Tag: news

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As Police Scotland send officers to help in Northern Ireland again, how the Scottish Government has made them the only UK force able to help with such ‘uncommon’ demands

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland yesterday: Police Scotland has agreed to send officers to Northern Ireland after two nights of disorder in Ballymena. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) asked for extra support under mutual aid arrangements following violent scenes in the County Antrim town. The deployment will involve an undisclosed number of public order officers who are trained to police civil unrest. Police Scotland previously sent 120 officers to Belfast last summer after a number of PSNI officers were injured during several nights of rioting and disorder in the wake of attacks on children in Southport, Merseyside. Mutual … Continue reading As Police Scotland send officers to help in Northern Ireland again, how the Scottish Government has made them the only UK force able to help with such ‘uncommon’ demands

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Covid Inquiry reports praising Scottish Government’s approach which you’re not going to hear anywhere else

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By Brenda Robb I’ve done what BBC reporters routinely do ie scan a document and pick out selective bits to back up an argument. I make no apologies for this because rarely does Scotland get any positive mentions, while negative findings are highlighted, amplified in headlines and endlessly discussed. If I ever get the time & energy I’m going to work my way through all the Covid reports, maybe do a list of positive/negative statements and make my own conclusions before the BBC or Rupert Murdoch try to tell me what to think. Below are statements from the most recent Covid … Continue reading Covid Inquiry reports praising Scottish Government’s approach which you’re not going to hear anywhere else

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Sarwar’s duplicity on Reform UK

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By JB “Institutional lies are at the level of organisations or public discourse. Many politicians use the common interpretation that telling a falsehood is lying whereas concealing or distorting the truth is not, leading to tortuous statements that technically avoid falsehoods but are certainly deceptive. Political lies in office and during campaigning are necessarily institutional: they are in the public domain. In contrast, private lies by politicians are individual lies, but they can become institutional lies when they are brought into the public domain.” Commentators and voters are less likely to believe a politician with a reputation for lying, especially … Continue reading Sarwar’s duplicity on Reform UK

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Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Telegraph yesterday and across media in England, the above astonishing decision by this Labour government, to follow from a series of cuts to services and tax increases for the less well-off, which can only further degrade the performance of the NHS in England and strengthen to role of the private sector, which funds many leading Labour politicians. What would a Labour presence in government at Holyrood, say with Reform UK, put at risk here? The Scotsman in February 2025 was front-paging Alarm over fresh drop in applicants for nurses course based on a 2% reduction in applications, from … Continue reading Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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By stewartb – a long read In recent days, British Labour Party politicians as well as journalists writing for ‘patriotic’ British media outlets have been trying to make mountains out of the molehill of Scottish Enterprise not awarding Rolls-Royce a £2.5 million grant. It’s tough competition but pellisonrhaps the prize for the ‘best’ headline – the most ridiculous –  goes to the ‘Scottish’ Daily Express (May 31) with this (my emphasis):  ‘SNP’s ‘student politics’ threaten Scotland’s ‘national security’ after it blocks £11m investment’. From the Express, we learn: ‘the SNP have been accused of threatening Scotland’s national security after blocking … Continue reading So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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Liz S BBC has this story on their website in relation to the NHS in England….It is on the main UK page , when you click on the story it then takes you onto the Health page, it is not on the UK Politics page: “Police investigate heart deaths at NHS hospital” “Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of patients following heart operations at an NHS hospital, the BBC has learned”. “Documents seen by us (BBC) suggest patients suffered avoidable harm – and that in some cases their death certificates failed to disclose that the procedure contributed to their deaths”. “One woman’s operation at Castle Hill Hospital near … Continue reading Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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British Ultra-nationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit

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By JB British Ultranationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit. The vacuous and politically impotent Sarwar and his side kick, the deceitful dyscalculic Baillie with their combined mendacity and their relentless obsession of him becoming First Minister of Scotland, without any desire to serve the public good, are either completely apathetic or too stupid in their empleomania to realise that they are, like their boss in England, complicit in the rise of the far right-wing highbinder opportunist Farage. When left-wing British Labour in Scotland leader Richard Leonard contradicted swindler Starmer’s decision to back the Tory government’s Brexit ‘deal’ … Continue reading British Ultra-nationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit

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Polish academic knows thsat Scotland is leading the way in East Asian boom but ‘Scottish’ media to busy with other trivia

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Professor John Robertson OBA In East Asia Forum, by Tomasz Kominski of the University of Lodz, in July 2024, but nowhere in the ‘Scottish’ media at the time, I feel sure, the above, and: As the epicentre of global business shifts decisively toward East Asia, small sub-national European governments are increasingly drawn to engage more robustly with this dynamic region. Scotland, stressing the importance of its links with Asian partners in its strategic documents, is at the forefront of this movement. The motivations are clear — economic opportuni , ambitions to tackle global problems and strategic positioning. Attracting foreign investors … Continue reading Polish academic knows thsat Scotland is leading the way in East Asian boom but ‘Scottish’ media to busy with other trivia

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Glenn Campbell only wants the SNP to be seen as #Bad

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Liz S In the above, Glenn Campbell: “The SNP leader John Swinney has certainly acknowledged a third, red rosette wearing Horse in this race”. “My sense is that his comment came as something of a relief to Scottish Labour, who came second last time and expect to be regarded as the principal challenger to the SNP, who are defending the seat”. Labour could certainly do with a win here“. Glenn for Labour. Why he, Campbell, then also had to add this into this article on the website: “The arithmetic already takes into account a series of SNP controversies over independence strategy, gender self-identification, a police investigation into party … Continue reading Glenn Campbell only wants the SNP to be seen as #Bad

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Herald’s Kevin McKenna casts serious doubt on his pro-independence credentials as he walks with and is ‘most impressed’ by an extreme Unionist

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Liz S Kevin McKenna has written an article for the Herald. He tweeted this today: “I walked the streets of Larkhall with Reform UK. What I saw and heard should trouble John Swinney and Anas Sarwar greatly: my despatch for @HerladScotland” Hmm, but what was the Reform UK candidate saying to these people in Larkhall, as that for me, is far far more ‘troubling’ to be honest. Now I remember when Kevin McKenna wrote this on 2 September 2023 in a tweet: “I spent an afternoon on the stump of Burnbank with the most impressive Conservative I’ve ever encountered. My feature on Thomas Kerr … Continue reading Herald’s Kevin McKenna casts serious doubt on his pro-independence credentials as he walks with and is ‘most impressed’ by an extreme Unionist