Tag: news

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Factcheck – Police Scotland absences due to ill-health lower than for NHS

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Today, the Scotsman has the above. It’s a classic ‘big number that is actually a fairly wee number story‘ by a reporter who is either no very bright or has trouble with the truth. Police Scotland has 21 707 staff. According to the Scotsman, they were off due to ill health for 1 020 930 days over 4 years from 2020. So, 260 work days in a year, minus 34 days of leave (28-37 depending on service), is 226 times 21 207 staff times 4 years is 19 171 128 days that could be worked. That … Continue reading Factcheck – Police Scotland absences due to ill-health lower than for NHS

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Factcheck – Based on official statistics, SNP policies have increased life expectancy in Scotland in the last decade but it has stalled elsewhere in the UK

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By Professor John Robertson After decades of improving life expectancies across the UK, the improvement stalled under Tory-rule and, largely due to Covid, fell, but only in Scotland and despite more than a decade of UK austerity, have they increased significantly. In 2010/2012, just into the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, then in 2021/2023, 11 years later, life expectancy was: I know, life expectancy remains the lowest in the UK, in Scotland, but it’s the direction, the trend that matters. The data. from official sources listed below, are clear – life expectancy from 2010/12 to 2021/23 has only increased significantly in Scotland, by … Continue reading Factcheck – Based on official statistics, SNP policies have increased life expectancy in Scotland in the last decade but it has stalled elsewhere in the UK

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Drug deaths in North-east England narrowing gap with Scotland despite being ‘significantly under-reported’ across England and Wales according to UK Civil Servants

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Dottie once more for alerting me to this and for noting that the Governments in England and Wales, unlike that in Scotland, do not seem to be, in any way, responsible. BBC News at 6 reports on record levels of drug deaths, surging by 30% in the case of cocaine but there’s not a word of criticism of governments. From their website at the same time these graphs but, in the text, not a word of criticism of government: The comparable figures for Scotland are 317 deaths per million males and 136 for women. The … Continue reading Drug deaths in North-east England narrowing gap with Scotland despite being ‘significantly under-reported’ across England and Wales according to UK Civil Servants

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Sellafield clean-up to soar to £136 billion but Starmer must pay for it to save lives in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian today: The cost of cleaning up Sellafield is expected to spiral to £136bn and Europe’s biggest nuclear waste dump cannot show how it offers taxpayers value for money, the public spending watchdog has said. Projects to fix buildings containing hazardous and radioactive material at the state-owned site on the Cumbrian coast are running years late and over budget. Sellafield’s spending is so vast – with costs of more than £2.7bn a year – that it is causing tension with the Treasury, the report from the National Audit Office (NAO) suggests. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/23/sellafield-cleanup-cost-136bn-national-audit-office Why must this … Continue reading Sellafield clean-up to soar to £136 billion but Starmer must pay for it to save lives in Scotland

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SNP’s impressive record on crime as general clear-up rate improves – homicide clear-up rate is 107%

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By Professor John Robertson The ‘Scottish’ Daily Mail today, front page, has SNP’s pitiful record on crime exposed, based on clear-up rates supposedly ‘plummeting‘. Mystifying. From the Scottish Government in January 2024 (24/25 rates not out yet, obviously), the above trend graph and: In 2023-24 the clear up rate was 54.1%, up from 53.3% in 2022-23 and back to a similar level seen in 2021-22. The large decrease seen between 2020-21 and 2021-22 likely reflected the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the types of crime recorded, with the volume of those crimes that have relatively lower clear up rates falling more sharply … Continue reading SNP’s impressive record on crime as general clear-up rate improves – homicide clear-up rate is 107%

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A tragic rail death in Wales is not linked to the Welsh or UK Government but 4 years ago in Stonehaven, BBC Scotland’s James Cook had other plans

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By Professor John Robertson There’s not a mention of the Welsh Transport Secretary nor of the UK Transport minister in this BBC Wales account of a tragic death on the railways, they share responsibility for. But on BBC Scotland, in August 2020: On BBC Scotland’s The Nine last night, James Cook, repeatedly interrupted the Scottish Transport Secretary, Michael Matheson to say: Well, exactly! Well, that’s rather the point! Isn’t it. We hear that are these problems. In 2014, a report specifically mentioned this exact area being greatly affected by earthslips. A report last month warned that there had been over six times more … Continue reading A tragic rail death in Wales is not linked to the Welsh or UK Government but 4 years ago in Stonehaven, BBC Scotland’s James Cook had other plans

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Glasgow hospital deaths inquiry – research says most bacteria are already present in patients and are common in visitors, statistics do not reveal a death spike, these hospitals are cleaner and have the same infection rates as others in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson BBC Reporting Scotland’s Lisa Summers is today, all day, milking the Glasgow hospital deaths being investigated by an inquiry, but then relying heavily on the concerns of relatives who understandably looking for answers they’d be more comfortable with and, dare I say, opportunities to take legal action against the NHS. As always, and across ‘our’ MSM, there is only personalised, sensationalised and tragically simplified comment, no hard evidence such as: First, infections after surgery are more likely due to bacteria already on your skin than from microbes in the hospital  Most health care-associated infections are caused by previously harmless … Continue reading Glasgow hospital deaths inquiry – research says most bacteria are already present in patients and are common in visitors, statistics do not reveal a death spike, these hospitals are cleaner and have the same infection rates as others in Scotland

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SNP critic in the Times hides the fact that she is on the Scottish Labour executive committee to mislead on pay settlements

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In the Times today: Health workers ‘driven out by SNP’s financial incompetence’ – The Scottish government has left the NHS under severe strain by budgeting for unrealistically low pay settlements, says Louise Gilmour of the GMB union Not revealed, this: What has the SNP Scottish Government settled on? The Scottish Government’s pay settlement for NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts for 2024-25 is a 5.5% pay increase, effective from April 1, 2024. What has the Labour UK Government settled on? The Labour government has agreed to a 5.5% pay increase for NHS staff in England, effective from April 1, 2024. Sources: … Continue reading SNP critic in the Times hides the fact that she is on the Scottish Labour executive committee to mislead on pay settlements

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Aberfan – a warning from history of how the Labour betrayal of working communities in 1966 will be repeated by Starmer before 2026 when you can be sure to never vote for them

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By Professor John Robertson Today, on the 58th anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster when 144 died in a mining tip landslide, Richie Venton of the Scottish Socialist Party has written: Starmer last week declared to the assembled profiteers at his Investment Conference that the Labour government will “rip up red tape” to “unleash growth”. As I’ve written elsewhere, so-called ‘red tape’ is better than red bandages. But in the South Wales pit village of ABERFAN, the man-made disaster didn’t mean injuries, but mass death. In writing the above, Venton directs us to his 2016 extensive account of the disaster which includes … Continue reading Aberfan – a warning from history of how the Labour betrayal of working communities in 1966 will be repeated by Starmer before 2026 when you can be sure to never vote for them

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£1.3 million in police funding to fight drug gangs frittered away on investigating SNP’s vired finances

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From millsjames1949 today: Just a thought , but perhaps some of the many , many hours devoted to the SNP Financegate investigation could have been better spent on serious criminal activity. Just so. As of February 2024, Police Scotland had spent over an estimated £1.3 million on the investigation into SNP finances, according to a Freedom of Information release.1 Police Scotland serves a population of 5.4 million. The Met in London serves 9 million and has just invested £9 million to tackle the plague of County Lines drug gangs.2 So, pro rata, Police Scotland might need to spend around £5 million to … Continue reading £1.3 million in police funding to fight drug gangs frittered away on investigating SNP’s vired finances