Tag: news

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90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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By stewartb A notable statement has been published today from the National Audit Office. The NAO performs a similar role to Audit Scotland but has a quite different public profile: whereas BBC Scotland and others in the mainstream media crawl through every line of every report published by Audit Scotland searching for ‘juicy’ negatives, the NAO’s output gets little mainstream news coverage in England or UK-wide, even when reporting significant negative findings. Today’s NAO report is clearly a major ‘negative’ – and the first of its kind ever – but at the time of writing this comment, there is nothing about it … Continue reading 90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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There is no evidence that ‘mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’ but Reporting Scotland want you to think so despite NHS Scotland’s lower maternity death rate and better staffing

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland this morning claimed that mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary due to a toxic culture there, as they reported on an independent review. The review as reported by BBC Scotland on their website today, does not mention that claim at all: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3x6vy3lkeo The claim comes from a December 2024 internal review by Lothian Health board which BBC Scotland reported as only having this evidence: But staff say they fear the risks to patients remain. “We are afraid we can’t provide safe patient care and that women and babies are being … Continue reading There is no evidence that ‘mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’ but Reporting Scotland want you to think so despite NHS Scotland’s lower maternity death rate and better staffing

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Grangemouth oil refinery – to have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable

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By George Caldow In what little coverage (I have given up on expecting proper analysis in Scottish or UK MSM) I have seen or read, it has been about points scoring by Politicians. The truth is not so easily constrained within a soundbite. Ineos’s management is poor. To have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable however they state they have. We have had statements of intent regarding introducing new technologies yet they have failed to complete many of the projects announced to much fanfare. They received money from the Scottish Government … Continue reading Grangemouth oil refinery – to have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable

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Anas Sarwar’s shameless opportunism exposed at STUC Conference

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By Liz S  A delegate at the STUC Conference tells Anas Sarwar and Labour a few home truths on Grangemouth. The Morning Star also noted this in their headline: “Scottish Labour leader’s ‘shameless opportunism’ slammed” The delegate stated this: “As I stand here, workers at Grangemouth — my friends and my colleagues — will walk out for the last time as over a century of oil refining comes to an end,” ‘”It’s a private business, there’s nothing we can do, it’s a commercial decision’ — that’s what they’ve been telling us, and yet everything we called for has happened, just not at Grangemouth” (He, … Continue reading Anas Sarwar’s shameless opportunism exposed at STUC Conference

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First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored

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Professor John Robertson OBA First Minister John Swinney’s major speech to the STUC today is being largely ignored. BBC Scotland fully covers all of Labour Leader, Ana Sarwar’s speeches including those to the modestly-attended party conferences. Swinney’s speech is wide ranging, optimistic and challenging on key issues such as the future of Grangemouth, Dundee University, energy, cost of living and poverty, yet the broadcasters and the so-called trusted press fail in their duty to report. He begins: It’s a pleasure to be here today to address the STUC Congress and particularly to be able to do that for the first … Continue reading First Minister’s major speech to STUC ignored

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Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125

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https://www.thesun.ie/news/370058/more-than-450-safety-lapses-have-occurred-at-sellafield-nuclear-plant/ stewartb We, our children, grandchildren and beyond will be living – and paying – for the legacy of past and. present nuclear power generation for a long time to come. Source: National Audit Office (16 October 2024) Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy – Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/decommissioning-sellafield-managing-risks-from-the-nuclear-legacy.pdf ) In the words of the NAO on Sellafield: ‘.. the NDA expects full site remediation will take until 2125.’ So 100 years! We learn that Sellafield spend in 2023-24 = £2.7 billion. And from Para 3.16 of the NAO report: ‘Sellafield spends the majority of its current … Continue reading Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125

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Stanford research finds Labour’s preferred small modular reactors will produce even more highly radioactive nuclear waste

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By JB Stanford-led research finds small modular reactors will exacerbate challenges of highly radioactive nuclear waste Small modular reactors, long touted as the future of nuclear energy, will actually generate more radioactive waste than conventional nuclear power plants, according to research from Stanford and the University of British Columbia. A study published in May 31 2022 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has reached the conclusion. “Our results show that most small modular reactor designs will actually increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal, by factors of 2 to 30 for the reactors in our … Continue reading Stanford research finds Labour’s preferred small modular reactors will produce even more highly radioactive nuclear waste

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They get the feast we get the crumbs, again – Labour’s GB energy projects ‘across the country….of England

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By Liz S “Miliband said, “I’m not going to take a decision that is going to raise prices in some parts of the country. That is not what I’m going to do” Really ? Yet when he was interviewed by ITV in March of this year, where they reported that he said this (and he did , because he also tweeted this himself). ‘It’s going to make a difference to so many pupils and so many patients’ Ed Miliband says schools and hospitals will get ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ off their energy bills as they get new solar panels The plans … Continue reading They get the feast we get the crumbs, again – Labour’s GB energy projects ‘across the country….of England

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‘They didn’t know their backyard creek carried nuclear waste. Now, they’re dying of cancer’ – new evidence from the USA of how similar Sellafield waste and Scotland’s higher cancer deaths are likely to be connected

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Professor John Robertson OBA From CBS News and other US media yesterday: When Linda Morice and her family first moved to St. Louis in 1957, they had no idea they had anything to fear. Then, people started getting sick. “It was a slow, insidious process,” Morice said. After the death of Morice’s mother, her physician uncle took her aside and gave her a stark warning: “Linda, I don’t believe St. Louis is a very healthy place to live. Everyone on this street has a tumor.” Their neighborhood was bordered by Coldwater Creek, a 19-mile tributary of the Missouri River. It … Continue reading ‘They didn’t know their backyard creek carried nuclear waste. Now, they’re dying of cancer’ – new evidence from the USA of how similar Sellafield waste and Scotland’s higher cancer deaths are likely to be connected

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Starmer’s celebratory video for his (real) country’s patron saint, that is England

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By Liz S Well here we are again , another St George’s day and another yearly ‘special’ celebratory video from the now, checks notes, UK PM , Sir Keir Starmer. Prior to him becoming the new UK PM, as in when he was merely the official opposition UK leader , Keir used to also do a ‘special’ celebratory video for his (real) country’s Patron saint, that is England. Scotland & Wales are not given the same ‘special’ celebratory video from Sir Keir the UK PM as that job is delegated to the minions (understudies) in the respective two English colonies, i.e. Scotland & Wales via the respective Labour branch office managers. … Continue reading Starmer’s celebratory video for his (real) country’s patron saint, that is England