Tag: news

3 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

2 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

Leave a comment

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

johnrobertson834

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

7 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

5 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

5 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

1 Comment

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

johnrobertson834

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

Leave a comment

Two prisoner release stories make no mention of rehabilitation in England for obvious reasons

johnrobertson834

In their long-running report on the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper and that on a hit-and-run driver (below), there’s not one mention of rehabilitation, probation or of recidivism by BBC UK. BBC Scotland have not even linked to these stories. What don’t they tell us? First, ‘recidivism’, re-offending is 5 to 6 times more prevalent in England than in Scotland: The return-to-custody rate [not just re-offending but also breaching licence conditions] for the early 2025 tranche was only 5%. This was based on a Scotsman newspaper report1 as official data are not yet published. The kinds of re-offending breakdown is not … Continue reading Two prisoner release stories make no mention of rehabilitation in England for obvious reasons

4 Comments

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Lost External Power Twice, Raising Nuclear Safety Risks – The final reason why Scotland should avoid nuclear energy – war

johnrobertson834

From Wikipedia: The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in southeastern Ukraine is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world. It has been under Russian control since 2022. It was built by the Soviet Union near the city of Enerhodar, on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river. From 1996 to 2022, it was operated by Energoatom, which operates the other three nuclear power stations in Ukraine. The plant has six VVER-1000 pressurized light water nuclear reactors (PWR), each fueled with 235U (LEU)[2] and generating 950 MWe, for a total power output of 5,700 MWe.[3] The first five were successively brought online between 1985 and 1989, and the sixth was added in 1995. In 2020, the plant generated … Continue reading Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Lost External Power Twice, Raising Nuclear Safety Risks – The final reason why Scotland should avoid nuclear energy – war

3 Comments

Nearly 20 years since ending Thatcher’s right-to-buy, Scotland has built nearly three times as many really affordable houses as Andy Burnham might promise for 2030

johnrobertson834

Thanks to Derek Scott for alerting us to this. Lewis is, of course, correct in outlining an emerging housing crisis across the UK but way out on the last near 20 years. In February 2026, aspiring Labour PM, Andy Burnham had this ambition for the UK: Significantly, it is social rent, rather than affordable homes, that Burnham appears keen on building. In February of this year, speaking at the Resolution Foundation conference, he said he would like to see the government commit to building 500,000 such homes by the end of the decade (2030). https://www.bdonline.co.uk/briefing/what-would-prime-minister-burnham-look-like-for-housing-and-construction/5142820.article Blissfully unaware, the Daily Mail in April … Continue reading Nearly 20 years since ending Thatcher’s right-to-buy, Scotland has built nearly three times as many really affordable houses as Andy Burnham might promise for 2030