Tag: news

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Scots have ‘critically low’ democratic well-being staying in UK but are ‘twice as likely to have high trust’ in SNP Government even after 18 years – How did BBC Scotland cope with this?

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Professor John Robertson OBA From a large survey by Paris-based Ipsos for Carnegie UK, into wellbeing index for Scotland in 2025, highlighting collective wellbeing scores across various domains and demographic factors, BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert this morning, ignored the document’s built-in ‘Generative Summary‘, from the AI Assistant in order to extract their own agenda-driven headline points: Wellbeing has improved slightly in spite of the cost of living crisis. The Scottish Government continues to be trusted more than UK Government although trust in Westminster did improve while it stayed the same for Holyrood. Democratic well-being has not improved … Continue reading Scots have ‘critically low’ democratic well-being staying in UK but are ‘twice as likely to have high trust’ in SNP Government even after 18 years – How did BBC Scotland cope with this?

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If NHS Scotland was performing worse than NHS England, the British Labour Party in Scotland’s condemnation of the SNP in government might be justified but it’s not so it’s not

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stewartb On the face of it, these extreme waits referenced by the British Labour Party deputy leader in Scotland are wholly unacceptable. Why did they occur? Unless we know why, we can’t determine whether they are indicative of a whole system failure; local failure or indeed local incompetence; or due to particular clinical situations. We are very far from knowing where responsibility lies – local clinical management, health board management/oversight, Scottish Government officials, Minsters? The British Labour Party in Scotland gets away with its ‘NHS “won’t survive” another SNP term’ nonsense only because the mainstream media in Scotland is unwilling … Continue reading If NHS Scotland was performing worse than NHS England, the British Labour Party in Scotland’s condemnation of the SNP in government might be justified but it’s not so it’s not

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UKIP, The Brexit Party and now Reform UK are all cheeks that have stemmed from the same Arse….and that Arse’s name is Nigel Farage

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By Liz S Talking of migrants…….sorry long comment , but most of it consists of a transcript of a TV report by SKY News. Connor Gillies, SKY News Scottish correspondent , did a TV report on SKY News on the 30 October where he had been allowed into a Reform UK meeting in Glasgow, he advised us the viewers that he had apparently been trying to access one within Scotland for 10 months. Why ? He met and interviewed various people at the meeting including an existing Reform UK Councillor, Audrey Dempsey, who had previously been a Labour Councillor but she was suspended by the … Continue reading UKIP, The Brexit Party and now Reform UK are all cheeks that have stemmed from the same Arse….and that Arse’s name is Nigel Farage

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UK Labour deny England’s under-22’s the ‘transformative benefit’ of Scotland’s free bus scheme as it hits more than 200 million journeys

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From BBC Business two days ago: A proposed plan to trial free bus passes for under-22s in England will not go ahead as it is “unaffordable” at the moment, the government has said. The trial was one of a number of recommendations put forward by the Transport Committee, a cross-party group of backbench MPs,in a report this August – with the suggestion it would boost access to jobs and education. In its response, published on Friday, the government said no money was available for such a scheme during the current spending review period, which … Continue reading UK Labour deny England’s under-22’s the ‘transformative benefit’ of Scotland’s free bus scheme as it hits more than 200 million journeys

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Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian, today, the above and: More than 50 lone child asylum seekers who disappeared soon after arriving in the UK [sic] and while in the care of the authorities are still missing, according to data obtained by the Guardian. Many of the missing children arrived in small boats or hidden in the backs of lorries and are thought to have been taken by traffickers. Kent is often the place where they arrive. Freedom of information data from Kent county council (KCC), which is controlled by Reform UK, has documented 345 children going missing from their area, … Continue reading Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

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It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

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stewartb Many expert commentators argue that long waits in A&E are caused – to a substantial degree – by delays in discharging hospital in-patients when medically ready for discharge and that this is caused by deficiencies on social care. It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party government in Westminster – despite its campaigning rhetoric – will bring about reform to England’s social care sector and its financial resourcing anytime soon. The Health Foundation think tank published a blog post on October 22 entitled: ‘Social care: a year in, what prospects for reform?’ It included these statements. First for context: ‘Labour … Continue reading It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

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There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting us to this. In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: Almost 100% of children in 73 neighbourhoods in England are living in income-deprived families, according to new measures that factor in the impact of soaring rents. Changes to official measures reveal the neighbourhoods where in effect all children live in low-income households. Of these, 31 are in inner London boroughs with high housing costs such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Haringey and Westminster. The new indices of multiple deprivation confirm that attempts at levelling up have failed to shift stubbornly high levels of deprivation in so-called … Continue reading There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

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Add 309 young male asylum seekers to 10 brutal drug gangs from Liverpool and London and watch Inverness struggle for its life

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Highlands and Islands, 29 October 2025 A UK government minister says he recognises the “strength of feeling” about plans to use an Inverness barracks to house asylum seekers. Cameron Barracks is to provide accommodation for 309 men from next month, according to local Lib Dem MP Angus MacDonald. At Westminster, Mr MacDonald challenged Minister of State at the Home Office Alex Norris on the suitability of the site near Inverness city centre. Norris said any impact on communities would be “minimised” and the security of people living in surrounding areas was “paramount”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27x1k2rkmo Two … Continue reading Add 309 young male asylum seekers to 10 brutal drug gangs from Liverpool and London and watch Inverness struggle for its life

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The case for or against approval of Western Link 2 from Ayrshire to Wales and the West Midlands

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the map above you can see the full range of networks transferring electricity from wind farms in Scottish waters, across the border into England & Wales. It’s a dramatic illustration of the UK’s increasing dependency on Scotland’s electricity generation. Just how much? From Energy Statistics for Scotland – Q2 2025 published today: In the second quarter of 2025, 8.1 TWh of renewable electricity was generated in Scotland. This is the most renewable electricity generated in the second quarter of any year in Scotland Scotland’s capacity for electricity generation from renewable sources has continued to increase and currently stands … Continue reading The case for or against approval of Western Link 2 from Ayrshire to Wales and the West Midlands

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UK minister slapped down for his Trumpian fake news on Scotland’s water quality – BBC Scotland agenda meeting expected to deem it not in public interest

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for guiding this piece: In the Guardian today: Steve Reed, the housing secretary, has been slapped down by the UK Statistics Authority for falsely claiming that Scottish rivers and lakes are more polluted than those in England. Reed made these comments this summer when he was environment secretary in order to demonstrate that a nationalised water sector would not necessarily deliver cleaner waterways. Scotland’s water is nationalised; England’s isn’t. These claims were obviously false; Scotland has a much lower population density than England and many remote lakes and rivers which are not near … Continue reading UK minister slapped down for his Trumpian fake news on Scotland’s water quality – BBC Scotland agenda meeting expected to deem it not in public interest