Tag: news

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Sludge leaks, spills, and fails to be contained so build your super-hospital further away

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Once more, deep thanks to our friend who shared this ‘sludge’ with us. From: Olden, R. (2016) Sludge. Cultural Geographies, 23(4), pp. 715719. (doi:10.1177/1474474016630966) We are standing over the inlet of Shieldhall Wastewater Treatment Works where the rush of stuff banished to an underworld of sewers and culverts spews from a protruding pipe to meet the light of day once again: the sewage and wastewater of half a million people….Here at Shieldhall, Scotland’s largest wastewater treatment works, the task is to separate water from waste. Wastewater runs a course which sees it filtered, settled, dredged and then metabolised by nitrifying … Continue reading Sludge leaks, spills, and fails to be contained so build your super-hospital further away

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‘Panic’ and fear of ‘serious sexual or violent re-offence or even murder’ in England because of the demands on probation staff with only half the level in Scotland

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BBC UK online and repeated across BBC Breakfast today, has dramatic and deeply disturbing news: The chief inspector of probation for England and Wales has told the BBC the early release of thousands of prisoners could lead to “a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder” because of the demands on probation staff to monitor offenders. and One probation officer told the BBC the upcoming releases had put him and his colleagues into “a state of panic”. We can’t cope with this – we’ve been saying that to anybody who will listen. At the minute I think it’s pure … Continue reading ‘Panic’ and fear of ‘serious sexual or violent re-offence or even murder’ in England because of the demands on probation staff with only half the level in Scotland

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GERS does not even claim an independent Scotland would have faced a deficit last year but BBC Scotland still pretend it does

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Scotland would have faced last year. You decide – BBC Scotland staff are thick as mince or institutionally corrupt? Is this claim today by BBC Scotland, true? No. It’s a dirty big lie. The GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures published on 12 August 2026 for 2025-26 report a notional net fiscal balance (deficit) of £25.3 billion, or −10.9% of GDP, for Scotland as part of the UK. This is an estimate of the gap between revenue raised in Scotland and public spending for/on behalf of Scotland under existing UK arrangements; it is not a figure for the deficit … Continue reading GERS does not even claim an independent Scotland would have faced a deficit last year but BBC Scotland still pretend it does

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New transmission infrastructure in Scotland is primarily required to transmit surplus electricity across the border into England and the wider Great Britain system

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to where it is consumed, mainly Central Scotland and England. BBC Scotland’s insert into BBC Breakfast makes the above explicit claim that new pylons and infrastructure are needed to ‘shift’ energy from the north to central Scotland. Notably the full BBC Scotland report online does not make the above claim. Another Reporting Scotland special? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rn42jp7d6o Is the claim, additional to their full online report, true? No. Why? In Scotland: Electricity consumption has declined substantially over the past two decades. Total consumption in Scotland was 21.7 TWh in 2024 — down 26.6% from the 2005–2007 baseline average of 29.3 TWh. Domestic … Continue reading New transmission infrastructure in Scotland is primarily required to transmit surplus electricity across the border into England and the wider Great Britain system

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English drug baron’s county lines gang exploiting vulnerable women and children across Scotland from Inverness and Glasgow and onto Aberdeen

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From the P&J yesterday, the above and: Viktor Kihu, 25, recruited people to his OCG which was called Harlem to use their properties in county lines drug operations. The Inverness Courier on the same day, revealed his wider empire: With the same text – This case follows another important development in the recognition of this plage: In the P&J today, the above. What has driven his demand? Police report a notable increase in drug offences in Inverness. Gangs target the region because of demand, less competition, and vulnerable people. Cases involve women and sometimes children being coerced into the networks. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0xdxdl40o How widespread … Continue reading English drug baron’s county lines gang exploiting vulnerable women and children across Scotland from Inverness and Glasgow and onto Aberdeen

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As giant, clearly not troubled, Glasgow hospital is shown to be as safe as all the others how Scotland has no postcode lottery unlike in other parts

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From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios April 2025 to March 2026, the above graph and this explanation: Assessing patient safety and the quality of care delivered in hospitals is essential. The Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) is a key indicator that measures hospital mortality. It compares the observed number of patient deaths associated with a hospital to the number predicted after adjusting for the case mix of patients. This adjustment accounts for factors such as age, underlying health conditions, and severity of illness, enabling hospitals to be compared fairly against the Scottish average. No hospitals had a significantly higher standardised mortality … Continue reading As giant, clearly not troubled, Glasgow hospital is shown to be as safe as all the others how Scotland has no postcode lottery unlike in other parts

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Let’s hope that Andy Pandering’s visit to Scotland is a tiny and so-very-fleeting part of his UK whistle–stop tour

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By Liz S From James Foster on X regarding the announcement of Andy Burnham doing a UK cost of living Tour this week: “Why does @AndyBurnham need to tour the country to discover that the cost of living is too high, people are keeping less and less of their own money, high streets have been decimated, rents are through the roof, social housing is in desperately short supply, and inequality continues to grow?” “None of this is a revelation. These problems have been documented relentlessly for years by official statistics, councils, charities, economists, researchers and, most importantly, the people living through … Continue reading Let’s hope that Andy Pandering’s visit to Scotland is a tiny and so-very-fleeting part of his UK whistle–stop tour

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The real purpose behind this so-called House of Lord’s ‘inquiry’ into Peter Murrell

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By Liz S According to the not so ‘Scottish’ Daily Mail “The Peter Murrell scandal is set to be investigated by peers in the House of Lords, the Mail can reveal”. That’s an investigation by Peers who are not members of the SNP party, who are all mostly non Scottish Peers or House Jocks and so are, by a majority , pro UK Peers and so then they all are (except the 2 Green Peers) anti Scottish independence unelected bureaucrats within the HOL’s. So what or rather who prompted this ? Well Jack McConnell had initially called for a joint inquiry between a Scottish Parliament committee and its counterpart in Westminster. So I suspect that he is (heavily) involved in … Continue reading The real purpose behind this so-called House of Lord’s ‘inquiry’ into Peter Murrell

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12 years after Erin Brockovich, Labour councillors approved massive nearby waste incinerator with a chimney barely taller and a plume containing deadly chromium hexavalent, lead and arsenic which the prevailing winds will send to the windows of wards of immunocompromised patients, WHILE QEUH was already being built

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Thanks to reader Joe Murray for alerting us to this. As the media operating in Scotland desperately struggle to blame the SNP for a problem in the QEUH water supply and drainage, signed off by a Labour dominated health board in a Labour-led authority, in 2015, two years before the SNP victory, another problem for them emerges. Surely, they’d seen Erin Brockovich (2 000) and would have known about the deadly chromium hexavalent, if they did some reading? In 2012, Glasgow City Council granted planning permission for the South Clyde Energy Centre (an energy-from-waste/incinerator facility) at Bogmoor Road, North Cardonald … Continue reading 12 years after Erin Brockovich, Labour councillors approved massive nearby waste incinerator with a chimney barely taller and a plume containing deadly chromium hexavalent, lead and arsenic which the prevailing winds will send to the windows of wards of immunocompromised patients, WHILE QEUH was already being built

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Scottish Labour Councillors on the board that approved the completion of the QEUH are entirely responsible for the £170m repairs to the water supply and drainage system

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Glasgow Live today: Taxpayers could face a bill of up to £170 million to repair Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus. The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and adjoining Royal Hospital for Children have been at the centre of a major infection scandal since opening in 2015. The Mail on Sunday has reported that an estimated £120m of further rectification work is now required, on top of around £50m already spent, according to internal documents obtained through Freedom of Information legislation. Source: https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottish-news/26448700.taxpayers-face-170m-bill-repairs-glasgow-qeuh/ Why would it matter when NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board approved the completion of the hospital? It was entirely their responsibility … Continue reading Scottish Labour Councillors on the board that approved the completion of the QEUH are entirely responsible for the £170m repairs to the water supply and drainage system