Author: johnrobertson834

Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis
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Pupils missing school for half the year is between 40% and 80% more common in England than in Scotland

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The Herald today, gleefully has: The number of Scottish pupils missing more than half of the school year has almost doubled in five years. Around 400 classrooms could be filled by the 12,402 pupils who were absent at least 50% of the 2025-26 school year, with almost 6,000 more children now severely absent compared to five years ago, analysis by The Herald can reveal. 12 402 eh? So if things were the same pro rata, per heid, with 10 times the population etc in England, they’d have 124 020. The 2025/2026 data for England has not been published yet but … Continue reading Pupils missing school for half the year is between 40% and 80% more common in England than in Scotland

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Never mind Barnett, the Lower Thames Crossing to cost Scots taxpayers between £300m and £1bn!

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In the Guardian today: The UK’s public spending watchdog has said it plans to investigate the Lower Thames Crossing, as campaigners voice concerns over the rising costs of one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects. The head of the National Audit Office (NAO) said he anticipated the agency would “examine and report” on the planned £11bn road tunnel between Kent and Essex, and that work to monitor the project had already started. It emerged last month that £174m of additional public money was being made available for the scheme, which is estimated to cost more per mile than the HS2 high-speed rail link from … Continue reading Never mind Barnett, the Lower Thames Crossing to cost Scots taxpayers between £300m and £1bn!

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Glasgow disorder orchestrated by individuals not from Scotland

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In the Glasgow Times, two days ago: Disorder in Glasgow this week has been branded as “disgraceful” and is said to have been ‘orchestrated by individuals who are not from the city’. Protests took place outside homes in the Cranhill and Castlemilk areas earlier this week after claims spread locally and online that ‘suspected sex offenders’ were living there. A significant police response was deployed to both incidents to try and control crowds who could be heard shouting “get them out” and ‘no peace for the beast’ at the properties. David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file … Continue reading Glasgow disorder orchestrated by individuals not from Scotland

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SNP’s progressive policies have not destroyed growth and may have helped

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Thanks to Dottie again for this one: From What can Scotland teach Andy Burnham about devolution? Scotland’s economy has outperformed its neighbours in Future Economy Scotland yesterday, the above and: and: and my favourite: and: Taken together, the evidence is difficult to dismiss. Whether measured by GDP, productivity, earnings, disposable income or the prevalence of low pay, Scotland has generally outperformed the UK since devolution. Across most of these measures, it sits at or near the top of the UK’s league table. None of this proves that devolution itself caused these stronger outcomes. Scotland’s economy differs from England’s in important ways, and … Continue reading SNP’s progressive policies have not destroyed growth and may have helped

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UK may follow US lowering nuclear safety standards to increase worker risk of cancer by 20%

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From the highly-respected Scientific American, yesterday: A proposed rule from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would ease the standard for low-dose radiation exposure. The NRC argues the change will bring more clarity to the nuclear industry, but the health effects of this rule on the public are not so clear. And if the change takes effect, then people living near nuclear facilities could be exposed to higher doses of radiation than they are currently. For workers, the proposed NRC limits would put nuclear employees at a higher risk of cancer than that tolerated by other occupations, says David Richardson, a radiation … Continue reading UK may follow US lowering nuclear safety standards to increase worker risk of cancer by 20%

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The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements

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While AI has often been taught to favour broadly establishment positions, reinforced by their dominance of the media landscape it relies upon, I have found that, if you keep your wits about you and counter those positions with evidence you have, it will often come to offer a more independent evidence-based answer than you will get from even the most respected but all-too-human academic, like me. Based on the evidence from the time such as the lack of a formal act of union, the unbroken, largely unchanged continuation of the parliament in London and the end of such in Scotland … Continue reading The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements

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16th/17th Century English Propaganda – so good even I (!) knew nothing of this event

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Hearing that a 17th Spanish galleon replica is to visit Ayr in August this year, I had one of those memory flashes. This: Watching Lucy Worsley in December 2022, I was shocked, deeply, to hear of the disastrous Counter Armada of 1599 when more than 20 000 lost their lives, twice the Spanish losses the previous year. Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Queen Elizabeth I of England sought to exploit Spain’s temporary naval vulnerability. The English Armada, also called the Counter Armada or the Drake–Norris Expedition, was launched on 28 April 1589 during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) … Continue reading 16th/17th Century English Propaganda – so good even I (!) knew nothing of this event

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Don’t mention Sir Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh to these Spanish sailors

johnrobertson834

When I saw the above I couldn’t but think ‘Time heals all wounds?’ Why? There’s no mention in the blurb above of the deep irony of a replica Spanish merchantman of the 17th Century making it to Ayr without it having been captured and plundered on the way by one of England’s piratical heroes of the day like Drake or Raleigh. How much in ships and booty did Elizabethan England steal from Spanish ships? Elizabethan England (under Queen Elizabeth I, 1558–1603) conducted widespread privateering against Spanish shipping as a mix of state-sponsored warfare, economic strategy, and profit-seeking. Privateers like Francis … Continue reading Don’t mention Sir Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh to these Spanish sailors

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Knife murders fall in England & Wales but overall murder remains higher than in Scotland

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From Sky News today: New Home Office figures reveal the number of knife murders across the UK has dropped by 27% in two years. Overall knife crime has been cut by 10% and more than 1,900 knives were removed from the streets in the same time span. Meanwhile, in the 2025 to 2026 period, 2,833 county lines were closed and 7,381 people were arrested – with the Home Office saying this is the “best year on record” for its county lines programme. https://news.sky.com/story/knife-murders-in-uk-drop-by-a-quarter-as-county-lines-crackdown-has-best-year-on-record-13562142 It suggests a deeply embedded sense that ‘England and Wales‘ is just the same as ‘across the UK.‘ It … Continue reading Knife murders fall in England & Wales but overall murder remains higher than in Scotland

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Three Police Chiefs say leading anti-immigration protesters don’t come from Scotland

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Thanks to Capella for spotting this: In Police issue hate crime warning after hundreds gather in Glasgow street, today, eight paragraphs down: Chief Supt Stevie Dolan said he believed there are individuals outwith the local communities and probably outwith Glasgow or central Scotland who are seeking to “influence” the actions of local members of the public. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gyqdpd0z8o Is there further evidence to support this? Police Scotland overall position: The disorder over several nights was “clearly been orchestrated by individuals who are not from Glasgow.” A further protest planned for the weekend was based on “entirely false information.” https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/police-warn-against-protest-misinformation-113938000.html Assistant Chief … Continue reading Three Police Chiefs say leading anti-immigration protesters don’t come from Scotland