Tag: news

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Increased supply of SNP’s world-leading opioid overdose reversal kits saving lives and reducing hospital admissions

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By Professor John Robertson From Public Health Scotland today: During 2023/24 Quarter 2 (1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023): At the end of 2023/24 Quarter 2, the ‘reach’ of the NNP (percentage of people at risk of opioid overdose who have been supplied with THN) was estimated to be 73.2%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared to 2023/24 Quarter 1 (71.7%). https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-naloxone-programme-scotland-quarterly-monitoring-bulletin/national-naloxone-programme-scotland-quarterly-monitoring-bulletin-july-to-september-q2-202324/ This positive news on the use of the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone, a world-first for the Scottish Government, comes on top of previous, uncovered by the media, news on a massive fall in drug-related hospital admissions, … Continue reading Increased supply of SNP’s world-leading opioid overdose reversal kits saving lives and reducing hospital admissions

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SNP MP and former senior police officer accuses successive UK governments of corruption, collusion and the protection of terrorists

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By Professor John Robertson This fascinating but deeply disturbing story, in the form of draft speech, of what many of us suspect is only typical of the historical behaviour of the UK establishment and still present today in the chilling image of Sir Keir Starmer, was passed to me by Allan Dorans, a former Detective Inspector in the Metropolitan Police and now the Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, with permission to publish and to share it widely. I hope that you too will share it even more widely. Good morning former colleagues and friends. It is wonderful … Continue reading SNP MP and former senior police officer accuses successive UK governments of corruption, collusion and the protection of terrorists

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Hiding the SNP Government’s massive funding of projects in Tory areas

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stewartb The Scotland section of the BBC News website has from time to time provided ‘good news’ stories about local initiatives in rural Scotland. You know the kind of projects – the ones that have received Levelling Up funding from the Westminster government.  As an example, back in 25 October 2023, the BBC News website made much of a local project under the headline ‘Proposals for new Moray bridge take a step forward’. This was about repairing the Cloddach Bridge in the constituency of Douglas Ross MP/MSP. The BBC told us : ‘Mr Ross said in March he had directly … Continue reading Hiding the SNP Government’s massive funding of projects in Tory areas

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Crime victims in England and Wales ONLY paying thousands for court transcripts

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By Professor John Robertson The headline is correct but the report is missing something. This, from the Scottish Government in February 2024: Victims in rape and serious sexual assault cases in Scotland will be the first in the UK to have access to transcripts from their court cases free of charge. The year-long pilot, commencing this week (01/03), will see complainers whose cases are heard in the High Court be eligible to apply for transcripts of what was said in court. Justice Secretary Angela Constance said:   “We want to support victims and ensure we have a trauma-informed justice system. … Continue reading Crime victims in England and Wales ONLY paying thousands for court transcripts

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America’s Sellafield and the near impossibility of proving a cancer is the result of life in a ‘contaminated environment’

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By Professor John Robertson I hadn’t heard of an equivalent nuclear-reprocessing plant to Sellafield – ‘the most toxic site in Europe’ – only a few miles from the Scottish border and with regular leaks of radioactive material into the air and water flows heading north, constantly. According to US writer Shannon Cram, author of the just published Unmaking the Bomb, above, most Americans are unaware that a site, like Sellafield, had produced weapons-grade plutonium and now houses the majority of the nations’ high-level nuclear waste. Hanford Nuclear Reservation is eerily placed, like Sellafield, about as far away from the Capital … Continue reading America’s Sellafield and the near impossibility of proving a cancer is the result of life in a ‘contaminated environment’

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No evidence of deliberate misreporting of overflow data by Scottish Water 

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By Professor John Robertson Typically Anglocentric or should that be Britocentric (?), the Guardian has the above headline and: Exclusive: Whistleblowers point to broader sewage scandal, with wastewater systems manipulated to divert sewage. Whistleblowers say UK water companies are knowingly failing to treat legally required amounts of sewage, and that some treatment works are manipulating wastewater systems to divert raw sewage away from the works and into rivers and seas. It is well known that water companies are dumping large volumes of raw sewage into rivers and seas from storm overflows but an investigation by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations reveals that the … Continue reading No evidence of deliberate misreporting of overflow data by Scottish Water 

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News you won’t hear on climate change – actually doing something?

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You won’t see this on BBC Scotland – Murrell! Murrell! Sturgeon! Murrell, more ferry delays…. Nor on BBC Scotland Business – climate change targets scrapped (lie), bank closures, shouting at fish markets….no Murrell….isn’t embezzlement a kind of business? From the Scottish Government today: The Scottish Government is stepping up action to tackle climate change with a suite of new policies on transport, including increasing the number of electric vehicle chargers, and land use. The increase in charging points comes as part of a wider climate package that also includes an integrated ticketing system which can be used across all public transport. … Continue reading News you won’t hear on climate change – actually doing something?

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England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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From the Guardian today: English primary schools cutting teacher numbers amid budget pressure, survey finds. A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders and teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that three-quarters said their primary schools were cutting teaching assistant roles, while a third were also cutting teacher numbers. From GOV.UK in November 2023, pupil-teacher ratios: Any class-teachers out these will be shouting things like ‘I’ve got 30’ and ‘I’ve never had fewer than 25’, and so on. That’s because the above ratios take into account promoted staff with no or reduced class-contact times, so in Scotland, … Continue reading England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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The Bradford gang that tried to spread misery into Auchinleck?

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I have a google alert for ‘county lines.’ Every day I get links to media reports on that, across England and Wales. I haven’t had one by a Scottish media outlet. BBC Scotland have not mentioned them since 2021, and only once then. From Yorkshire Live today: Bradford gang spread misery and class As in huge county lines operation. A Bradford county lines gang who spread drugs and misery throughout a town and city in East Yorkshire has been jailed. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bradford-gang-spread-misery-class-161742927.html ‘Bradford’ reminded me of the November 2023 ‘riots’ in Auchinleck and Cumnock (East Ayrshire) and the local reports ignored by the media: and: … Continue reading The Bradford gang that tried to spread misery into Auchinleck?

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Has any part of the NHS in the UK been able to match delivery capacity with increasing demand for health services?

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By stewartb Workforce statistics need very careful analysis based on trusted, objective assessment which gives readers ‘perspective’. No longer confident in the BMAs credentials in this regard and certainly not in the The Herald’s reporting on NHS Scotland. NHS Scotland’s total workforce in Q4 2023 was 160,567 (whole time equivalents), up 18.9% over the past ten years and up 14.1% in the past five years alone. The Q4 2023 the workforce included: In Q4 2019 the workforce included: Source: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics-publications/?pageid=1302 Looking further back in time, using this source: ‘NHS National Services Scotland (28 June 2011 ) NHS Scotland Workforce – Data … Continue reading Has any part of the NHS in the UK been able to match delivery capacity with increasing demand for health services?