Tag: news

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Major balanced poll – Information-starved public critical of Scottish Government’s record but are sure Labour would not do a better job

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The first thing I check for in any full poll is the extent to which the initial sample has been adjusted to reflect the make-up of the electorate in the 2021 Holyrood Election (not required) and they 2014 Referendum (good, they have not). In the light of the latter non-adjustment which many feel has distorted previous poll results against the SNP, we can, for the first time, reasonably trust these results. Their own headline – Public critical of Scottish Government’s record but aren’t convinced that Labour would do a better job – is surprising given … Continue reading Major balanced poll – Information-starved public critical of Scottish Government’s record but are sure Labour would not do a better job

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BBC Kent do not ask Labour Government, Health Secretary or local MP why A&E patients sit in their faeces for up to 50 hours – Imagine that in Scotland?

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Kent today: Frail patients ‘told to soil themselves’ at A&E – Frail patients at a Kent hospital emergency department were “told to soil themselves” because there was no one to take them to the toilet, staff have said.Patients at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham faced waits of more than 50 hours with no access to wash facilities, with some left “sitting in their own faeces“, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) was told. An inspection by the CQC in February 2024 rated the emergency department as “requires improvement” and issued a warning notice for … Continue reading BBC Kent do not ask Labour Government, Health Secretary or local MP why A&E patients sit in their faeces for up to 50 hours – Imagine that in Scotland?

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Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year in a row after Scottish Government’s ‘world-first’ opioid overdose reversal Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland‘s Drug-related hospital statistics Scotland 2022 to 2023 on 16 April 2024 (Latest release): There were 9,663 drug-related hospital stays. The European Age-sex Standardised Rate (EASR) of drug-related hospital stays was 182 stays per 100,000 population. This rate decreased for a third consecutive year, from a peak of 283 per 100,000 population in 2019/20. The highest substance-specific stay rate (81 per 100,000 population) was for opioids (drugs similar … Continue reading Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year in a row after Scottish Government’s ‘world-first’ opioid overdose reversal Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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Five times more, adjusted per head of population, at risk of being exploited by violent extremist narratives and drawn into terrorism in England & Wales than in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: The case is one of a growing number of school-shooting plots detected in the UK, where young men and boys are being inspired by online material glorifying US massacres, including the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. In the year to March 2024, 162 referrals were made to Prevent (the government-led counter-terrorism scheme) related to interest in school massacres, up 2% on the year before. Only 19 resulted in people being adopted for intervention and mentoring under the programme.1 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/02/i-hate-my-school-why-are-more-british-teenagers-plotting-shooting-attacks The total number of referrals to Prevent in England … Continue reading Five times more, adjusted per head of population, at risk of being exploited by violent extremist narratives and drawn into terrorism in England & Wales than in Scotland

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How Scotland’s disability benefits system has been kinder, remains affordable but is not apparently worthy of proper media coverage

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Today, BBC Reporting Scotland Down has the above story on disability payments in Scotland. As always there’s no context so that the narrative can remain pure – critical of the Scottish Government. What is the most important recent historical fact in disability payments in the UK? This: A leading disability rights charity has described new suicide statistics as the “tragic face of systemic inequality”. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested disabled people had the highest rate of dying by suicide compared to other groups. It found 48 disabled men per 100,000 people and 19 … Continue reading How Scotland’s disability benefits system has been kinder, remains affordable but is not apparently worthy of proper media coverage

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As Labour government cuts millions from funding for victims’ services, SNP increase it by 12% in one year

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: The [UK] government has cut millions of pounds in funding for victims’ services, prompting warnings that “criminals will go unpunished” unless it urgently changes its position. The Victims’ Commissioner has written a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves, shared exclusively with the Observer, saying a combination of funding reductions and the upcoming employers’ national insurance increase was creating an “existential crisis” for charities. The commissioner and charities in the sector are calling for an urgent funding increase in the next spending review, which concludes this spring. “These crucial services ensure victims have the … Continue reading As Labour government cuts millions from funding for victims’ services, SNP increase it by 12% in one year

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LATEST – Two research groups praise unique SNP efforts to tackle child poverty in the interests of all of us

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS From Turning the tide What it will take to reduce child poverty in the UK published by the Resolution Foundation, two days ago, at: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/, the above revealing graph and: In 2017, the Scottish Government enshrined ambitious child poverty reduction targets into law. These targets require Scottish ministers to reduce relative child poverty in Scotland to below 10 per cent and absolute child poverty to below 5 per cent by 2030 (both measured after housing costs).50 Such ambition has led to Scotland enacting measures that directly boost the incomes of parents claiming … Continue reading LATEST – Two research groups praise unique SNP efforts to tackle child poverty in the interests of all of us

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Reform UK – Not the party to champion working-class communities like those in Shettleston?

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Liz S Former Tory Councillor , Thomas Kerr, who defected to Reform UK party tweeted this yesterday: “Swinney calling a press conference to discuss Reform is peak desperation. The Holyrood establishment is petrified and rightly so. … Continue reading Reform UK – Not the party to champion working-class communities like those in Shettleston?

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As they once more accuse the Scottish Government of ‘failure’ why do the English and Welsh auditors never do that?

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increase in the number of children who require additional support for learning in schools. The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Who is actually responsible for the implementation of educational policy in school? Local councils and … Continue reading As they once more accuse the Scottish Government of ‘failure’ why do the English and Welsh auditors never do that?

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The hypocrisy of Metro Mayor Andy Burnham

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Liz S The Herald newspaper had a front page headline on the 26 February 2025. “Andy Burnham: Glasgow could be an economic powerhouse with five city collaboration” Andy Burnham is the Labour Manchester Metro Mayor. This … Continue reading The hypocrisy of Metro Mayor Andy Burnham