Tag: human-rights

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It’s a first as the Secretary of State for Scotland does something useful – trying to punish exclusively English drug gangs ‘cuckooing’ hundreds of vulnerable adults in Scotland

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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  From STV yesterday: Cuckooing is to be made a specific criminal offence in Scotland in a package of new laws to make streets safer. The legislation, designed to better … Continue reading It’s a first as the Secretary of State for Scotland does something useful – trying to punish exclusively English drug gangs ‘cuckooing’ hundreds of vulnerable adults in Scotland

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When the UN and the International Court of Justice make a judgement, how should a Scottish Modern Studies teacher react to it?

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From the International Criminal Court, to which the UK has been signed up since 2002, two days ago: With respect to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, the judges of the International Criminal Court have found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others. The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war … Continue reading When the UN and the International Court of Justice make a judgement, how should a Scottish Modern Studies teacher react to it?

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Prison activity time – Lib Dumbs cannot count as trend is upward but assaults remain at half the level of England & Wales

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By Professor John Robertson Headlining on the Herald website today, another Lib Dem (5th biggest party) ‘investigation’: Overcrowding in Scotland’s prisons has led to a significant drop in the number of “purposeful activity” hours being offered to inmates, new figures have revealed. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have warned of a “vicious cycle” with prisoners reoffending because they have been deprived of education and training while inside that would help them rehabilitate. The evidence? This: So, once more, selective, inaccurate, use of stats from the Lib Dumbs. First the fall of 3, from 16 to 13 hours, is not 25%, but 18.75%. Did … Continue reading Prison activity time – Lib Dumbs cannot count as trend is upward but assaults remain at half the level of England & Wales

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The Campaign to blame the SNP for Covid deaths contrary to the facts is underway

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When the otherwise excellent Open Democracy seems to have swallowed the myth, much loved by Anas Sarwar, that Covid 19 deaths in care homes were the result of hospital discharges of untested patients into them, you know the campaign to turn around the story of Scotland’s better pandemic performance, is well on the way. Yesterday, they had: Care home deaths soared as Holyrood took two months to introduce testing for outgoing hospital patients, inquiry hears. Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents the country’s independent social care sector, said he warned the then-secretary for health and sport, … Continue reading The Campaign to blame the SNP for Covid deaths contrary to the facts is underway

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Scottish Lib Dumb luck my friend as their London pals reveal prison assaults were pro rata more than TWICE as common in England & Wales than in Scotland

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From the Scottish Lib Dumbs, our 5th biggest and thus tiniest political party at Holyrood: Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today called for support for prison staff as he revealed that more than 1,500 prisoner on prisoner assaults and 265 assaults on staff took place last year.   https://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/news/article/lib-dems-reveal-scale-of-assaults-on-prisoners-and-staff-in-scotlands-prisons From the Guardian yesterday: There were nearly 8,000 assaults on prison staff in the year to June 2023, almost one an hour on average, the Liberal Democrats have said, arguing that the statistic shows the consequences of prisoner overcrowding and low staffing levels. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/01/assaults-on-prison-staff-nearly-hourly-in-england-and-wales-data-shows With 11 times … Continue reading Scottish Lib Dumb luck my friend as their London pals reveal prison assaults were pro rata more than TWICE as common in England & Wales than in Scotland

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Tenants left living in squalor in ‘England’ not across ‘Britain’

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In the Observer today: Leading private providers of social housing in Britain have been made to pay out only a few hundred pounds on average in financial penalties for severely mistreating tenants, the Observer can reveal. An analysis of every decision made by the housing ombudsman, the primary regulator of social housing in Britain, shows that across the 2,907 rulings it made in the past three years, the average financial penalty for housing associations was just £445. Housing associations are privately owned nonprofit companies that run 63% of social housing in the UK. They have recently come under increasing scrutiny and the … Continue reading Tenants left living in squalor in ‘England’ not across ‘Britain’

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As austerity looms (again!), time for re-evaluation – spectating in Union vs. exerting agency as an independent nation?

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By stewartb – a long read There have been a host of reports and think tank commentaries issued in the short time since the UK chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Almost all have been made, unsurprisingly from a UK – in reality, from an England – perspective. BBC Scotland did perform its ‘public service’ duty immediately following the Statement. Reporting remarks from the Scottish Government’s finance secretary on its consequential, negative impact on public spending/services in Scotland, BBC Scotland’s Business and Economy Editor provided his own remedy for the Scottish Government: ‘So the way out of this squeeze is to get the … Continue reading As austerity looms (again!), time for re-evaluation – spectating in Union vs. exerting agency as an independent nation?