Tag: books

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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

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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

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English County Lines drug gangs increasing crime in the posher English counties after practising their dark arts in Scotland’s posher parts?

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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 Daily Express two days ago, the above and: County lines drug gangs are becoming ever more dangerous in affluent areas, with police seizing weapons in Home County areas. New figures show five in eight home county police forces recorded higher weapons possession rates than the London average in the last year. The findings come as the Home Office announced a record year for the largest number of drug lines closed, making 7,381 arrests following a crackdown on county lines gangs. Despite a rise in arrests, heightened policing … Continue reading English County Lines drug gangs increasing crime in the posher English counties after practising their dark arts in Scotland’s posher parts?

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Legal aid for abused women – available in all UK nations but most generous in Scotland and strictest means-testing in England

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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 comment pops up regularly and I’ve never thought to check. I have now: Do abused women get legal aid in England but not in Scotland? No. Abused women (and other victims of domestic abuse) can get legal aid in both England/Wales and Scotland, but the rules, evidence requirements, financial tests, and practical access differ because the two jurisdictions have separate legal aid systems. https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid/print England – You normally need specified evidence (police reports, court orders, letters from support services, health professionals, etc.), … Continue reading Legal aid for abused women – available in all UK nations but most generous in Scotland and strictest means-testing in England

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One more nightmare which only BBC Scotland headline and not one word to inform you of how Scotland is reducing violence against women and increasing rape convictions

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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 an endless trail of tales of single shocking offences, BBC Scotland, fail in their duty to inform the public. There is nothing in the above headlining story of one monster and his victim, to do other than to give nightmares. Most revealing of where BBC Scotland now sits (in the gutter), not one other newspaper operating in Scotland has this story on its front page. ‘I was weeks from marrying a violent serial rapist – my loved ones saved my life?’ Did Police … Continue reading One more nightmare which only BBC Scotland headline and not one word to inform you of how Scotland is reducing violence against women and increasing rape convictions

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Contrary to poorly/if-at-all researched Tory report – Glasgow SNP leader is correct – It is ‘a safe city’ far safer than any in England run for decades by them and their near-equivalents in New Labour

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According to the Daily Express today: The departing SNP leader of Glasgow City Council has insisted that the city is “safe.” This is despite rising reports of rape and violence within the city centre. 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 From the Sun in October 2025 –  DANGER ZONES Map shows the top 10 UK crime hotspots – do YOU live in the most dangerous area? Newcastle has the lowest crime rate of the ‘UK’ Top Ten at 116 per 1 000 people:  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/36904645/map-top-10-uk-crime-hotspots/ Westminster in central London had the highest current annual crime rate … Continue reading Contrary to poorly/if-at-all researched Tory report – Glasgow SNP leader is correct – It is ‘a safe city’ far safer than any in England run for decades by them and their near-equivalents in New Labour

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Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

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Call that a wildfire crisis? See this: 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 Bella Caledonia is great, nearly all the time. They have a lot of high quality writing, often putting our more prosaic percentages and line-graphs stuff in the shade but, every so often, show considerable political naïveté or lack of concern, platforming attacks on the Scottish Government which can only damage the wider movement – if you can’t run a…how can you run a country? Two days ago they had the above from an SWP member on behalf … Continue reading Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

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When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning

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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 Quick as you don’t like, BBC Scotland‘s ‘Education Correspondent’, with barely a thought it seems, is taking the latest Pisa data on reading all-too-dimly. Who is she? Lucy Adams at the University of Glasgow -She studied for an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow between 2006 and 2008. This is an interesting part of her background because creative writing can strengthen narrative skill, precision of language and the ability to bring lived experience vividly onto the page. She also completed a … Continue reading When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning

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Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really and many of you know it

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BBC Breakfast today reporting a damning assessment of the standard of policing in England & Wales. 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 Many police forces in England and Wales still need to make improvements in the way they investigate crime and other “basics” of policing, according to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC). In her annual report, Michelle Skeer also said too many victims were not receiving the quality of service they should expect. Forces continue to struggle when it comes to gathering evidence, identifying and progressing lines of … Continue reading Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really and many of you know it

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The Power of Nightmares Episode 147 – ‘A [one] mother whose son was murdered in a knife attack’

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the First Minister today. 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 BBC Scotland’s Reporting Scotland team’s wee insert in BBC Breakfast, several times today, returns to Scotland’s supposed knife murder crisis, exploiting another traumatised parent shamelessly to misrepresent this country. This is yet another of those reports, we’ve grouped together under the term ‘The Power of Nightmares.’ The most recent example was their ‘Welcome to Glasgow’ report. For our analysis, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/08/24/the-power-of-nightmares-the-real-reasons-why-the-bbc-made-that-glasgow-documentary/ Is there a fuller report at the website? When a story headlines Reporting Scotland but does not appear on … Continue reading The Power of Nightmares Episode 147 – ‘A [one] mother whose son was murdered in a knife attack’

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Another desperate attempt to drag us into the surging violence and hatred of the UK

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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 Headlining for BBC Scotland today above, and: A 25-year-old Scottish man has been jailed for racially-motivated “violent disorder” linked to rioting in Belfast during the summer of 2024. Reece Dunnett, from Dunfermline in Fife, pleaded guilty to rioting and criminal damage offences at Laganside Crown Court on Friday. He received a 27-month sentence – half of which to be spent in prison and half on licence after his release. Dunnett committed the offences after trouble arose in the Sandy Row and Donegall Road areas … Continue reading Another desperate attempt to drag us into the surging violence and hatred of the UK