Help Talking-up Scotland keep going at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON, Sort Code – 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Very many thanks to the 184 supporters so far, inc bank transfers not listed in crowdfunder. You are very much appreciated. Today’s posts: Continue reading I hope you see the value in funding Talking-up Scotland today
Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Labour has been urged to lay out a credible plan for the future of British Steel, as the government spending watchdog warned of the “startling” costs of keeping the struggling manufacturer in business with no end in sight. British Steel was taken into public ownership in July to protect “the future of steel production”, 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. But it is costing £1.3m a day to keep … Continue reading Latest increase – Scots taxpayers to pay first £120 million instalment to keep old English steelworks in business and another £100m to save old English oil refinery so that it can replace Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters
Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 This x discussion yesterday drew my attention at https://x.com/IainRWhite/status/2100667566557458939?s=20: Absolutely! I like An Gearasdan Dubh. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 I was reminded instantly of something I posted last year but based on an earlier piece in 2021: Fort George, Scotland’s very own Fort Apache is apparently at risk again. It was under threat four years ago: In the Times 17 October 2021: Up to 1,700 soldiers could be axed in Scotland as the Ministry of … Continue reading Àird nan Saor – Recycling England’s imperial forts in Scotland
Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 A former Police Scotland officer has been convicted of a catalogue of sex crimes, including two counts of rape, over a 17-year period. Campbell Petrie, 50, was found guilty of nine charges involving physical and sexual abuse towards two women between 2006 and 2023 at the High Court in Glasgow. Petrie, who was a serving officer at the time of the offences, was initially arrested in 2009 following allegations made by one of the women but was released after five hours and remained in … Continue reading Watch out for media inappropriately trying to blow these two cases up into a ‘Wayne Couzens’ crisis for policing in Scotland and door-step an SNP minister with accusations from Jackie Baillie
Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: Twenty women had their breasts removed unnecessarily while being treated for cancer at an NHS trust in north-east England. The County Durham and Darlington foundation trust (CDDFT) told the BBC that the women were among hundreds of patients who came to harm during treatment at its breast unit. The admission came after the BBC reported last year that more than 200 patients were found to have suffered harm at the CDDFT. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/18/women-breasts-removed-unnecessarily-cancer-treatment-county-durham-darlington-nhs-trust The 20 unnecessary mastectomies identified so far fall within the trust’s current look-back … Continue reading Just one health trust in England carries out 20 unnecessary breast removals in only 2 years while Scotland with 10 times the population has only 2 such cases in almost 30 years
.…so that is bound to have an impact on visibility, and impact on road safety and an impact on travelling criminality. Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Neither in the short BBC Scotland insert in BBC Breakfast nor in the longer website report, do we hear any useful context to the above news of cuts. How do the levels of road accidents in 2013 and in 2025 compare? Sources: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-no-33-2014-edition/j357783-09/ https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/key-reported-road-casualties-scotland-2025/key-findings/ Why are the seriously injured figures not comparable? How it used to work (including 2013)An officer judged severity using … Continue reading There are 54% [66% in Borders] fewer road traffic accidents but only 33% fewer officers on the roads in Scotland
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 I understand the concerns in Ardrossan about this but the wider picture is important. The summer traffic to Arran warranted the building of larger ferries. Businesses and the islanders campaigned for bigger ferries to cope with and that is where we are. The move to Troon will and understandable disappointment in Ardrosssan will of course be exploited by the media. Here’s the case for it, in two parts: First, Glen Sannox sailing from Troon means the same bus/car, shorter train, journey times from Glasgow … Continue reading Arran Ferry – two very good reasons for the Troon move
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 The above report published today makes no reference staff shortages at the Countess of Chester Hospital but the hospital itself and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) did, 10 years ago in 2016. In the Guardian‘s Lucy Letby: killer or coincidence? Why some experts question the evidence in 9 July 2024: In 2013-14, the CoC neonatal unit had four deaths each year. Then, between June 2015 and June 2016, an unusual cluster of 13 deaths occurred. (The hospital has given different accounts of the number and dates … Continue reading Countess of Chester Hospital inquiry report omits one factor identified by Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health which make such horror far less likely in Scotland
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From TCD Tech yesterday, the above and: Federal legislation under consideration would offer financial help to Coloradans who say old nuclear contamination caused lasting health impacts. Under the proposal, an expansion of the 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, residents who developed certain illnesses after living near two former nuclear facilities could be eligible for compensation, including a $150,000 payment, according to The Denver Post. Under the proposed Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act of 2026, changes to the 1990 compensation program would extend aid to people tied … Continue reading US citizens able to claim $150 000 for illness due to nuclear, points to unfairness for those Scots living near to Sellafield and other Scottish nuclear sites
