a week!’ femicide rate in England with ‘One a month’ in Scotland

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In BBC Crime Files, broadcast two days ago, Professor David Wilson, after just hearing there were only 45 murders in Scotland last year, reflects: So in ten years’ time, could we ever get to the point where there will be no murders in Scotland at all? Or to get there, will we have to challenge misogyny so much that we will get rid of that appalling statistic that two women a week are murdered in this country? His interviewee, Karen McCluskey of the the Violence Reduction Unit, apparently accepting that claim then says: Oh wouldn’t that be wonderful. When I … Continue reading BBC Crime show confuses ‘Two a week!’ femicide rate in England with ‘One a month’ in Scotland

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Pandemic Inquiry – ‘Disinterested in working with, or hearing the concerns of the Devolved Administrations’

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By stewartb The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has just published its latest report, on Module 5: Procurement. (see https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/09094028/E03444965_Covid-Inquiry-M5-Inquiry_Web-Accessible.pdf ) The Inquiry’s overarching conclusions for this module focus on: (i) the UK’s unpreparedness in terms of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other clinical supplies for a pandemic, including below-target volumes and expired equipment in national pandemic stockpiles; and (ii) huge levels of waste amongst the PPE procured. A search of the document for references specific to ‘Scotland’ yields no especially or uniquely damning findings to ‘excite’ committed opponents of the SNP and the Scottish Government. Nevertheless, the search did throw up some references worthy … Continue reading Pandemic Inquiry – ‘Disinterested in working with, or hearing the concerns of the Devolved Administrations’

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‘So no I will not support England’

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By Liz S “If they win we’ll never hear the end of it” Indeed In fact every time they have a game in this world cup then every TV channel news programme and daytime trash TV programme cannot stop talking about it. In fact , as a Scot, you almost feel as if you are in a foreign country and watching foreign Television programmes. Then of course the , checks notes, UK PM posts constant motivation comments on ‘X’ to the England team and also if England win their game he then posts comments on ‘X’ praising them. However I did not … Continue reading ‘So no I will not support England’

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Baroness Hallett confused about difference between croneyism, corruption and connections to government

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By Liz S Talking of PPE and on the BBC website but currently hidden under the ‘Health’ section. Covid Inquiry reported by the BBC on 14 July this year stated this: Headline “Covid inquiry PPE report – key findings” “The VIP lane system was introduced in April 2020 in England“ The policy was sharply criticised by (Baroness) Hallett who described it as a “misguided attempt at prioritisation” that “embedded unfairness in emergency procurement”. “Sharply criticised” , “misguided attempt at prioritisation” and also “unfairness” wow that’s reprimanding them………not. “While she said there was “no evidence of cronyism or corruption” by ministers or officials when awarding contracts, the system was “inherently biased towards those with … Continue reading Baroness Hallett confused about difference between croneyism, corruption and connections to government

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As 2 700 die in heatwave in England & Wales, Scottish Government actions ‘ahead of game’ despite lower temperatures here

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Thanks to Dottie, once more for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today: England risks constructing a new generation of “death trap” buildings that can fatally overheat unless the government tightens standards and prioritises climate safeguards, planning experts have said. Fears are growing about the plight of vulnerable people in heatwaves, with research this week suggesting that 2,700 people had died in the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales. Yet only about half of local plans being drawn up by councils and local authorities require new buildings to have a cooling or ventilation strategy to prevent overheating, according to … Continue reading As 2 700 die in heatwave in England & Wales, Scottish Government actions ‘ahead of game’ despite lower temperatures here

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Scotland gave England two million face masks despite UK Government departments funded by Scottish tax-payers being told not to help Scottish PPE buyers

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From the Holyrood Health Committee on 7th May 2020, we heard that two UK departments, funded by the Scottish taxpayer, with extensive overseas trade links have been told not to support Scottish attempts to buy PPE: We have raised a specific issue with the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, about a decision that was taken with respect to the Department for International Trade overseas network and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issuing advice not to support new procurement requests from devolved administrations. The Department forInternational Trade’s overseas networks should be supporting the devolved Administrations, as parts of the … Continue reading Scotland gave England two million face masks despite UK Government departments funded by Scottish tax-payers being told not to help Scottish PPE buyers