Express and Scottish Tories try to hide fact that Scottish Ambulance Service is more than 3 times faster than in England in 90% of cases
Professor John Robertson OBA The Express today has a report based on the Scottish Conservatives’ reading of a Freedom of Information request on ambulance. Their report has no figures and only two or three individual cases picked out as extreme waits. That says it all. They really have nothing beyond a few cases. Here are some facts: There are some minor problems in comparing the data for England and Scotland but you can be sure that were they to favour the former, they’d be widely reported. Here’s why they’re not: Sources: https://www.scottishambulance.com/ Footnote: Comparing median and mean ambulance response times … Continue reading Express and Scottish Tories try to hide fact that Scottish Ambulance Service is more than 3 times faster than in England in 90% of cases
Scotland’s current oil and gas reserves worth around £1 TRILLION
Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to K McEwan for alerting us to this: In the Telegraph, two days ago, the above and: Around 85% of these reserves, 21.25 billion barrels, lie in Scottish waters.1 Each barrel of oil is worth around $60 or £452, so we have around £1 trillion in Scottish waters Sources: You can 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 Scotland’s current oil and gas reserves worth around £1 TRILLION
Rail staff in England & Wales more than THREE times as likely to be assaulted as those in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald yesterday, the above, and: ScotRail staff have been verbally or physically assaulted more than 1,500 times since 2020, new figures have revealed. The data, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information request, shows that the total number of assaults on train drivers, conductors, and other staff has decreased each of the last three years. It’s the usual infantile adding up to get a big number but they do, for once, at least partly reveal the trend – down: Another FoI request by BBC Kent gives useful comparative data: Rail workers say they have been spat at, punched and … Continue reading Rail staff in England & Wales more than THREE times as likely to be assaulted as those in Scotland
Inaccurate, misleading and counter-productive but worse than that, disgusting – The Herald’s endless imagery of ‘poverty porn’ and helpless individual despair
Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald yesterday headlined their report on autism and ADHD waiting times with an apparently tragic image of tearful wee, Madeleine McCann-like, fair-haired girl of 3 to 4 years, to somehow represent it’s content. While I’m sure the parents will be at times tearful, are the children likely to be upset about a wait for treatment they might find unpleasant or not understand? Is the Herald’s wee girl not more likely to be about to shout ‘BOO!’? As well as tasteless, the image is misleading with fewer than 1 in 5 autism diagnoses and only 1 … Continue reading Inaccurate, misleading and counter-productive but worse than that, disgusting – The Herald’s endless imagery of ‘poverty porn’ and helpless individual despair
Why Scotland’s higher school violence is a myth now being pushed by Channel 4
Professor John Robertson OBA From Channel 4 yesterday, the above and: Scotland has Britain’s highest rate of violent injuries to school staff reported to the safety watchdog, FactCheck can reveal. They include fractures, dislocations and even loss of consciousness, with the number of incidents logged at Scottish schools trebling in a decade. https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-violent-injuries-against-school-staff-most-common-in-scotland It’s a big myth. Here’s why, from Grok AI: You can 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 Why Scotland’s higher school violence is a myth now being pushed by Channel 4
Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: Developers will be allowed to build lower numbers of affordable homes and claim higher subsidies to build them under plans being drawn up by the government to solve London’s housebuilding crisis. What will this do for the current Scottish Labour campaign to try to suggest the SNP is failing on affordable housing supply? Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Mail in April 2025 had the above headline and: Yesterday, inews had: The Daily Mail did not, of course, have the facts. Here they are: For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level … Continue reading Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better
Factcheck – Maternity services in NHS Scotland far far safer than in NHS England
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: Pregnant women in England are at growing risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth, NHS figures reveal. The number of mothers sustaining a third- or fourth-degree perineal tear while delivering their baby has risen from 25 in 1,000 in June 2020 to 29 in 1,000 in June this year – a 16% increase. Such injuries can have a “life-changing” impact on women’s physical and mental health, cause post-traumatic stress disorder and leave them afraid to have another child. Childbirth experts linked the rise in the most serious forms of tear to poor NHS care, … Continue reading Factcheck – Maternity services in NHS Scotland far far safer than in NHS England
Home visits in Dumfries and Galloway are being done much quicker, much sooner in the day, and therefore care gets started sooner, admissions to hospital get done faster, but that was quickly turned around to bad news just as research revealed they did over and over in 2014
Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland‘s short insert in BBC Breakfast this morning: GPs are attending 45% fewer home visits in Dumfries and Galloway, after a trial scheme with the Scottish Ambulance Service. Paramedics can now attend routine home visits, after which they report back to GPs fro further action. It’s hope the scheme could be replicated in other rural areas. GP – ‘Historically you GP would do house calls at the end of the morning surgery or perhaps in the afternoon. But the busier we get, the later visits were getting done, so now the people are being … Continue reading Home visits in Dumfries and Galloway are being done much quicker, much sooner in the day, and therefore care gets started sooner, admissions to hospital get done faster, but that was quickly turned around to bad news just as research revealed they did over and over in 2014
What kind of cereal crop harvest contrast between England and Scotland would interest Scottish media?
Professor John Robertson OBA This morning, the Scottish Government announced: The Chief Statistician has released predictions for the 2025 Scottish harvest. These industry predictions anticipate overall cereal production could reach a high of over 3.2 million tonnes. This could bring total production in at well above the average over the past five years, despite dry spring and summer conditions. Winter crops, including winter barley, oilseed rape and wheat, are predicted to perform well, with some very good yields being reported. https://www.gov.scot/news/a-good-cereal-harvest-predicted-for-2025/ There are no MSM reports on this. Three days ago, the Scottish Farmer had: England has suffered its second … Continue reading What kind of cereal crop harvest contrast between England and Scotland would interest Scottish media?
Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and putting all our lives at risk
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, yesterday, the above headline and: In May, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders that, in part, require the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to consider dramatically weakening its radiation protection standard. If federal radiation limits are gutted in the manner urged by the president, the new standard could allow four out of five people exposed over a 70-year lifetime to develop a cancer they would not otherwise get. Contesting the scientific consensus. Section 5(b) of the executive order—formally titled “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”—directs the NRC … Continue reading Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and putting all our lives at risk
Talking-up Scotland 