Tag: news

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As resident (junior) doctor strikes begin today in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Professor John Robertson OBA After the last set of Junior Doctor strikes in 2023/2024, there were serious concerns about postponed appointments and excess deaths due to these. Above, the shocking picture of 52 out of the last 365 when doctors were on strike in England. There were no days lost to action in Scotland. According to the Guardian on 10 January 2025, junior doctor strikes caused around 1.3 million appointments to be cancelled. Had there been comparable action in Scotland, around 130 000 appointments would have been lost. According to the Telegraph on 2 January, there were nearly 53 000 … Continue reading As resident (junior) doctor strikes begin today in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Independent Water Commission for England and Wales makes multiple, substantive and favourably framed references to Scotland

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By stewartb The water industry is the news again. On July 21,  the ‘Independent Water Commission Final Report’ (aka the Cunliffe report) was published. Given it dodged the issue of nationalisation – incurring the wrath of some – it’s perhaps no surprise that the water industry in Scotland is also in the news. This is a result of a British Labour Party MP for an Edinburgh constituency plus a Labour minister making statements to the media that talk down Scotland. Their purpose – distraction and to diminish public confidence in Scottish Water and thus public ownership of this essential for … Continue reading Independent Water Commission for England and Wales makes multiple, substantive and favourably framed references to Scotland

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There will be no race riots in Scotland this summer

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Professor John Robertson OBA The UK media, above, are clear in their uncritical acceptance of the PM and the Deputy PM’s worries that riots will spread across the ‘UK’ again this summer. There were none in Scotland last year and the evidence remains to suggest there will be none again this year, no matter how hard the ‘Scottish’ media try to find something similar. What really happened and why did it not happen in Scotland? From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior reporter not yet ‘inducted‘: Police Scotland … Continue reading There will be no race riots in Scotland this summer

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If Nigel Farage is wrong on ‘UK’ crime, he’s even more wrong on crime in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday, the above and evidence that Farage is a bit off in his use of statistics on ‘UK’ crime. Will they survive a collision with the evidence here? From May 2025: Crime confirmed as really continuing to fall, based on three sources, to remain at roughly 1 in 10 experiencing crime directly from 1 in 5 under Labour From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2025, published today: Police recorded crime is down 1% since year ending December 2023, and remains below the position immediately prior to the pandemic. The total number … Continue reading If Nigel Farage is wrong on ‘UK’ crime, he’s even more wrong on crime in Scotland

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English expert says – “I would say Scotland does a better job [of monitoring water quality] than England does.” 

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Professor John Robertson OBA What will look bad at first sight, above and in much media coverage a the time, for some, is a classic example of misleading reporting of percentages. Scotland has 18 743 km of coastline compared to England’s 8 982, only one-tenth of the population and, crucially far fewer areas requiring monitoring. Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University, a leading expert on water quality, explained this in the National, in August 2022: An overview of the most obvious data on bathing water quality superficially appears to show Scotland actually has poorer-quality bathing spots than England. But this … Continue reading English expert says – “I would say Scotland does a better job [of monitoring water quality] than England does.” 

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Scotland’s measles risk does not come from its own tiny ethnic minority groups but from ‘imported cases’

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland, only, has an investigation today into the lower vaccine uptake among ethnic minority groups. The report has percentage and vulgar fraction descriptions of the shortfall but no actual figures so we cannot see just how many children are unvaccinated so we cannot really see the scale of the problem. The BBC Scotland report opens with: Last year data on childhood vaccines was broken down by ethnicity for the first time. It showed a wide variation in uptake across ethnic minority groups and Public Health Scotland called for more work to understand what is going … Continue reading Scotland’s measles risk does not come from its own tiny ethnic minority groups but from ‘imported cases’

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Does Scotland really need SMRs for a resilient energy system?

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By stewartb ‘At the time of writing there are only two SMRs actually operating – one in Russia and one in China. For this reason alone, we must question reliance on a technology not yet fully tested, as the basis for a national programme of work.’ So it’s a novel technology. The OECD in 2024 recognised three SMRs as operational, with over 50 SMR technologies currently still under development. (https://www.ansto.gov.au/news/small-modular-reactors-an-overview) If a company or nation state has relevant indigenous technological capability, an energy need AND national ambition to develop and then sell as exports SMRs, one might see the sense of being … Continue reading Does Scotland really need SMRs for a resilient energy system?

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Labour’s hypocrisy about ordering from China

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By Liz S Lies but also hypocrisy…….. Remember last week at PMQ’s the staged ‘performance’ between the then Labour MP Brian Leishman and his then Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in respect to Alexander Dennis Bus Manufacturers. Starmer stated that “The SNP should be backing Scottish workers” …….as he said that ” the SNP are ordering Buses from China“. Apparently that was hilarious for many of the MP’s in the HOC as so many burst out laughing at the ‘China connection’. Well it has now been reported that the big Labour flagship policy GB Energy has a connection to China…… So then would all of those same MP’s , especially … Continue reading Labour’s hypocrisy about ordering from China

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Latest poll – Reform UK and its alien values to face ‘impenetrable SNP wall’ in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA From GB News yesterday, the above and: Reform UK’s hopes of generating a tartan tidal wave have been handed a damning verdict as a pollster has told GB News that the party’s values do not fully resonate with Scottish voters. According to a recent MRP poll by think tank More in Common, the SNP is set to make a major comeback in the next general election, returning to 2019 levels of strength and bagging 41 of the 57 seats available in Scotland. When asked whether Scots think Reform UK aligns with their values, George Buchan, founder … Continue reading Latest poll – Reform UK and its alien values to face ‘impenetrable SNP wall’ in Scotland

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Why American researchers have not chosen Scotland to test if dogs can sniff out knives

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Professor John Robertson OBA On BBC Breakfast this morning, the above story and from BBC Devon, two days ago: An American university and dog trainers in Plymouth are researching how dogs could help police find knives used to commit crime. The dogs involved in the research project do not detect the knives themselves but a chemical compound created by the blades when they make contact with human skin. The smell of a knife in contact with human skin has been synthesised into a liquid form at Texas Tech University and the dog trainers use that to train the dogs, said … Continue reading Why American researchers have not chosen Scotland to test if dogs can sniff out knives