Tag: history

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So we have BBC Scotland, the Chair of the Scottish BMA, Sarwar, Baillie, the English NHS Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the UK PM, all of Labour HQ & the branch office Labour party in Scotland all politicising the NHS in Scotland but England’s NHS is to be exempt from politicisation now that Labour are in charge. I see. Got it.

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By Liz S “Why is Reporting Scotland still headlining the three-day-old news of ‘hundreds’ of operations cancelled in one NHS board”…….why indeed. Well they, the BBC ‘news’ teams in Scotland, need to hang onto (prolong) what they promote as being #BAD ‘news’….. that they then see as being another political weapon that they can use against the SNP…………it also helps to reinforce the BBC in Scotland’s current favourite UK political party’s message, as in the Labour party, and their political campaign of misinformation upon the Scottish NHS and the SNP. Meanwhile yesterday MSM Monitor posted this on ‘X’ “Waiting times in the English NHS … Continue reading So we have BBC Scotland, the Chair of the Scottish BMA, Sarwar, Baillie, the English NHS Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the UK PM, all of Labour HQ & the branch office Labour party in Scotland all politicising the NHS in Scotland but England’s NHS is to be exempt from politicisation now that Labour are in charge. I see. Got it.

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Private schools intake drop welcomed by education experts but clearly worries BBC Scotland, Herald, Scotsman and Reform UK

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From Alasdair Macdonald [former Head Teacher] this morning: The Herod and the Scotsperson both headline the fall in the number of children attending private schools in Scotland since the introduction of VAT on school fees. Both papers call the decision to charge VAT ‘vindictive’ and present the fall as a bad thing. Over 95% of children in Scotland attend local authority schools and this has been the level since education became compulsory in 1873. The monies raised by VAT are hypothecated to public education. This, according to two of our ‘papers of record’, is a bad thing for Scottish education. … Continue reading Private schools intake drop welcomed by education experts but clearly worries BBC Scotland, Herald, Scotsman and Reform UK

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Very little evidence of young children taking knives into schools in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA There’s not one reference to Scotland in this 1 500 word report yet the broadcast on BBC Breakfast this morning explicitly includes it in the problem and the call for ‘knife arches’ to be installed in every school: Incidents of very young children taking knives into primary schools have been revealed by a BBC investigation. Police in Kent recorded an assault involving a four-year-old pupil, while officers in the West Midlands reported that a six-year-old had taken a flick knife into class. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77d06vde4po I am not aware of directly comparable figures for Scotland and neither are BBC UK‘s … Continue reading Very little evidence of young children taking knives into schools in Scotland

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News you won’t hear – Support for struggling households from SNP Government

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Scottish Government News today with only the Daily Record covering it: A record £99 million will be invested in Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) this financial year to help thousands of households struggling to afford housing costs in Scotland. During Challenge Poverty Week, Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan highlighted the payments as a ‘lifeline’ for thousands of families and individuals. Funded by the Scottish Government and paid out by local authorities, the DHP scheme is designed to provide financial support to low-income households, delivering vital action to reduce poverty, safeguard tenancies and prevent homelessness. The Scottish Government has budgeted … Continue reading News you won’t hear – Support for struggling households from SNP Government

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Homeless deaths in Scotland fall as they climb in other parts due to lack of national leadership

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Professor John Robertson OBA Once again, I’m grateful to Brenda Robb for finding this and researching it for us. From BBC UK today but ignored by BBC Scotland, the above and: The figures show that 1,142 deaths were in England, an increase of 16% on the year before. London had the highest total number of deaths, but the largest increases were in Nottingham, where the number of deaths doubled to 22, and in Exeter, where they more than doubled from eight to 21. In Northern Ireland, deaths increased by more than a third between 2023 and 2024, to 211. Wales saw a … Continue reading Homeless deaths in Scotland fall as they climb in other parts due to lack of national leadership

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NHS England has to pay out more than twice as much as NHS Scotland for ‘maternity failings’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Brian McGowan for alerting us to this. How are things in Scotland you ask? £1.3 billion was paid out in 2024/205: https://www.cwj.co.uk/site/newsandevents/legalnews/costs_of_NHS_maternity_care_claims_revealed.html Per head, that £1.3 billion becomes £13 billion, less than half the NHS England pay-outs of £27 billion. Why might this difference exist? See this from Stirling University researchers in the BMJ in 2019: We found few differences in maternity care experience for women based on their physical or socioeconomic characteristics. Our findings indicate that maternity care in Scotland is generally equitable. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e023282 Further measures in Scotland: In January 2024, the Daily Mail reporting a drop … Continue reading NHS England has to pay out more than twice as much as NHS Scotland for ‘maternity failings’

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How dangerous is it to live 5km from a nuclear power station like Labour’s new one proposed for Anglesey, 360km from Westminster? It depends whom you ask but EVERY German study says it doubled childhood leukaemia risk

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Professor John Robertson OBA I asked the Elicit AI for scientific research which claims to help researchers be 10x more evidence-based: How dangerous is it to live 5km from a nuclear power station? After more than 5 minutes, it responded: Studies show mixed results on living within 5km of nuclear power plants, with some European research finding roughly doubled childhood leukemia risk while studies from other regions generally show no significant overall cancer risk. Which regions? This is stark. Why do 5 German research groups all find statistically significant risks to health in living within 5km of a nuclear power … Continue reading How dangerous is it to live 5km from a nuclear power station like Labour’s new one proposed for Anglesey, 360km from Westminster? It depends whom you ask but EVERY German study says it doubled childhood leukaemia risk

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More funding to tackle child poverty but that doesn’t fit the media narrative does it?

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Professor John Robertson OBA The small-circulation Scottish Housing News has the report but it’s nowhere in the MSM despite their gleeful responses to the flawed Joseph Rowntree Foundation claim that nothing has changed. That claim is based on the level of child poverty being static and ignoring the achievement of keeping it so against the background of new Labour austerity policies which have caused it to surge across the rest of the UK. Every professional journalist in Scotland got this by email yesterday and has chosen, chosen, to ignore it: Projects aimed at tackling child poverty across the country will receive increased, … Continue reading More funding to tackle child poverty but that doesn’t fit the media narrative does it?

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SNP Cop numbers more than under Labour, crime halved and murder less than in Denmark, as Express puts mental health of hundreds at risk

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Express today with Cop cuts putting public at risk? Rubbish. Cop cuts? From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: August 2025, published today: There were 16,427 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2025. This was 193 (+1.2%) more officers compared to the position on 31 March 2007, and 220 (+1.4%) more than on 30 June 2024. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-august-2025/pages/statistics-on-community-safely/ Police officer staffing has been maintained despite the crime level in Scotland falling from 385 509 in 2007/2008 when the SNP took over, to 299 111 last year, a 22% fall. Public at risk? Rubbish, crime … Continue reading SNP Cop numbers more than under Labour, crime halved and murder less than in Denmark, as Express puts mental health of hundreds at risk

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Child poverty in ‘UK’ soars to almost 50% higher than in Scotland with gap only likely to widen and a resulting increase of dying young

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: Published in Nursing Practice of 29 September 2025, One-third of UK children grow up in poverty with higher risk of dying young: In 2023/24, nearly a third [31%] of children in the UK (4.5 million) were living in relative poverty after housing costs, with one million of these children based in the North of England. In some constituencies, such as Birmingham Ladywood, the figures are higher, with 62 per cent of children living in poverty [32%in Glasgow] . This report highlights how the situation is worsening, with researchers … Continue reading Child poverty in ‘UK’ soars to almost 50% higher than in Scotland with gap only likely to widen and a resulting increase of dying young