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 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
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
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
Reposted as the Guardian today reveals it will cost us £45 each to pay for a steelworks in England
There are 54% [66% in Borders] fewer road traffic accidents but only 33% fewer officers on the roads in Scotland
.…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
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 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
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 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
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
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
When the QEUH opened to receive child cancer cases in April 2015, six Labour councillors on the health board signed it off as safe despite a “the water system is not safe as managed” formal warning well-known to contractors and Estates
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 In the Herald yesterday: Scots “did not get the hospital the country paid for” with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), the Health Secretary has said. The flagship Glasgow facility has been beset by issues in recent years, sparking a public inquiry into the environment at the hospital, as well as the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh. and https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26556521.health-secretary-scotland-did-not-get-hospital-paid-for/ The repeated linkage to Nicola Sturgeon is revealing of the Herald‘s agenda. Who was responsible for signing off the opening of the QEU … Continue reading When the QEUH opened to receive child cancer cases in April 2015, six Labour councillors on the health board signed it off as safe despite a “the water system is not safe as managed” formal warning well-known to contractors and Estates
Life-extending drug for ‘incurable cancer’ now on NHS in England, three years after Scotland, should mean fewer saying “We shouldn’t be having to think of moving to Scotland or selling our houses”
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 BBC UK this morning, the above, and: Patients in England with a specific type of incurable breast cancer can now access a life-extending drug on the NHS, two years after it was deemed too expensive by a health body. Enhertu can give patients almost seven extra months to live on average – with some living up to three years longer. Women in Scotland have had access to the drug on the NHS since 2023, and it is available in 26 other European countries. … Continue reading Life-extending drug for ‘incurable cancer’ now on NHS in England, three years after Scotland, should mean fewer saying “We shouldn’t be having to think of moving to Scotland or selling our houses”
14 more of ‘the smallest and sickest babies’ who make it in Scotland would not have survived in England but a consultant from Nottingham (!) tells us that Scottish Government delays are putting them at risk here
are being put at risk by delaye in the reorganisation of neonatal care. 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 BBC Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast today includes this evidence from Dr Stephen Wardle, president of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine: So yes, delays in making progress with these proposals will be affecting the outcome for some of these babies. Wardle is a Consultant Neonatologist at Nottingham University Hospitals. The BAMP is essentially a trade union and not some leading research centre for neonatal medicine. Nottingham University Hospitals? From BBC … Continue reading 14 more of ‘the smallest and sickest babies’ who make it in Scotland would not have survived in England but a consultant from Nottingham (!) tells us that Scottish Government delays are putting them at risk here
