England has highest homelessness rate in OECD more than FOUR TIMES higher than in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA I was shocked to see the above chart in the Guardian today. The Guardian did not, of course, bother to consider the interests of its readers elsewhere in the UK. From Homelessness in Scotland: 2023-24 published in September 2024: 53 549 people or a ratio of 99.26 per 10 000 people in Scotland’s 5.44 million. Continue reading England has highest homelessness rate in OECD more than FOUR TIMES higher than in Scotland
A morning of just prison addiction deaths, domestic abuse and job losses, chosen specially by the BBC Scotland editor, and the good news they won’t be telling you
Professor John Robertson OBA Only a few minutes long but packed with disturbing news for BBC Scotland’s Breakfast insert, this morning, the had drug deaths in prison and supposedly a lack of support for that, issues around domestic abuse and job losses at Dundee University. I’ve done research to prove that this is a constant agenda to emphasis the negative and anything that might be attributed to the Scottish Government. See these comparisons with STV and BBC Wales for detail: Today, on prison addiction treatment, they won’t tell you this On, domestic abuse, they certainly won’t tell you these stories: … Continue reading A morning of just prison addiction deaths, domestic abuse and job losses, chosen specially by the BBC Scotland editor, and the good news they won’t be telling you
First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored
Professor John Robertson OBA First Minister John Swinney’s major speech to the STUC today is being largely ignored. BBC Scotland fully covers all of Labour Leader, Ana Sarwar’s speeches including those to the modestly-attended party conferences. Swinney’s speech is wide ranging, optimistic and challenging on key issues such as the future of Grangemouth, Dundee University, energy, cost of living and poverty, yet the broadcasters and the so-called trusted press fail in their duty to report. He begins: It’s a pleasure to be here today to address the STUC Congress and particularly to be able to do that for the first … Continue reading First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored
Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125
https://www.thesun.ie/news/370058/more-than-450-safety-lapses-have-occurred-at-sellafield-nuclear-plant/ stewartb We, our children, grandchildren and beyond will be living – and paying – for the legacy of past and. present nuclear power generation for a long time to come. Source: National Audit Office (16 October 2024) Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy – Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/decommissioning-sellafield-managing-risks-from-the-nuclear-legacy.pdf ) In the words of the NAO on Sellafield: ‘.. the NDA expects full site remediation will take until 2125.’ So 100 years! We learn that Sellafield spend in 2023-24 = £2.7 billion. And from Para 3.16 of the NAO report: ‘Sellafield spends the majority of its current … Continue reading Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125
Latest – University students at far lower risk of violence in Scotland than in EVERY other campus in the UK
Professor John Robertson OBA From How safe is your city? in the Complete University Guide for 2025: Above, the safest University cities in England and Wales in terms of incidents per 1 000 population. and the most dangerous, above. So, what do you think the data for Scotland might reveal? The stereotypes are still with us, but: In every English university town you are significantly more likely to be a victim of violent crime than in any Scottish one. I haven’t see this reported anywhere. Source: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/where-to-study/how-safe-is-your-city Continue reading Latest – University students at far lower risk of violence in Scotland than in EVERY other campus in the UK
Researchers say NHS England A&E ‘in distress’ over the winter with twice as many waiting more than 12 hours in A&E than in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland seems to have no video evidence of corridor care of the kind shown by BBC Breakfast this morning (above) and Jackie Baillie, Labour health spokesperson had to use us evidence from English wards to lie that there is comparable evidence from Scotland. I feel so sure that had Reporting Scotland anything like the above, we’d see it repeatedly. BBC Breakfast, this morning, reported that the Health Foundation had found ‘the NHS (sic) was in distress this winter.’ There is no mention of Scotland in the full report. They summarised: BBC Scotland did not follow-up. … Continue reading Researchers say NHS England A&E ‘in distress’ over the winter with twice as many waiting more than 12 hours in A&E than in Scotland
We’re going to need a bigger stronger boat – Channel Islands’ Danish ferry not strong enough for lorries is disastrous for families and health of islanders
A ferry f***up? Deputy Kirsten Morel was in charge of Jersey’s ferry tender process but seems to think we’d understand that it was difficult for him. Professor John Robertson OBA The media in Scotland have been platforming regularly the notion that CalMac and the SNP Government are to blame for the privately-owned Ardrossan harbour not being maintained and improved in time for the new bigger ferry everybody on Arran, it seems, was desperate for. They’ve also been dramatizing the notion that the folk of South Uist (pop 1 754) have been traumatised by having to accept a free ride to … Continue reading We’re going to need a bigger stronger boat – Channel Islands’ Danish ferry not strong enough for lorries is disastrous for families and health of islanders
Mythbusting: “(Scotland’s) wind power is unreliable, inefficient and harmful to nature”
By JB From Europe’s largest renewable energy producer Statcraft 2nd April 2024: “Wind power is often characterised by incorrect, inaccurate and misleading claims.” Six stubborn myths about wind power 1. “Wind power takes up large areas of land.” If you count the entire area around and between the turbines in a wind farm, there is no doubt that a wind farm is the energy source that requires the largest area of land per MWh produced, even if the direct impact on nature is small. However if the land where the wind turbines are located can be used at the same time … Continue reading Mythbusting: “(Scotland’s) wind power is unreliable, inefficient and harmful to nature”
As toxic waste leaks from more than 100 landfills in England, Scotland’s sites are all known and level is now only one third, of that under Labour
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian: More than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed. Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found. Although councils are supposed to keep track of the dangers of these sites, funding has long since disappeared and some local authorities had no idea they were responsible, … Continue reading As toxic waste leaks from more than 100 landfills in England, Scotland’s sites are all known and level is now only one third, of that under Labour
Only 0.33% turn out to protest ferry move and ‘ghost town’ threat
Professor John Robertson OBA On 12th April 2025, The Scottish Sun reported: We’ve been left to live in a ‘ghost town’ thanks to Scotland’s £400m ferry fiasco, it’s a disgrace. Today fed-up locals gathered at Troon Harbour to protest over the failings and to demand answers. Dozens of campaigners gathered with banners at the protest. There might be more than two dozen in some of the images. Let’s be generous and give them 50? How many folk live in Ardrossan? 10 670. Arran? 4 629. Total is 15 299. So, 0.326% could be bothered to turn out for a threat … Continue reading Only 0.33% turn out to protest ferry move and ‘ghost town’ threat
