Professor John Robertson OBA Having lied bare-faced on the Channel 4 News, last night, to claim that water pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England, UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s words were reported unchecked across Scottish media. Today, SNP Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, Gillian Martin, corrected him at some length in a letter, posted on the Scottish Government website this morning. Her letter has been largely ignored, other than in the Independent, above, and in the National. It begins: I am writing following the publication of the final report from the Independent Water … Continue reading SNP minister writes to correct UK Labour minister’s lies on water quality but is completely ignored by BBC Scotland and STV, despite them having reported the lies unchecked in the first place

Professor John Robertson OBA Using the Grok AI software, owned by Elon Musk, no friend of the SNP, I asked: Are Scotland’s rivers cleaner than England’s? The answer was quite clear: Scotland’s rivers are generally cleaner than England’s based on available data. According to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), 57.2% of Scotland’s river stretches were classified as being in good or better overall condition in 2022. In contrast, only 15% of England’s river stretches meet good ecological health standards, and none are in good chemical health due to persistent toxic pollutants. Key factors contributing to this difference include: Continue reading Impartial intelligence-based research confirms Scotland has more investment, nearly FOUR times as many clean rivers, fewer sewage spills and only a quarter of the number failing tests

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: Analysis of NHS figures shows the potential bill for maternity negligence in England since 2019 has reached £27.4bn – far more than the health service’s roughly £18bn budget for newborns in that time. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/20/nhs-facing-absolutely-shocking-27bn-bill-for-maternity-failings-in-england With a tenth of the population, you might expect NHS Scotland to have paid out around £2.7 billion. I can find no data for just maternity related cases but for all complaints and for a period, one year longer: Health boards in Scotland have paid out more than £60 million in legal claims since 2018, … Continue reading NHS England paid out staggering 45 times as much, per head, for just maternity-related complaints as NHS Scotland did for all complaints

Professor John Robertson OBA What is ‘maternal death?’ Death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of the pregnancy (includes giving birth, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or termination of pregnancy) from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/indmaternalmortality/en/ In the Guardian today, the above and that in the most recent figures, for 2023, the maternal death rate was 12.67 per 100 000 births: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/20/maternal-deaths-rising-in-uk-despite-fewer-births-official-figures-show The most recent Scottish figure is 9 per 100 000: https://www.sad.scot.nhs.uk/bereavement/maternal-death/ The UK rate appears to be around 33% … Continue reading After 18 years maternal death rate in UK climbs to 33% higher than in Scotland