Tag: history

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Research report – ‘One child having a gun held to their head – gangs, coming up from England and introducing new types of violence and intimidation tactics that have not been seen in Scotland previously’

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By Professor John Robertson Man thanks to cuckooshoe for alerting me to this important report which I and, of course, BBC Scotland missed: From Understanding Child Criminal Exploitation in Scotland: A Scoping Review, commissioned by CYCJ, Action for Scotland and the Scottish Government and published in May 2023, these dramatic facts were totally ignored by Scottish media: When focusing on Scotland, the NCLCC has noted county lines running from the primary originating areas (i.e. West Midlands, Merseyside and London) into Scotland for which joint operations have been conducted with Police Scotland. Criminal exploitation through drug activity has also been identified as … Continue reading Research report – ‘One child having a gun held to their head – gangs, coming up from England and introducing new types of violence and intimidation tactics that have not been seen in Scotland previously’

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Latest – paracetamol deaths twice as high in Scotland, suicide, alcohol deaths, cancer deaths, shorter lives – clues that colonial subservience is killing us?

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By Professor John Robertson This shocking fact popped up in my alerts this morning, from research published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology: The Scottish paracetamol-related death rate was twice as high as in England and Wales.1 TWICE as high? That’s astonishing. This is despite more GPs, faster ambulance and A&E times in Scotland. Overdosing with other drugs, is even worse. In Scotland they are 2.7 times as high as the 2022 rates for England and Northern Ireland, and 2.1 times as high as the 2022 rate in Wales.2 This is, again, despite better emergency services, 95% drug treatment within … Continue reading Latest – paracetamol deaths twice as high in Scotland, suicide, alcohol deaths, cancer deaths, shorter lives – clues that colonial subservience is killing us?

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Scotland’s drug death toll explicitly linked to violent English gangs in documentary made for BBC Scotland but never covered by Reporting Scotland

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Scotland as the ‘drug death capital of Europe‘ is a narrative that much excites MSM here. Despite some reductions, the level remains stubbornly high but a significant factor in that – increasing supply of stronger drugs into smaller towns – is not considered, because that supply flows explicitly from England. In a documentary made for BBC Scotland and BBC 2 by independent film makers, Firecrest, broadcast in September 2024, there’s an explicit linking of drug deaths in Inverness to the extreme violence (see weapons found) and supply of Class A drugs by explicitly ‘English’ county lines gangs from London. Here … Continue reading Scotland’s drug death toll explicitly linked to violent English gangs in documentary made for BBC Scotland but never covered by Reporting Scotland

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West Midlands ‘complex county lines’ gang using children to sell drugs from ‘trap houses’ into and across Scotland

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From The Express & Star, yesterday: Members of ‘complex’ County Lines gang who sent children to ‘trap houses’ to deal drugs are jailed. A drugs gang who recruited children to sell crack and heroin have been jailed for 30 years. After cornering the Wolverhampton and Stafford drugs market the gang opened up new drug lines in Corby, Northamptonshire and as far as Scotland. Brian Asante, 23, from Canberra Drive, Stafford, would threaten and bribe vulnerable children to sell drugs for him in “trap houses” [cuckooing] in towns, leaving them vulnerable to attack from rival drug dealers.1 How do these children … Continue reading West Midlands ‘complex county lines’ gang using children to sell drugs from ‘trap houses’ into and across Scotland

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Breast cancer life extending drug – images BBC Scotland hope you’ve missed

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Professor John Robertson OBA On BBC Breakfast and on their website, an extended report on Enhertu, a drug which can give patients with a specific type of incurable breast cancer an extra six months to live on average. At the very bottom of the BBC UK report, this: Some told the BBC they were considering the idea of moving to Scotland, where they could get it on the NHS. Jeannie says that’s not an option for her family. “We shouldn’t be having to think of moving to Scotland or selling our houses,” she says. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7v6g9q6rjqo The extended website report does … Continue reading Breast cancer life extending drug – images BBC Scotland hope you’ve missed

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A&E – Scottish Daily Express front page is a disgraceful example of misrepresentation

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stewartb The Scottish Daily Express front page article – by its Scottish Political Reporter – is a disgraceful example of misrepresentation. It seeks to link excess deaths following a visit to A&E with NHS Scotland missing its four hour standard of 95% of patients being discharged, transferred or admitted within four hours. The postulated causal link between an increase in excess deaths and A&E attendance advanced by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) is concerned primarily with time periods of over eight and more significantly, over 12 hours. The Express fails to make this clear despite there being multiple … Continue reading A&E – Scottish Daily Express front page is a disgraceful example of misrepresentation

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Humza Yousaf makes same error as Prof Devine in blaming ordinary Scots for imperial crimes

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Professor John Robertson OBA This is just wrong. Elites in Scotland and in India played a leading role in the British Empire. 99% of the population in both places were starved, worked into the ground and used as cannon-fodder. ‘Scotland’ did not play any role, people did. I’ve been here before with otherwise highly intelligent public figures apparently ignorant of the reality of life for the majority (99%) indigenous population in the European empires and the actions of elites (1%) in their colonies. Anyhow, Sarwar’s support for Pakistan’s independence, considered hypocritical by many including me, was dismissed by Prof Tom … Continue reading Humza Yousaf makes same error as Prof Devine in blaming ordinary Scots for imperial crimes

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Flood of British refugees into Scotland in the SNP era may surpass the level of Irish famine migration in 1845/1851

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From The Irish Famine in a Scottish Perspective 1845-1851 by Géraldine VAUGHAN, in 2015, it is estimated that there were roughly 115,000 Irish incomers to Scotland for those six years.1 From the NRS, in the ten years from 2012 to 2022 (latest data), around 100 000 arrived in Scotland from other parts of the UK, increasing sharply from 3 000 in 2012 to 12 500 in 2022. This trend seems likely to be due to worsening austerity in other parts of the UK unprotected by SNP policies, on child poverty, HE fees and prescription charges, lower crime, a better-performing NHS, low … Continue reading Flood of British refugees into Scotland in the SNP era may surpass the level of Irish famine migration in 1845/1851

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Pay attention Ireland – Scotland ‘stands apart’ as the best educated country in Europe, perhaps even the World

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The above is from an Irish journalist today. Am I going to have to invent a new term to add to the Anglocentric media Scots face daily? Hibernocentric? The facts: Scotland is the best educated country in Europe, according to a report released by the Office for National Statistics. It says that nearly 45 per cent of people in Scotland aged between 25 and 64 have had some kind of tertiary education – including university degrees and further education — ahead of Ireland, Luxembourg and Finland, which were the only other countries to get more than 40 per cent. “In … Continue reading Pay attention Ireland – Scotland ‘stands apart’ as the best educated country in Europe, perhaps even the World

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BBC Scotland develops ‘fishy’ sense of humour reporting on ‘charity’ headed up by former UK Government advisor

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BBC Scotland this morning tell is that a ‘main sustainability charity’ (Open Seas) has a accused the Scottish Government of ‘floundering@ (really) because of a simple delay in getting a policy on sustainable fishing in plaice (my word) and properly developed to be effective. They’re just a Scottish charity so it’s not like Greenpeace accusing the Scottish Government. Hugh Raven, above, is the chair of the Open Seas board. Draw your own conclusions about his agenda. Draw your own conclusions as to why a simple delay like this is big news for BBC Scotland’s Reporting Scotland team when it’s not … Continue reading BBC Scotland develops ‘fishy’ sense of humour reporting on ‘charity’ headed up by former UK Government advisor