Tag: news

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‘Only seven countries meet WHO air quality standard, research finds’….plus Scotland

johnrobertson834

According to the Guardian today, Scotland is not a country and by implication falls with the UK into the failed group. The latest WHO level for the deadly PM2.5 particles is 5 micrograms per cubic metre. Though no Scottish average seems available, you can, I find, go to the IQAir site and find the level of PM2.5 where you live. How about Glasgow High Street? 3.1, well under the WHO level. https://www.iqair.com/gb/uk/scotland/glasgow/glasgow-high-street To my surprise the partly-pedestrianised Ayr High Street – 5.7, just over. Aberdeen Anderson Drive – 4.5 Edinburgh Tower Street – 1.5! Busy Queensferry Road – 1.9 Bainsford … Continue reading ‘Only seven countries meet WHO air quality standard, research finds’….plus Scotland

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Why does only Scotland need to hear of national grid problems it does not actually have?

johnrobertson834

Included in Reporting Scotland’s very short insert in BBC Breakfast and the main story on the BBC Scotland website (below), ‘The National Grid’ and its need for massive investment to make sure it can provide the flow of electricity to ‘homes and businesses’, makes no mention of the key fact that Scotland does not ‘need’ this at all; the rest of the UK does. Scotland is currently transferring 1.69TWh of electricity per month to England, more than 20TWh in 2023 and on some days (above graph) pushing 30TWh. https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-customers-surpass-1-terawatt-of-energy-savings-through-my-home-energy-report-program 1TWh would sell globally for about $120 000 per hour, so … Continue reading Why does only Scotland need to hear of national grid problems it does not actually have?

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Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “cover-up culture” but UK Conservative Government not to blame apparently

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today but completely absent from BBC websites including amazingly BBC Health, the above shocking scandal: Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “cover-up culture” that leads to avoidable deaths, and families being denied the truth about their loved ones, the NHS ombudsman has warned. Ministers, NHS leaders and hospital boards are doing too little to end the health service’s deeply ingrained “cover-up culture” and victimisation of staff who turn whistleblower, he added. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/17/nhs-ombudsman-warns-hospitals-cynically-burying-evidence-poor-care Even the Guardian article names no government minister nor does it platform the Labour opposition to attack this very real health … Continue reading Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “cover-up culture” but UK Conservative Government not to blame apparently

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‘Police Scotland acts to protect young people from County Lines drug dealers’ – how long can BBC Scotland stem the tide of local media coverage?

johnrobertson834

Even BBC Scotland’s ‘local’ website for the Midlothian area has nothing on the serious matter of County Lines drug gangs from large cities in England terrorising small town Scotland. To be fair they have covered the arrest of a ‘beer bike’ to stem the flow of that crime wave also terrorising small town Scotland. In my local area, you can’t cross the street for ‘beer bikes’ hurtling by. Back to the point. Why Midlothian? This: The lads at the Midlothian View Reporter are on the ball but perhaps we’re being unfair to that ancient defender, the Scotsman? Drug gangs from … Continue reading ‘Police Scotland acts to protect young people from County Lines drug dealers’ – how long can BBC Scotland stem the tide of local media coverage?

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Injury after collisions involving HGVs and Buses with bridges fall dramatically

johnrobertson834

Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ Published yesterday as part of a Freedom of Information request, by the Scottish Government, the latest data reveal a big decline in the number of incidents where people were injured after a bus or an HGV vehicle hit a bridge, in Scotland. Not the biggest of Talking-up Scotland scoops, I know, but one more area where Joe Public might be forgiven for thinking the trend goes the other way, based on media reporting. Who … Continue reading Injury after collisions involving HGVs and Buses with bridges fall dramatically

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Labour candidate for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock could not support move to save one thousand seven hundred local children from poverty

johnrobertson834

Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Labour candidate, Elaine Stewart, must do what Sir Keir Starmer tells her to do. Any suggestion of disloyalty and she’d be dumped quickly. Last year End Child Poverty made clear the role of the Two Child Benefit Cap in pushing 1.5 million UK children into poverty. There are 1 710 of them in the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency. What would Labour and a Scottish Labour MP do about this? Continue reading Labour candidate for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock could not support move to save one thousand seven hundred local children from poverty

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BBC Scotland fails to notice Police Scotland raiding 24 Scottish homes alongside Dorset officers in pursuit of gangs with XL bullies exploiting 22 vulnerable people in Aberdeen

johnrobertson834

Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ STV, Sky, the National and the Daily Mail, along with the locals are following these dramatic events. From STV News today: Eight XL bully dogs and more than 600 weapons including guns, nunchucks and knuckledusters have been seized in a week of police raids on county lines drug gangs across the UK. A total of 1,874 suspects were arrested across the country in the week ending March 10, with 245 drug dealing phone lines closed down. Another 1,653 people … Continue reading BBC Scotland fails to notice Police Scotland raiding 24 Scottish homes alongside Dorset officers in pursuit of gangs with XL bullies exploiting 22 vulnerable people in Aberdeen

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Official UK Parliament evidence that SNP management of the economy after Covid has meant far more recovery than in England or Wales

johnrobertson834

The above data table is from People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency, a Research Briefing, Published Tuesday, 12 March, 2024, a UK Parliament publication at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8748/ The Guardian has been digging in the data for evidence of the soaring number unavailable for work due to mental health problems. The BBC UK’s Economy team are on it with More than a fifth of UK adults not looking for work, but BBC Scotland is full of Michael Matheson and Hate Crime. BBC Scotland Business just has a link to the BBC UK Economy report. A quick look at the extreme right hand column … Continue reading Official UK Parliament evidence that SNP management of the economy after Covid has meant far more recovery than in England or Wales

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Freedom of Information attempt and edited photies to put Sturgeon in police car

johnrobertson834

I don’t know if the above fake image is any better or worse than the one Princess Kate did of her own family but Nicola in a polis car clearly floats a few boats. Just last week, Police Scotland responded to this daftie: Your recent request for information is replicated below, together with our response. Under the Freedom of Information Scotland Act, I am interested to know if it was a Police Car that was used to take Nicola Sturgeon to the Covid Enquiry in Edinburgh this morning.   If so, why was this and also what was the cost involved … Continue reading Freedom of Information attempt and edited photies to put Sturgeon in police car

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New SNP hate crime law – Tory prof and trade unionists have not a scooby

johnrobertson834

Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ Both the Scotsman and the Herald are running with the notion that the implementation of the SNP’s new Hate Crime law will make extra work for, and confuse, already hard-pressed officers, leading to possible wrongful arrests. Says who? First, the SPF, the police officers trade union has concerns because of ‘cutbacks’. They’re a trade union, I understand. When management tries to make you do something new, you resist. I felt just the same at … Continue reading New SNP hate crime law – Tory prof and trade unionists have not a scooby