Breastfeeding more common for first time as Scottish Government’s most progressive and well-funded promotion programme in the UK pays-off
Professor John Robertson OBA From Infant feeding statistics Financial year 2024 to 2025, published today, the above momentous graph and: Supporting breastfeeding is an important public health activity, with strong evidence that breastfeeding protects the health of children and mothers. The information is collected at Health Visitor reviews of children at 10-14 days (First Visit), 6-8 weeks, and 13-15 months of age. Main points There have been notable increases in breastfeeding – 69% of babies reviewed in Scotland in 2024/25 were breastfed for at least some time after their birth, compared with 63% in 2016/17. In 2024/25, and for the first time … Continue reading Breastfeeding more common for first time as Scottish Government’s most progressive and well-funded promotion programme in the UK pays-off
Why “Motormouth” is a very apt description of Anas Sarwar
By Liz S “Sarwar refuses to comment on UK tax hike speculation“ Really ? Yet he, Sarwar, is not slow in commentating upon and also speculating upon so many other things that he says the SNP are currently doing wrong and that they , the SNP, will also do wrong if they win again next year, where as he says that he and his party will apparently do far far better if they win in Scotland next year. (Big if) The BBC article states that “the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has refused to be drawn on speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will raise UK income tax“. Indeed I bet he does, as he knows only too well the negative financial impact this will have upon Scotland , though when … Continue reading Why “Motormouth” is a very apt description of Anas Sarwar
4 000 Scottish cancer patients treated on time, in just one year, who would not have been had they lived in Labour Wales where they even set their sights lower
Remember that 11% gap (above) with Wales means around 4 000 were treated on time in Scotland who would not have been, had they lived in Wales. Similarly around 800 who would not have been treated on time in England. Professor John Robertson OBA Why is BBC Scotland NOT linking to this dramatic cancer waiting times story today, like BBC UK is? BBC UK this morning, above. BBC Scotland below, not linking? Wonder why? Could it be because those BBC UK staff keep forgetting there’s a war on up here and that BBC readers might see that bloody graph (above), … Continue reading 4 000 Scottish cancer patients treated on time, in just one year, who would not have been had they lived in Labour Wales where they even set their sights lower
Early release of prisoners can cause anxiety but shouldn’t taxpayer-funded media tell people that only 5% will re-offend on release from prisons with twice as many staff per capita?
Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland, today, has the above choice as the headline, neatly emphasising the negative and implicating the Minister with that wee ‘admits minister‘ but forgetting it should be ‘admits the minister after we choose that question,’ Nowhere in the report is this: The return-to-custody rate [not just re-offending but also breaching licence conditions] for the early 2025 tranche was only 5%. This was based on a Scotsman newspaper report1 as official data are not yet published. The kinds of re-offending breakdown is not yet available from the 2025 tranche but for the late 2024 group of … Continue reading Early release of prisoners can cause anxiety but shouldn’t taxpayer-funded media tell people that only 5% will re-offend on release from prisons with twice as many staff per capita?
UK Unemployment surges to massive 35% higher than in Scotland – will ‘SNP’ Government get the credit just as they would have been blamed if it was the other way round?
Professor John Robertson OBA These two headlines today and the full text, reveal the agenda in editorial decision-making, in BBC Scotland reporting, to conceal good news about Scotland, after 18 years of SNP rule. Imagine the figures were the other way round, they would have been compared, like the drug deaths, and the worse figure linked to government mismanagement with a quote from an opposition politician. Obliged to report the change of 0.1%, from 3.8% to 3.7%, they refer to that as ‘slight’ knowing most will accept that only 0.1% does seem small and concealing the fact that it refers … Continue reading UK Unemployment surges to massive 35% higher than in Scotland – will ‘SNP’ Government get the credit just as they would have been blamed if it was the other way round?
Isle of Wight Tory MP calls for ferry pricing regulation introduced by SNP in 2008 to transform Scottish island economies and then be forgotten by the ungrateful among them
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Independent last week: Ferries which connect island communities to mainland Britain are in decline, an MP has warned in his push to bring boats more in line with buses and trains. Joe Robertson said the Isle of Wight’s 140,400 residents have little say over how ferries are run across the Solent to Hampshire. He has tabled the Ferry Services (Integration and Regulation) Bill which, if agreed, would set up a framework for regulating boat routes throughout the country. Bus and train operators must follow several laws, such as the new Bus Services Act this month, which gives councils the … Continue reading Isle of Wight Tory MP calls for ferry pricing regulation introduced by SNP in 2008 to transform Scottish island economies and then be forgotten by the ungrateful among them
Good news you won’t hear – 72 000 Scottish workers receive pay boost thanks to Scottish Government
Professor John Robertson OBA Not being reported by BBC Scotland or BBC Scotland Business, despite being announced 8 hours ago on the Scottish Government‘s news website, on automatic Google alerts or followed, you’d think, by all serious serious journalists: A record 4,000 employers in Scotland are now paying their staff at least the real Living Wage, boosting the salaries of 72,000 employees and supporting them with rising costs. The milestone has been reached at the start of Living Wage Week, which celebrates the transformative impact the real living wage can have for workers and businesses alike, and encourages employers to … Continue reading Good news you won’t hear – 72 000 Scottish workers receive pay boost thanks to Scottish Government
Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter is joined by Kemi Badenoch in darkly cynical campaign to smear Scotland with disgraceful suggestion SNP is ‘hiding something’ about grooming rape gangs here too
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today, on the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: Kemi Badenoch has described Police Scotland’s failure to investigate a grooming gang in Scotland as “utterly shameful”. The Tory leader also accused the Scottish Government of “blocking scrutiny” into the allegations and warned that its refusal to support a public inquiry would lead to questions about whether the SNP was “hiding something”. Labour’s Joani Reid has been ploughing this rancid furrow for some time now and the answer for Badenoch will be similar. First, is Badenoch guilty of the same opportunistic shifting hypocrisy as we saw with Reid when, under … Continue reading Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter is joined by Kemi Badenoch in darkly cynical campaign to smear Scotland with disgraceful suggestion SNP is ‘hiding something’ about grooming rape gangs here too
BBC Scotland still hiding where the buck should have stopped for the three Stonehaven rail deaths five years ago
From BBC Scotland today, the above and: The inquiry into a train derailment which killed three men in the north east of Scotland could now last under a fortnight, a hearing has been told. The Aberdeen to Glasgow train came off the rails at Carmont, in Aberdeenshire, on 12 August 2020 after it hit a landslide following heavy rain. Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died in the crash. Network Rail was later fined £6.7m after admitting a series of failings which led to the deaths. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77z5538zeko What is Network Rail? Who are … Continue reading BBC Scotland still hiding where the buck should have stopped for the three Stonehaven rail deaths five years ago
New research reveals worst forms of homelessness up to two thirds higher in England than in Scotland
Professor John Robertson OBA I’m not for a minute excusing any level of homelessness but, if these data were the other way round, we all know who’d be blamed and blamed repeatedly. From BBC Politics, today, the above and: The number of homeless people in England is higher than official government data suggests, according to new research from the charity Crisis. They say that around 189,000 families and individuals who faced the worst forms of homelessness such as rough sleeping, sofa surfing and living in tents were not included in official statistics. Official data is based on people declaring themselves … Continue reading New research reveals worst forms of homelessness up to two thirds higher in England than in Scotland
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 