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Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Telegraph yesterday and across media in England, the above astonishing decision by this Labour government, to follow from a series of cuts to services and tax increases for the less well-off, which can only further degrade the performance of the NHS in England and strengthen to role of the private sector, which funds many leading Labour politicians. What would a Labour presence in government at Holyrood, say with Reform UK, put at risk here? The Scotsman in February 2025 was front-paging Alarm over fresh drop in applicants for nurses course based on a 2% reduction in applications, from … Continue reading Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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stewartb How to ‘play’ Scotland’s voters – how to attempt deceit or manipulation for political advantage? Is there a recurring mainstream news reporting pattern in Scotland? Step 1: mainstream media outlet/s make ‘judicious’ selection of a ‘newsworthy’ item about Scotland – to qualify, it must be a negative story and ideally linked to a topic of natural concern to many; 2: report this on newspaper front page with a ‘scary’ headline – big black font visible from metres away on a supermarket rack and visually impactful when the front page is pictured on the BBC News website’s Scotland page; 3. avoid giving … Continue reading How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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Why is there a ‘cancer ticking time bomb’ only in Scotland where radiologist staffing is highest in UK?

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stewartb What of the ‘cancer time bomb’ that is headline news in several newspapers in Scotland and above the BBC News website’s ‘Scotland’s papers’ feature and also in a separate BBC Scotland article on the the same website? This has all been catalysed by the following Royal College of Radiology (RCR) reports: (i) ‘Clinical Radiology – Workforce Census 2024’ and (ii) Clinical Oncology – Workforce Census 2024. Both reports cover all four nations of the UK although one would be hard pressed to realise this from the newspapers front pages. One would not know of the UK-wide scope EVEN after careful reading the BBC Scotland … Continue reading Why is there a ‘cancer ticking time bomb’ only in Scotland where radiologist staffing is highest in UK?

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More than 300 published studies prove that safe drug injection facilities reduce mortality and crime in surrounding areas but Reporting Scotland find a handful of locals to claim otherwise.

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….about the number of discarded needles that are being left outside it. Now the council have introduced bins to try to address the problem Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Reporting Scotland tonight reporting for the area around the pilot safe injection facility in Calton in Glasgow, now six months in operation, are uncritically accepting a few local residents’ claims that it has increased drug taking in the area. No reliable figures are offered. The report, typically, has no balance and lazily does not refer to the large body of existing published evidence on such facilities. From 8 years ago: The … Continue reading More than 300 published studies prove that safe drug injection facilities reduce mortality and crime in surrounding areas but Reporting Scotland find a handful of locals to claim otherwise.

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‘We remind everyone to vote for the Unionist party most likely to defeat the separatists’ – did an Orange order make the difference yesterday?

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Professor John Robertson OBA Last night’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election result: This result surprised everyone, including all the pollsters and the bookies. Labour were expected to come third as in all recent Scottish opinion polls. That tells you there was something particular, ‘local’, going on. What might that be? From Bylines Scotland in July 2024: The Orange Order is motivated by a desire to preserve the union, using social media for easier organisation. For example, the Loyal Orange Institution of Scotland posted on Facebook on June 18th: “Today is the last day (11:59 pm) to register for a postal … Continue reading ‘We remind everyone to vote for the Unionist party most likely to defeat the separatists’ – did an Orange order make the difference yesterday?

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LATEST – ‘Scotland and the largest underwater discovery IN HISTORY: The world has been searching for centuries’ but ‘our’ media prefers an imaginary cancer ‘timebomb’, youth violence, not paying to weld UK nuclear subs and parroting the PM, because the project was SNP Government-funded!

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to Dottie for this dramatic alert. From The Diary 24, the above and: A green technology company out of Scotland has come up with an industrial solution for offshore hydrogen bunkering and electric charging. The Oasis Marine technology has massive implications as it makes it far easier for marine vessels to switch from emissions-producing diesel systems to green hydrogen if refueling infrastructure is easier to access. Oasis Marine’s initial product offerings involved small-scale mooring buoys, but it wasn’t long before the renewable energy company branched out into larger, more complex systems. Oasis Marine now … Continue reading LATEST – ‘Scotland and the largest underwater discovery IN HISTORY: The world has been searching for centuries’ but ‘our’ media prefers an imaginary cancer ‘timebomb’, youth violence, not paying to weld UK nuclear subs and parroting the PM, because the project was SNP Government-funded!

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So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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By stewartb – a long read In recent days, British Labour Party politicians as well as journalists writing for ‘patriotic’ British media outlets have been trying to make mountains out of the molehill of Scottish Enterprise not awarding Rolls-Royce a £2.5 million grant. It’s tough competition but pellisonrhaps the prize for the ‘best’ headline – the most ridiculous –  goes to the ‘Scottish’ Daily Express (May 31) with this (my emphasis):  ‘SNP’s ‘student politics’ threaten Scotland’s ‘national security’ after it blocks £11m investment’. From the Express, we learn: ‘the SNP have been accused of threatening Scotland’s national security after blocking … Continue reading So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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Rap video lured children to carry drugs internally all the way to Aberdeen from Nottingham but Scottish media obsess with Fuengirola shootings unconnected with Scotland’s drug crisis

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Nottinghamshire yesterday, the above and: Twelve drug dealers have been jailed for running an “industrial” supply network that flooded heroin and crack cocaine into towns across the East Midlands and Aberdeen. The Nottingham-based ringleaders sprayed champagne from a white Rolls-Royce, in one of several “drill” music videos that boasted about their weapons and wealth. Nottingham Crown Court heard how they protected their turf with knives, a loaded pistol, and bombarded drug users with marketing texts. They also set up local distribution hubs at addicts’ homes and recruited children to move and sell their drugs, … Continue reading Rap video lured children to carry drugs internally all the way to Aberdeen from Nottingham but Scottish media obsess with Fuengirola shootings unconnected with Scotland’s drug crisis

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Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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Liz S BBC has this story on their website in relation to the NHS in England….It is on the main UK page , when you click on the story it then takes you onto the Health page, it is not on the UK Politics page: “Police investigate heart deaths at NHS hospital” “Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of patients following heart operations at an NHS hospital, the BBC has learned”. “Documents seen by us (BBC) suggest patients suffered avoidable harm – and that in some cases their death certificates failed to disclose that the procedure contributed to their deaths”. “One woman’s operation at Castle Hill Hospital near … Continue reading Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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As NHS Scotland treats 91.6% of nearly 5 000 children and adolescents with mental health concerns, on time, BBC just ignore it and STV lets a campaign group headline the 4% waiting too long

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Professor John Robertson OBA Yesterday, I wrote: NHS Scotland beat a waiting times target for the second time in a row despite increased demand – how will the media spin this to get SNPBad? I’m ahead of BBC Scotland, as I write at 11.02am, but I can smell them scurrying around, phoning someone who can be trusted to say the statistics, the same stats they trust when targets are missed, are not reliable in some way based on their wee personal experience. This is a major achievement which deserves so much more. The staff deserve praise but may not get it other … Continue reading As NHS Scotland treats 91.6% of nearly 5 000 children and adolescents with mental health concerns, on time, BBC just ignore it and STV lets a campaign group headline the 4% waiting too long