Tag: news

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In Scotland no actual ambulance crisis as in Wales but still even the possibility of delays has the BBC inviting Scottish Cons and Labour round to finish 2024 off with one more SNP-bad session

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By Professor John Robertson OBA You have to laugh as BBC Wales use the image on the left above for Ambulance chief says ‘drink sensibly’ over New Year after critical incident but BBC Scotland can only find the one parked outside a corner shop in Forfar as the paramedics nip in for bridies, for Ambulance crews put on highest level of emergency. BBC Wales have this staggering report: Welsh ambulance service chiefs have urged the public to “drink sensibly” at New Year to help reduce demand on emergency services that suffered a 340-call backlog on Monday. Jason Killens, chief executive of Welsh … Continue reading In Scotland no actual ambulance crisis as in Wales but still even the possibility of delays has the BBC inviting Scottish Cons and Labour round to finish 2024 off with one more SNP-bad session

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Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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In the Guardian today: Killed women count – 80 women allegedly killed by men in UK in 2024 – Throughout the year, the Guardian aimed to report on every woman whose death has led to a man being charged. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2024/dec/31/killed-women-count-a-project-highlighting-the-toll-and-tragedy-of-violence-against-women-in-the-uk There, then follow 80 tragic accounts. I can’t imagine many would want to read all the way. I started to read and something jumped out at me but before I discuss that, some important facts about women victims of homicide across the ‘UK.’ According to the ONS, there were 174 females victims of homicide in England and Wales, in 2023.1 … Continue reading Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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As religious hate crime falls to lowest level for 20 years in Scotland, we are picked out for a campaign to fight it ‘across the UK’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today, by Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent, an image of a hate crime billboard in Glasgow and: Some of the UK’s largest police forces have reported increases in religious hate crimes in the past 18 months, figures reveal, with the number of incidents rising after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in autumn 2023 and again after the Southport attacks in England this summer. Forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands and the Metropolitan police recorded sharp increases in antisemitic offences in the weeks … Continue reading As religious hate crime falls to lowest level for 20 years in Scotland, we are picked out for a campaign to fight it ‘across the UK’

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As the Sunday Mail sickeningly exploits the story of a child coming from Morocco to the UK but denied treatment, to attack Scotland, how this small country has helped its big neighbour

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The above front page would be hard to dive below. There are only 12 beds in two facilities in the UK which can carry out this specialist procedure. A child living in Morocco cannot be helped quickly enough and NHS Scotland, one tenth the size of NHS England, is somehow blamed for a lack of capacity UK-wide. While the Sunday Mail may love to offer this kind of sickly tale, we never hear these stories: First, in the Guardian 12 September 2023 , but getting no coverage at all across the BBC or ITV or the press: … Continue reading As the Sunday Mail sickeningly exploits the story of a child coming from Morocco to the UK but denied treatment, to attack Scotland, how this small country has helped its big neighbour

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What about the ferries? Somerset nuclear power station takes 24 years, will be at least 14 years late and cost at least £46bn, nearly three times original cost, and the aircraft carriers, destroyers, the tanks and the fast trains….?

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From the Guardian yesterday: Originally priced at £18bn, the cost of Hinkley has ballooned to £46bn and then there’s the delays. Back in 2007, the then EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that by Christmas 2017 we would be using electricity generated from atomic power at Hinkley. We’re now in Christmas 2024 and Hinkley isn’t due to be completed until 2031. Due to a novel funding method, a lengthy construction timeline for Sizewell will saddle consumers with higher bills long before it delivers a single unit of electricity at a time when there is clear evidence that we can … Continue reading What about the ferries? Somerset nuclear power station takes 24 years, will be at least 14 years late and cost at least £46bn, nearly three times original cost, and the aircraft carriers, destroyers, the tanks and the fast trains….?

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The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald’s Helen McCardle asks that first question above then proceeds to circle around it with a mass of information and comment, ending up by claiming: The above needs the addition – ‘but at what cost in lives?’ So, after the pandemic, NHS England’s two-year waiting list for those with life-diminishing but not life-threatening conditions, such as arthritis, was cleared but Scotland’s was not. How did they do that? The NHS has spent a record £12.3billion outsourcing patients to private hospitals to try to clear waiting lists, figures show. Official data reveals a 12 per cent increase over the past … Continue reading The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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The pup sellers of North Britain – musings on promises of Union reform.

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By stewartb – a long read As 2024 ends, we also leave behind the ‘honeymoon period’ (sic) of the new Westminster Labour government.  A time for casting minds back to past promises and for musing on prospects for ‘change’. In Westminster, the Labour government recently announced appointments to the House of Lords. These were well trailed. From Labour List (June 21, 2023): ‘New peer plan raises questions about Labour’s Lords abolition intentions’ – ‘comments by a source close to the leadership in the Times calling Lords reform “hardly mission critical” to the first three years of a Labour government will … Continue reading The pup sellers of North Britain – musings on promises of Union reform.

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Talking-up Scotland 10 Year Anniversary

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Professor John Robertson OBA Just about 11 years ago, I published this research report, revealing clear media bias against the Yes campaign in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. It went viral in the following days and weeks. See: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/bbc-bias-and-scots-referendum-new-report/ BBC Scotland challenged the findings and reported me for ‘professional misconduct‘ to my employer – the University of the West of Scotland. After a nervous month or so, no action against me was taken. In March 2014, I was called by the Scottish Parliament to defend my work. See: I was followed by four of the BBC Scotland … Continue reading Talking-up Scotland 10 Year Anniversary

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Lib Dems find nothing useful on part-time unpaid police officers who make up 2% of the best staffed force in the UK

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From STV yesterday: Numbers of special constables within Police Scotland have fallen by 73% since the national police service was formed, the Scottish Lib Dems say. Figures obtained by the party through freedom of information show there were 383 special constables in 2023/24. This is a decrease from 1,394 in 2013. The special constabulary is trained to the same standard as the rest of the police service, however, it operates on a volunteer basis. Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “Special constables are an important link between communities and the police service because they can provide valuable local knowledge. … Continue reading Lib Dems find nothing useful on part-time unpaid police officers who make up 2% of the best staffed force in the UK

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“Scotland is now a dysfunctional example of failed devolution funded by English taxpayers”

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Anonymous Reform UK party ? Here are some actual snippets from Rupert Lowe’s speech at their 2024 Reform UK party conference , he is one of their new MP’s, from 2024 GE, for the constituency of Great Yarmouth, England. (Currently all 5 of their MP’s are elected in ENGLAND , one being a Tory defector, as in 30p Lee). So one or two snippets that Rupert said in his conference speech: “Defund the monopolistic malign BBC” (That’s the same BBC that Nigel Farage has frequently appeared in , on BBC QT as a member of the BBC QT panel, many many times actually, as has Richard Tice , but Richard Tice has also appeared on BBC ‘Politics Live’ as has … Continue reading “Scotland is now a dysfunctional example of failed devolution funded by English taxpayers”