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Talking-up Scotland so much this certainly won’t get reported – US Library of Congress rewards the Scottish Government-supported Scottish Book Trust after it gives 700 000 books to children

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brenda Robb for a great spot. In the P&J today: and: Also – https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/ You can still support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Bernadette/John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Continue reading Talking-up Scotland so much this certainly won’t get reported – US Library of Congress rewards the Scottish Government-supported Scottish Book Trust after it gives 700 000 books to children

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British university in Scotland with only tiny number of working-class Scottish students or Scottish staff accused of ‘penny-pinching’ over free period products

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From BBC Scotland, yesterday: Edinburgh University has been accused of “penny-pinching” after it reduced the availability of free period products at one of its busiest sites. The university has removed free sanitary products from a number of toilets at its main library on George Square, where they have been replaced with signs pointing users to places where they are available. The items are now available in toilets on just three of the building’s eight floors, whereas previously they were available on at least six. The university said it would remain in line with Scottish government guidelines, upholding its commitment to “equality, … Continue reading British university in Scotland with only tiny number of working-class Scottish students or Scottish staff accused of ‘penny-pinching’ over free period products

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Despite already having far more affordable housing per head than England, Scotland plans to build more than three times as many new ones

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Professor John Robertson OBA According to the Herald today: A new report published today by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has calculated that £8.2bn would be needed to build the required number of homes to address the crisis. Yet it states ministers have only set aside £4.9bn failing to take account of the number of homes needed, the impact on inflation on building costs and new cost relating to standards it is introducing for the sector. The report comes just weeks after Ms McAllan, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, has announced a four-year £4.9bn plan for the affordable … Continue reading Despite already having far more affordable housing per head than England, Scotland plans to build more than three times as many new ones

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Massive 37% hike in affordable house building funds for next year from Scottish Government to further increase the gap with England and Wales gets hypocritical response from Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government today, news that funding for affordable housing supply for 2025/2026, will increase by a massive 37% in one year, from £510 782 000 to £700 065 000. The only MSM response I see, so far, is grudging whining from two Labour spokespersons above. The first, for Edinburgh, moans about a 30% increase in one year. The second, for Glasgow, moans about a massive 41% increase. Make you wonder what these two Labour politicians would have to say about affordable house building in Labour England or Labour Wales: Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/resource-planning-assumptions-data/ You can still … Continue reading Massive 37% hike in affordable house building funds for next year from Scottish Government to further increase the gap with England and Wales gets hypocritical response from Labour

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69 000 GB Energy jobs – Michael Shanks is literally lying when he says no such pledge was ever made. He should publicly apologise

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By Liz S Since we have an election coming up next year….how about some fairness that we now finally see some of the media here in Scotland casting their attention upon Anas Sarwar’s role in promoting his Labour HQ’s flagship policy last year in the Labour GE campaign………. MSM Monitor posted a reminder of what Sarwar said in the STV’s Leader’s debate in Scotland last year prior to the UK GE. “During the general election campaign Anas Sarwar repeatedly pledged that GB Energy would created 69,000 jobs in Scotland. So far it has created 13“. MSM Monitor also included a video that confirmed the figure Sarwar quoted on jobs … Continue reading 69 000 GB Energy jobs – Michael Shanks is literally lying when he says no such pledge was ever made. He should publicly apologise

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Scottish fishing fleet has double the catching capacity of English fleet, lands more fish and generates more income but only 7% of UK development funding comes to Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie, once more, for alerting us to this. In the National, yesterday: Scottish Government hits out over ‘totally unacceptable’ fishing deal – MAIRI Gougeon has hit out at the UK Government for short-changing Scotland’s fishing industry over “totally unacceptable” funding allocation.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/25558212.scottish-government-hits-totally-unacceptable-fishing-deal/ According to the National report, Scotland, despite having 70% of the catch and generating 58% of the UK revenue, will only receive £28 million out of the total £360 million of investment through the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, 7%. Wales and N Ireland get even less, £18m and £10m. So, £304 million, … Continue reading Scottish fishing fleet has double the catching capacity of English fleet, lands more fish and generates more income but only 7% of UK development funding comes to Scotland

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Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Bradford today: Two abuse survivors have resigned from their role in the national [sic] inquiry into grooming gangs, the government has confirmed. Fiona Goddard, who was abused by gangs while living in a Bradford children’s home, quit the victims’ liaison panel over concerns about the inquiry’s shortlisted chairs, one of whom is reportedly a former police chief and the other a social worker. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5qkq7zex3o This may trigger another attempt by Scottish Labour in a massive Scottish cringe move, to have a comparable inquiry here. They will of course not remind us of their dark past in … Continue reading Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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Are Scotsman’s journo staff too aged to find things out? CalMac has the youngest ferries and is the best in the world

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Scotsman has another go at the ferries, ill-informed as always. I’ll do the second one first. On average, CalMac ferries are the youngest of six comparable (several islands) fleets in the developed world. Ok, first, what’s wrong with them? Truth be told (difficult I know), probably best archipelago service in the world. See: Third, disruption? See: As Lib Dems and BBC Scotland reveal compensation to delayed passengers of only 0.1% of budget, they forget that their previous FoI revealed that CalMac is more than 97% reliable https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Finally, the truth about customer (real ones) satisfaction: … Continue reading Are Scotsman’s journo staff too aged to find things out? CalMac has the youngest ferries and is the best in the world

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Jersey Island supermarkets pay nearly SIX times as much for their lorries to cross as those in Barra thanks to their generous SNP subsidy – all the other Scottish islands too get the same

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Jersey Evening Post on 15 October 2025: Representatives said they had “zero involvement” in the tender and warned that rising freight costs under the new arrangements were forcing them to find hundreds of thousands of pounds to balance their budgets, with Morrison’s alone facing a shortfall of up to £400,000. Portsmouth to Jersey is 116 miles and CalMac’s longest, Oban to Barra is 88 miles. The Jersey crossing is 1.32 times the length. For a Large Articulated HGV (16.5m, ~30 pallets), a one way trip from Portsmouth to Jersey, costs £2 370.1, 2 For … Continue reading Jersey Island supermarkets pay nearly SIX times as much for their lorries to cross as those in Barra thanks to their generous SNP subsidy – all the other Scottish islands too get the same

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‘Frankly incredible!’ UK National Audit Office reveals NHS England and Ireland are paying out for clinical negligence at FOUR TIMES and TWICE the level of NHS Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to stewartb for alerting us to this and for the opening words in the headline above. NOTE – I’m unsure of how to compare the far more numerous but different claims in Sweden, Denmark or Finland, so have not. The above table is from the UK National Audit Office‘s report Costs of clinical negligence, published on 17 October 2025. The explanatory notes for how it was put together are at the bottom of this. It makes incredible reading, to put it mildly. Start with the fourth column – number of claims per year – … Continue reading ‘Frankly incredible!’ UK National Audit Office reveals NHS England and Ireland are paying out for clinical negligence at FOUR TIMES and TWICE the level of NHS Scotland