Tag: children

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Latest figures further highlight the shocking contrast between levels of domestic abuse of children and adults in England and Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Back around 2014, Frankie Boyle joked that if Scotland was to become an Islamic republic, it would have to start treating its women better. It was already a joke well past its time then and would be plain daft today. By several measures, even 20 years ago, under the last Labour/Lib Dem administration, Scotland was the most violent part of the UK and especially so for women. Things have changed. The Guardian today has: Nearly 90% of cases before the family courts in England and Wales show evidence of domestic abuse, a watchdog has disclosed. Physical, … Continue reading Latest figures further highlight the shocking contrast between levels of domestic abuse of children and adults in England and Scotland

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Police investigate 90 ‘suspicious’ hospital deaths but the Health Secretary is not even mentioned

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian yesterday, this shocking report, above, and: The number of patient deaths being investigated as possible manslaughter at a … Continue reading Police investigate 90 ‘suspicious’ hospital deaths but the Health Secretary is not even mentioned

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The Idiocrat

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, UWS In the Herald today, recycling the recent lies of Prof (sic) Lindsay Paterson, Neil Mackay has: The debasement of Scottish education is turning us into an idiocracy. Takes one to know one I suppose but I guess he’s not that daft, just desperate to keep his job. The facts: First, in Secondary schools: At SCQF level 7 (Advanced Higher), the gap in 2009/10, two years after the SNP first came to power, was 24.1 and by 2021/22 it was 22.2, though down from 25 in the previous year but more important … Continue reading The Idiocrat

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Former Labour and Jack McConnell aide desperately attempts to spread ‘grooming gang’ pandemic into Scotland based on no evidence at all

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In the wake of the accusations that Keir Starmer was neglectful in his role as chief prosecutor at the time of the Rotherham Grooming [Mass child rape] Gang scandal, former Labour First Minister, Jack McConnell’s aide, Susan Dalgety, writes in the Scotsman on Saturday 4th January: Why Scotland needs urgent national investigation into child sex abuse by grooming gangs1 Leaving aside the irony of Scottish Labour calling for an inquiry into a phenomenon barely reported in Scotland at the same time as UK Labour refuses one where the phenomenon is widely reported in England, what evidence of need does Dalgety … Continue reading Former Labour and Jack McConnell aide desperately attempts to spread ‘grooming gang’ pandemic into Scotland based on no evidence at all

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Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times approaching 90% target and waiting list slashed by massive 26% in Scotland is not, it seems, news

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today: One in three child and adolescent consultant psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, according to a “shocking” analysis laying bare the workforce crisis that experts say is fuelling “unacceptable” long waits for NHS care. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/28/long-wait-for-nhs-mental-healthcare-has-stark-consequences-for-childrens-life-chances BBC Scotland are not picking up on this with a view to reminding you things are bad here too> Could this be why? From Public Health Scotland in September 2024: 84.1% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from the 73.8% for the same quarter ending June 2023. The Scottish Government standard states … Continue reading Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times approaching 90% target and waiting list slashed by massive 26% in Scotland is not, it seems, news

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BBC Good Mourning Scotland reports ‘high’ cost of full child care in Scotland as costs in England soar well above it

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Many thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. BBC Radio Good Mourning Scotland this morning, about the allegedly high cost of full nursery care in Scotland, put it at £167 per week. As ever no context such as the Guardian report today: Parents can expect to spend more than £1,000 per child for care over the school summer holidays, according to research. A survey by the children’s charity Coram found that British families will be paying, on average, £1,049 for summer childcare for children aged from four to 14 – £635 more than they would pay for six weeks … Continue reading BBC Good Mourning Scotland reports ‘high’ cost of full child care in Scotland as costs in England soar well above it

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While only BBC Scotland platform Labour to defend itself on tax plans, the SNP acts to save 329 000 children

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BBC Scotland’s agenda is clear, even on D Day – Labour must be defended. BBC UK? This: One smaller story. BBC Wales? Professional journalism. BBC Northern Ireland? The same. Meanwhile what is really happening in Scotland, to millions of us? This: The Scottish Government is estimated to have invested almost £1.4 billion to benefit children in low income households in the last financial year. The investment is detailed in an annual progress report which highlights key actions to tackle child poverty including: Kind of newsworthy but I see that it might increase support for the SNP and they can’t have … Continue reading While only BBC Scotland platform Labour to defend itself on tax plans, the SNP acts to save 329 000 children

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SNP to be first in Europe to eradicate child poverty as it surges under Cons and Labour

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As the SNP’s much lauded, revolutionary Child Payment begins to widen the gap between levels in Scotland and the rest of the UK, the First Minister, John Swinney has announced £16 million for childcare services to help deliver his vision of a Scotland free from child poverty: In a statement to Parliament, the First Minister set out the four priorities that will underpin the work of his government. He said eradicating child poverty would be his government’s single most important objective. Over the next two years, the Scottish Government will provide additional funding to expand access to childcare services within … Continue reading SNP to be first in Europe to eradicate child poverty as it surges under Cons and Labour

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Sunak’s childcare scheme struggles, Starmer refuses to pledge support and Scottish scheme reporting no problems

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By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today, the above, and: The deployment of the government’s childcare scheme to tens of thousands more families is facing “significant uncertainties” and may struggle to meet its own targets, according to a report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office revealed the Department for Education (DfE) had assessed the likelihood of being able to deliver the funded childcare places it promised for September 2024 and 2025 as “amber/red problematic”. Even if the government managed to successfully navigate the multiple difficulties ahead, it was not clear whether the policy would achieve its primary aim of … Continue reading Sunak’s childcare scheme struggles, Starmer refuses to pledge support and Scottish scheme reporting no problems

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Another step toward life ‘in the early days of a better nation’ – Human rights centred benefits approach for disabled children in Scotland that BBC Scotland is predicted to ignore

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By Professor John Robertson I’ve written many times now how the SNP in government, hamstrung by the limits of the devolution settlement, is working hard toward Alasdair Gray’s famous line – “Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.” We see it clearly, as long as we don’t rely on Scotland’s self-hating media, in the compensation for the bedroom tax and two child benefit cap, in the free prescriptions, the bus passes for youngsters to get them to college or apprenticeships, the progressive taxation and the world-leading child benefit which even the IFS had to … Continue reading Another step toward life ‘in the early days of a better nation’ – Human rights centred benefits approach for disabled children in Scotland that BBC Scotland is predicted to ignore