Tag: news

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Scottish fishing fleet has double the catching capacity of English fleet, lands more fish and generates more income but only 7% of UK development funding comes to Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie, once more, for alerting us to this. In the National, yesterday: Scottish Government hits out over ‘totally unacceptable’ fishing deal – MAIRI Gougeon has hit out at the UK Government for short-changing Scotland’s fishing industry over “totally unacceptable” funding allocation.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/25558212.scottish-government-hits-totally-unacceptable-fishing-deal/ According to the National report, Scotland, despite having 70% of the catch and generating 58% of the UK revenue, will only receive £28 million out of the total £360 million of investment through the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, 7%. Wales and N Ireland get even less, £18m and £10m. So, £304 million, … Continue reading Scottish fishing fleet has double the catching capacity of English fleet, lands more fish and generates more income but only 7% of UK development funding comes to Scotland

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Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Bradford today: Two abuse survivors have resigned from their role in the national [sic] inquiry into grooming gangs, the government has confirmed. Fiona Goddard, who was abused by gangs while living in a Bradford children’s home, quit the victims’ liaison panel over concerns about the inquiry’s shortlisted chairs, one of whom is reportedly a former police chief and the other a social worker. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5qkq7zex3o This may trigger another attempt by Scottish Labour in a massive Scottish cringe move, to have a comparable inquiry here. They will of course not remind us of their dark past in … Continue reading Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary

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By stewartb What’s so hard for opponents of the present Scottish Government (SG) to grasp? If public services in Scotland fall short or fail but the same ones in Wales are exemplary, then yes severe criticism of the SG may be valid. This would suggest that resource allocation under UK devolution settlements should be enough for Scotland to do at least as well as Wales. There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary. This should not be too hard to grasp but is it ignored because it runs counter to … Continue reading There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary

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How Labour has failed Scotland’s young people

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Professor John Robertson OBA Labour Deputy Leader candidate, Phillipson, is in the Record today criticising the SNP for supposed failings with regard to the young. That takes nerve and the most shiny of brass necks. I’m going to have to be very selective and use a few examples of how Labour rather than the SNP, in the past and today regularly betrays the young. First, school exclusions plummet to just over a quarter of the level under Labour and full ‘expulsions’ to just one three-hundredth of the level then From School exclusion statistics published in April 2025, we can see that there … Continue reading How Labour has failed Scotland’s young people

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Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: Developers will be allowed to build lower numbers of affordable homes and claim higher subsidies to build them under plans being drawn up by the government to solve London’s housebuilding crisis. What will this do for the current Scottish Labour campaign to try to suggest the SNP is failing on affordable housing supply? Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Mail in April 2025 had the above headline and: Yesterday, inews had: The Daily Mail did not, of course, have the facts. Here they are: For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level … Continue reading Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better

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Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and putting all our lives at risk

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, yesterday, the above headline and: In May, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders that, in part, require the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to consider dramatically weakening its radiation protection standard. If federal radiation limits are gutted in the manner urged by the president, the new standard could allow four out of five people exposed over a 70-year lifetime to develop a cancer they would not otherwise get. Contesting the scientific consensus. Section 5(b) of the executive order—formally titled “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”—directs the NRC … Continue reading Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and putting all our lives at risk

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Reports of Knife-Wielding Gangs in Scottish Towns and Cities with English Accents

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Professor John Robertson OBA Recent reports and discussions in Scotland have highlighted the infiltration of drug-related gangs from England into Scottish towns and cities, often involving knives or other weapons. These groups are primarily linked to “County Lines” operations—a model originating in English urban areas where gangs exploit vulnerable people (e.g., addicts) to store and sell drugs in remote locations. While Scottish gangs exist and contribute to violence, multiple sources point to English-based groups as a distinct issue, expanding northward to evade police crackdowns and tap into new markets. This has fueled concerns about rising drug deaths and localized violence … Continue reading Reports of Knife-Wielding Gangs in Scottish Towns and Cities with English Accents

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BBC Scotland carefully hide the fact that sex offences on trains in England & Wales are TWICE as common as they are in Scotland!

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Wales two days ago, had: Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation. There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children – with some younger than 13. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39r2zp1dw7o BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert yesterday, had: The number of sexual offences on trains in Scotland has risen by over 70% in the last decade, according to figures obtained by BBC Scotland news. There were 98 assaults … Continue reading BBC Scotland carefully hide the fact that sex offences on trains in England & Wales are TWICE as common as they are in Scotland!

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As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones

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By Brenda Robb A UK wide report heavily focused on what happens in England, why are we not surprised? Just  a brief scan of the further reading reports listed in the appendix backs up the notion that this is fundamentally an English document, somehow they fail to list Play Scotland and the range of documents published to promote play in Scotland. (see www.playscotland.org/resources/) Contrast this:   A freedom of information request to all local authorities in 2023 found that almost 800 playgrounds had closed across the UK over the ten years before (amongst those authorities that responded), over 400 of which were in … Continue reading As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones

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Only since the first SNP Government have Scots thought devolution made a difference and now they have 100 reasons to think so

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Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland Forget dip in the last year; we can confidently label that a hanging form of branch (geddit?). In the Labour/Lib Dem era, 1999-2007, most Scots thought that having a Scottish Parliament made no difference to life up here. Within a few years, ignoring spikes and dips, the majority have thought it does make a difference. Why? Because it does, indisputably: 1. Free Tuition. We believe in education based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. While students in England now … Continue reading Only since the first SNP Government have Scots thought devolution made a difference and now they have 100 reasons to think so