Tag: history

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Research – school achievement higher and attainment gaps far smaller in Scotland than in rest of UK

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By Professor John Robertson OBA: From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today: There are differences between the statistics on attainment in schools in the four UK nations which limit comparisons but the size of the gap between the most and least deprived at the ages of 11 and 16 can be usefully compared. First, 11 year-olds, percentage of most deprived and of least deprived achieving literacy and numeracy and size of gap: So, far more of both the least and the most deprived in Scotland achieve target literacy and numeracy levels … Continue reading Research – school achievement higher and attainment gaps far smaller in Scotland than in rest of UK

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Demand for emergency food parcels in parts of England surges to more than EIGHT times higher as unique Scottish Child Payment begins to reduce child poverty

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By Professor John Robertson OBA: From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today: Food banks in the Trussell network distributed 3.1 million emergency parcels across the UK in 2023/24, more than one million of which were for children (Trussell, 2024). This was the largest number on record (topping last year’s previous record high) and represented a 94% increase since 2018/19. The magnitude of this change varied across regions of the UK. The increase in London was 171% and Yorkshire and the Humber 157%. In Scotland it was only 21%. Research … Continue reading Demand for emergency food parcels in parts of England surges to more than EIGHT times higher as unique Scottish Child Payment begins to reduce child poverty

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Scotland’s progressive taxes, increasing tax base and inward migration – the Scottish Government statements the MSM are not telling you about.

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We’ve recently had Tom Hunter, City of London representatives and the IFS calling for reduced income taxes in Scotland. These have been widely reported but Scottish Government responses have seen little light. From Income tax and First Minister meeting with City of London Corporation correspondence: FOI release, published yesterday, selected responses from a very long set: Our tax policies are grounded in evidence and carefully balance the need to raise revenue with the impacts on taxpayers and the economy. The evidence continues to suggest that our policy approach raises significant additional revenue for investment in vital public services. Our tax … Continue reading Scotland’s progressive taxes, increasing tax base and inward migration – the Scottish Government statements the MSM are not telling you about.

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Why are Scotland’s MSM not reporting Highland police ‘success’ tackling County Lines drug gangs from Liverpool behind 2023 violence?

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser 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 In the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald, today but nowhere in Scotland’s MSM, not even on BBC Scotland’s Highlands & Islands latest news website: Highland police ‘success’ tackling County Lines drug gangs from Liverpool behind 2023 violence after working with Merseyside … Continue reading Why are Scotland’s MSM not reporting Highland police ‘success’ tackling County Lines drug gangs from Liverpool behind 2023 violence?

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In its 45 year lifetime how many childhood cancers were caused by refuelling at this Ayrshire nuclear power station?

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Thanks to JB for researching this. Hunterston B Nuclear power station, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, was in operation for nearly 45 years, from February 1976 until November 2021.1 In that time, there will have been around 30 re-fuelling instances2 and up to 300 inspections.3 During these events, there are spikes of radioactive emissions. Researchers in Germany, published this in 2011: According to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in Germany, the normal emission concentration during the rest of the year is about 3 kBq/m³, but during inspection/refuelling (in the afternoon and evening … Continue reading In its 45 year lifetime how many childhood cancers were caused by refuelling at this Ayrshire nuclear power station?

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The evidence that UK Government ‘suspicion of the Scots’ led to inferior Covid-19 pandemic measures and the unnecessary deaths of thousands in England and Wales

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA In the National today: Mark Drakeford: Tories’ ‘suspicion of the Scots’ hindered UK in Covid THERE was an “inherent suspicion” in the way the UK government dealt with its devolved counterparts during the Covid pandemic because they were “worried about the Scots,” the former first minister of Wales has said. The above table is summarised by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on page 100 of UK Poverty 2023 published on 26 January 2023, as: Scotland has the lowest mortality rate per 100,000 people for every degree of deprivation across the UK [p100] https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2023-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk That the above variation … Continue reading The evidence that UK Government ‘suspicion of the Scots’ led to inferior Covid-19 pandemic measures and the unnecessary deaths of thousands in England and Wales

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BBC Scotland faking baby death ‘spikes’ that were never there

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Scottish pregnancy, births and neonatal data dashboard, published on 14th January 2025, you can see Scotland’s falling stillbirth trend with variation between 3 and 5 per 1 000 births around the ‘normal’ level of 4, from one quarter to the next. There is one quarterly figure of 5 per 1 000 in July-September 2021 but it is not repeated and is no more significant then the very low figure in the previous quarter. Scotland’s higher level of midwife and home visitor staffing must be credited as a major factor in this trend. In the second graph, … Continue reading BBC Scotland faking baby death ‘spikes’ that were never there

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4 tower block fires but no towering infernos in Scotland confirm higher building standards and more frequent safety inspections in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA I’m four-sevenths of an architect. From 1970 to 1974, I passed 4 years of the part-time Certificate course in Architecture at Glasgow School of Art before getting sacked for (guess). I could calculate how much reinforcing steel you’d need in a concrete beam, but it’s all gone now, except one thing. Everyone moaned about the local authority building control officers telling us our airy dreams were unsafe. Looking back, thank goodness they did. Anecdotally, I’ve often heard about stricter building control regulations in Scotland, going back for decades but maintained by the SNP these 18 years, as … Continue reading 4 tower block fires but no towering infernos in Scotland confirm higher building standards and more frequent safety inspections in Scotland

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84 000 Scots are paid the living wage [but not by Mrs Sarwar]who would not be in England and 840 000 more in England are not but would be if they lived in Scotland

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In the Guardian yesterday: Low-paid cleaners have accused the Living Wage Foundation of giving accreditation to an “uncaring” outsourcing company paying less than the living wage. Facilities services giant OCS is accredited under a bespoke scheme for outsourcing firms. But the company has only committed to paying a living wage to its centrally employed staff. The scheme does not cover the majority of OCS’s 50,000 workforce, who are tied to external contracts. 1 What’s the picture across the UK? Scotland has the highest proportion of workers aged 18 and over who are paid the real Living Wage at 89.9% – ahead of … Continue reading 84 000 Scots are paid the living wage [but not by Mrs Sarwar]who would not be in England and 840 000 more in England are not but would be if they lived in Scotland

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Baron Grayling’s former constituency hospital parking patients head-to-toe in A&E after 23 years of Tory-representation

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Chris Grayling, famous for trying to ban books in prisons, comparing Manchester’s Moss Side to the Wire and giving ferry contracts to a company with no ferries, was MP for Epsom and Newell where the local hospital had a visit from Mirror reporters, above. Grayling was MP for 23 years, until 2024, giving him time, you’d think to work with (press) the local hospital to improve performance. Not so it seems. The SNP have had a bit less time than Grayling, but have done better. UK Government statistics confirm NHS Scotland’s A&E departments have been performing significantly better for nearly … Continue reading Baron Grayling’s former constituency hospital parking patients head-to-toe in A&E after 23 years of Tory-representation