BBC Scotland today restarts a media feeding frenzy in psychiatric care for children and adolescents which was already a new low in ethical standards across journalism in Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today has: A new report has raised concerns about the use of physical restraint and forced tube feeding in Edinburgh’s inpatient mental health ward for 12 to 17-year-olds. The inspection of the Melville Unit at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People was the first in a series of visits to psychiatric wards. The visits were ordered by ministers after BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme uncovered allegations of a “culture of cruelty” at Skye House, the young people’s inpatient facility in Glasgow. In the last paragraph there, the word ‘after‘ is doing some ‘heavy lifting.’ and … Continue reading BBC Scotland today restarts a media feeding frenzy in psychiatric care for children and adolescents which was already a new low in ethical standards across journalism in Scotland

The false and immoral economy of cheap ferries from Communist Vietnam

Professor John Robertson OBA The MV Alfred, leased to CalMac by Pentland Ferries, is back in Ayr dock today. Two years ago, she was tied up for gearbox problems in Ardrossan and was the cause of multiple cancellations on the Arran crossing. The MV Alfred was cheap. Only £14.5 million in 2019. It’s not clear what either the Communist Government subsidy, the wages rate or the death rate of workers in the Strategic Marine Shipyard was. It is also not clear just how much is lost to the Scottish economy by failing to build ferries here. On 5 July 2022, the Alfred grounded … Continue reading The false and immoral economy of cheap ferries from Communist Vietnam

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

Shocking contrast between customer satisfaction with CalMac and British Columbia Ferries with latter often screamed at, spat on or threatened due to poor performance

Professor John Robertson OBA From the Times Colonist on 10 October 2025: The union representing B.C. Ferries workers says its members are facing “disturbing” levels of abuse from passengers. A survey of B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union members indicated that more than 80 per cent of respondents said they have been threatened with violence on the job, and 92 per cent said they have witnessed it. The union released the results of its survey as the Thanksgiving weekend got underway in what is expected to be one of the year’s busiest for ferry travellers. Behind every sailing is a crew doing … Continue reading Shocking contrast between customer satisfaction with CalMac and British Columbia Ferries with latter often screamed at, spat on or threatened due to poor performance

Massive fall in number of children in care as progressive policies work to reduce poverty and as violent crime reduces but, hey, you don’t need to know that do you?

Scotland’s system for children in care. Professor John Robertson OBA There’s something important missing from the above ‘news‘ today on children in care in Scotland – how big a problem is this and is it growing or shrinking? Surely, we need to know the answers? Here’s why that is not on the agenda in the MSM in Scotland: Massive fall in number of children in care as progressive policies work to reduce poverty and as violent crime reduces From Children’s Social Work Statistics: Looked After Children 2023/24 published 22 April 2025, we can see that the number of children requiring to be … Continue reading Massive fall in number of children in care as progressive policies work to reduce poverty and as violent crime reduces but, hey, you don’t need to know that do you?

Clyde shipbuilding welding centre was never off track as Rolls Royce declare massive profits and shareholder dividends bloated by Ukraine war

With only 2 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland today: A specialist welding facility to support shipbuilding, planned for a site beside the River Clyde, looks set to go ahead after the UK government confirmed £2.5m of extra funding. The £11m project, led by Rolls Royce, aims to support the construction and maintenance of Royal Navy submarines. The plans were left in doubt earlier this year when it emerged … Continue reading Clyde shipbuilding welding centre was never off track as Rolls Royce declare massive profits and shareholder dividends bloated by Ukraine war

Scotland’s better building standards mean no ‘towers of terror’ here much as the Sunday Mail might wish for them

With only 2 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA The Sunday Mail‘s front page is a classic of melodramatic misrepresentation of the facts, based with little apparent sense of irony, upon a 1968 explosion in London and pointing to risk in large panel systems. What are these LPS concrete panels the Sunday Mail would have us panic over? From Grok AI (Powerfully helpful as long as you ask the right questions and can … Continue reading Scotland’s better building standards mean no ‘towers of terror’ here much as the Sunday Mail might wish for them

How Scotland’s schools are preventing the spread of County Lines gangs exploitation of children as young as 13

With only 3 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA The Express today has the above and: Children as young as 13 are running violent county lines drug gangs across Britain as school exclusions and vanishing “ghost pupils” fuel an explosion in exploitation, an expert has warned. Former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield said youngsters barely into their teens were heading drug networks, controlling supply lines of up to 80 miles, ordering … Continue reading How Scotland’s schools are preventing the spread of County Lines gangs exploitation of children as young as 13

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?

With only 6 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Jersey last week, the above, and: Basic safety actions “fell by the wayside” before a fatal collision involving a ferry and fishing trawler, prosecutors have said. At Jersey’s Royal Court on Friday, crown advocate Matthew Maletroit said former Condor Ferries crew members Lewis Carr and Artur Sevash-Zade failed to make safety the “paramount consideration” before the Commodore Goodwill collided with L’Ecume … 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?

Police Scotland praised again for humane crowd handling contrasting with that in England – The media coverage too contrasts starkly with Operation Branchform

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA Like you, I’m mad as hell about Operation Branchform but, like you I hope, I know damn fine Police Scotland is not making the decisions in what is the clearest example of a police force being told what to do, by those above them, charged with protecting national security as they see it. Putting that in a box, I was pleased to read in the National yesterday: Edinburgh Palestine Action … Continue reading Police Scotland praised again for humane crowd handling contrasting with that in England – The media coverage too contrasts starkly with Operation Branchform