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UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments. A total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019, research reveals. The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of … Continue reading UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP

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Scotland performs better than ‘European education powerhouses rocked by falling scores in global study’

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Scotland, second top in Maths, top in Reading and second-top in Science. England? Faked their sample again. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: France’s were its worst ever. Germany’s, too. In the Netherlands, results also tumbled to all-time lows. Even in Finland, Europe’s much-vaunted schools champion and a global leader for decades, scores plummeted. The 2025 Pisa scores, which assess how effectively 15-year-olds apply school-learned knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science to real-life situations, have rocked some of western Europe’s education powerhouses. While the UK bucked the trend [sic], … Continue reading Scotland performs better than ‘European education powerhouses rocked by falling scores in global study’

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Why abuse victims calling for help are far less likely to be arrested in Scotland – better law

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From OpenDemocracy, three days ago, the above headline and: Domestic abuse victims in England and Wales are facing arrest when calling the emergency services for help, according to new data published by Women in Prison. The charity asked more than 500 women in the criminal justice system about their experiences of domestic abuse, with nearly a third (29%) saying they were arrested when the police or emergency services were called to a domestic incident, even when they were the victim of abuse. The offence of assaulting an emergency worker, … Continue reading Why abuse victims calling for help are far less likely to be arrested in Scotland – better law

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‘Shameful’ – Labour’s GB Energy to allocate only 6% of £30m community fund to Scotland

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By stewartb From the Aberdeen-based Energy Voice news website (September 18): ‘‘Shameful’: GB Energy to allocate 6% of £30m community fund to Scotland’. ‘The announcement that as little as 6% of GB Energy’s recently revealed £30 million community energy scheme (sic) has been branded “shameful” by one Aberdeen MSP. ‘Under-secretary of state in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Martin McCluskey, revealed that only £1.8m from the new initiative would be allocated north of the border. ‘ To this, Donside MSP Jackie Dunbar (SNP) said: “Scotland is home … Continue reading ‘Shameful’ – Labour’s GB Energy to allocate only 6% of £30m community fund to Scotland

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Who exactly are those 37 ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs really working for ?

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Liz S So Sky News reported today that: “British Steel losing £1.3m a day – and there is no ‘credible‘ survival plan yet, MPs warn”. In a new report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns that the government has not yet set out concrete plans for how the company will become financially sustainable. It continues to cost £1.3m a day of UK taxpayers’ money“. (So I say that basically it seems then that no expense is spared when it is an industry that is based in England). The article continued in stating that: “The government intervened to prevent the closure of its blast furnaces in April 2025“. “More … Continue reading Who exactly are those 37 ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs really working for ?

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When the QEUH opened to receive child cancer cases in April 2015, six Labour councillors on the health board signed it off as safe despite a “the water system is not safe as managed” formal warning well-known to contractors and Estates

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Herald yesterday: Scots “did not get the hospital the country paid for” with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), the Health Secretary has said. The flagship Glasgow facility has been beset by issues in recent years, sparking a public inquiry into the environment at the hospital, as well as the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh. and https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26556521.health-secretary-scotland-did-not-get-hospital-paid-for/ The repeated linkage to Nicola Sturgeon is revealing of the Herald‘s agenda. Who was responsible for signing off the opening of the QEU … Continue reading When the QEUH opened to receive child cancer cases in April 2015, six Labour councillors on the health board signed it off as safe despite a “the water system is not safe as managed” formal warning well-known to contractors and Estates

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Drawing a Line in the Constitutional Sand – Should SNP MPs withdraw from Westminster?

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 “It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up but with his life.” — The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320 Is the moment fast approaching when Scotland needs to stand up — by sitting out? At the very moment Scotland returned the largest independence-supporting majority in the history of the devolution settlement, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom chose to ignore the democratic significance … Continue reading Drawing a Line in the Constitutional Sand – Should SNP MPs withdraw from Westminster?

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Consent for large AI data centres – BBC Scotland deliberately conceals the rigorous science behind today’s Scottish Government guidance

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Earlier today, the Scottish Government published the above statement after the Holyrood debate on large data centres. At around 18:00, BBC Scotland, the taxpayer-funded, public service provider, responded with this: Planning consent for large data centres in Scotland is “highly unlikely” to be granted in the next three months, the Scottish government says. The Scottish Greens have called for application processes to be paused until new national guidelines are in force – with an emphasis on energy demand and the environment. Ministers, while rejecting … Continue reading Consent for large AI data centres – BBC Scotland deliberately conceals the rigorous science behind today’s Scottish Government guidance

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Kevin McKenna – ‘I spent an afternoon on the stump of Burnbank with the most impressive Conservative I’ve ever encountered’ This man? Kev? You alright?

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Liz S I think McKenna’s real gripe is simply that he absolutely hates the SNP and so he is determined to convince others to also hate them as well. However he is choosing to express that hate by stooping very low. Remember when McKenna spent time with the then Tory Councillor Thomas Kerr (who has now defected to Reform UK). He was also “walking the streets” back then too. He called Kerr “the most impressive Conservative I’ve ever encountered”. Honestly if the people … Continue reading Kevin McKenna – ‘I spent an afternoon on the stump of Burnbank with the most impressive Conservative I’ve ever encountered’ This man? Kev? You alright?

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Why are so many young men committing sex crimes? Why don’t you start asking that in England where things are twice as bad?

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From BBC Sounds yesterday, the above, and: Sexual crimes recorded by Police Scotland are at their highest level since 1971. With the Scottish Government preparing to recognise misogyny as a “distinct form of prejudice and abuse” in law, we speak to Karyn McCluskey (pictured left), formerly of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, and criminal defence lawyer Tony Lenehan KC (pictured right). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p90gzq I’m not of course questioning the importance of reducing violence against women but it remains important to make sure this kind of … Continue reading Why are so many young men committing sex crimes? Why don’t you start asking that in England where things are twice as bad?