The Galloway National Park No Campaign and their friends in high places
Professor John Robertson OBA I knew the Galloway Hills well, oh so well, but sadly as I age, not at all anymore. I’ve been on top of every hill and some of them, multiple times. Solitude, I get it. Despite that, I’m not so well informed on the debate over the merits or otherwise of national parks. I’ve seen the media reports of human waste, litter, overcrowding, congested roads. I’ve been to the Lake District to see the extremes of that but I’ve also seen there, ordinary folk enjoying themselves responsibly and local businesses thriving. I’ve also read the reports … Continue reading The Galloway National Park No Campaign and their friends in high places
Factcheck – School violence is in decline along with youth violence generally, in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA I remember the constant threat of violence in my pupil days from 1956 to 1969. I wasn’t imagining it. All parts of Scottish society then were much more violent than they are now. I’m not doubting that a degree of violence persists, for pupils and teachers and that it remains a priority for all involved but facts matter and those facts tell us whether politicians are having any effect. The Mail, above, is platforming Miles Briggs MSP [Con] to blame the SNP directly for it. So, I accept that school violence persists and needs to be … Continue reading Factcheck – School violence is in decline along with youth violence generally, in Scotland
UK Government’s dysfunctional Under-Secretary at the Scotland Office will clearly say anything, absolutely anything she’s told to say
stewartb Should anyone book a holiday for their family on a Scottish island this summer? Should a bank or other investor support a business based on a Scottish island that relies on serving customers off island? Should anyone thinking of moving from the UK mainland or elsewhere to set up a family home or set up a business on a Scottish island? Should any resident of a Scottish island with the option of continuing to make a life there or moving to a mainland location choose the former? Should a business on the UK mainland or elsewhere enter into a … Continue reading UK Government’s dysfunctional Under-Secretary at the Scotland Office will clearly say anything, absolutely anything she’s told to say
Assaults on police officers fall in Scotland but climb to 20% higher in England & Wales
Professor John Robertson OBA From Freedom of Information request 25-0083 Officer/ Staff assault – related absence/ hospital treatment – 2022/23 TD – asking: In the financial years 2022/23, 23/24, and 24/25 (Up to 08.01.25), how many officers, PCSOs and support staff were physically assaulted by members of the public? Please provide a breakdown by role. we can see that the total fell from 4 670 to 4 328 and fell from 133 to 126 for Police Staff. The figures for Probationers and Special Constables were too small to be meaningful. For the question – Of those who were assaulted, how … Continue reading Assaults on police officers fall in Scotland but climb to 20% higher in England & Wales
Labour Freedom of Information request on cervical cancer with figures edited and used to scare by omitting the wider facts
Professor John Robertson OBA I used to teach Research Methods to BA Journalism students. Nice kids with ambitions to helpfully inform readers. I worry for them now. Corporate and state media care little for informing, seek only to attract readers with scares and titillation and, must surely damage the mental health of those who work within. First, that claim – Wait times for cervical examinations increase in all but one health area since 2019 – is based on a Labour Freedom of Information request with the results edited to pick out this negative example and fed to uncritical media but … Continue reading Labour Freedom of Information request on cervical cancer with figures edited and used to scare by omitting the wider facts
What the Glasgow teen murder does NOT mean for Scotland – If you know a Sun reader please tell them this
The Sun today, above, following the Record, two days ago with: Professor John Robertson OBA They’re just doing it to make money but it has consequences over time for regular readers – depression, anxiety, fixed negativity, agoraphobia (feart to leave the hoose) supporting Reform UK and so on. What follows is jus the same as my response to the Record article but I know from Talking-up Scotland‘s stats, that less than 1% of those who see the post on social media actually read the full blog piece. What’s wrong with it, factually? First, Murder by stabbing in Scotland has fallen in … Continue reading What the Glasgow teen murder does NOT mean for Scotland – If you know a Sun reader please tell them this
As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries
By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above and: Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer’s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian. The facts behind my headline: From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior reporter not yet ‘inducted‘: Police Scotland is considering a request to send 120 officers to Northern Ireland following several nights of anti-immigration riots in Belfast and other parts of the UK. Jon … Continue reading As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries
A passenger pushed to his death, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooding, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the wrong button, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations…it kind of makes you think maybe CalMac is the best in the world?
Professor John Robertson OBA Today Red Funnel [should be Red Face] ferries on the Isle of Wight cancel sailings and disrupt travel because they spend too much on shareholder dividends and executive bonuses and thus don’t spend enough on maintenance or replacement.1 In October 2024, a late-arriving passenger was pushed into the screws, to his death, in Greece. Then the crews all went on strike for months, islanders ran out of food and, only three years before a ferry with 530 on board had sunk.2 In July 2024, a Channel Islands ferry kills French fishermen because the crew do not … Continue reading A passenger pushed to his death, fishermen killed by crew who don’t speak English, car decks flooding, one ferry runs aground because the only man on the bridge pressed the wrong button, really old ferries, high prices, endless cancellations…it kind of makes you think maybe CalMac is the best in the world?
Prof who doesn’t ‘give a flying fcuk’ resurfaces to lie about Scotland joining the EU
Published in the Sunday Herald today, retired Prof of German History, Jill Stephenson, is enabled to repeat, above, the old claim that Scotland ‘is not qualified to join the on grounds currency, control of monetary policy, lender of last resort and deficit’. TuS gets a rare mention as a ‘separatist blog‘. Should we rename as ‘Splitting-up Britain?’ More on Prof Paterson, her colleagues in a covert letter-writing and radio phone-in group, later, but first the substance of her claim. She’s wrong, all wrong. The full answer is far too long for this place but you can read it at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-new-scotland-independent-scotland-eu/pages/11/ … Continue reading Prof who doesn’t ‘give a flying fcuk’ resurfaces to lie about Scotland joining the EU
The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today: More than 700,000 Scottish homes are classed as not fit for habitation – with 600,000 more properties registered as below a legal tolerable standard since the pandemic, The Herald can reveal. Official surveys carried out for the Scottish Government show that in 2023, the number of Scots properties falling below the ‘tolerable standard’ in order to be fit for habitation has shot up from an estimated 54,000 (2%) in 2018 to 729,000 (27%) in 2023. The report is keen to link the above figures to child deaths: OMG, we think, until we … Continue reading The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp
