Tag: poetry

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This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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By stewartb Another example of the Daily Record plumbing the depths of political journalism in support of a British Labour Party politician choosing to mislead (or just lie) whilst talking down Scotland? (With apologies for the length of what follows but it seems to me to be an interesting illustration of engaging with an AI research tool.) I posed a series of questions to ChatGPT: ‘The Scottish newspaper, the Daily Record had this headline today 7 August: “Gordon Brown warns child poverty in Scotland is getting ‘worse every day’ as he calls for UK Government action”. Is the statistic claimed … Continue reading This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brian McGowan for alerting me to this: From the Canary factchecker today: The National Audit Office (NAO) has declined to sign off on the accuracy of the UK government’s national accounts for a second time, citing widespread unreliability in, and lack of, data supplied by local councils. The crux of the issue lies in the backlog of local authority audits, meaning only around a shocking 4% of English councils provided data deemed “reliable”. This is down from 10% in 2022/23 – which even then, was a dire reflection on the state of local and … Continue reading As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’

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Shock as some locals tell CNN they see fewer needles and drug paraphernalia on ground around ‘controversial’ SNP safe drug injection centre in Glasgow which has now saved lives after 2 500 supervised injections in only 6 months

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Professor John Robertson OBA From US-based international news agency CNN today, the above and: “We’ve had almost 2,500 injections inside the facility,” Dr. Saket Priyadarshi, the clinical lead of the Thistle, told a CNN team who visited the facility in early June. “That’s 2,500 less injections in the community, in parks, alleyways, car parks.” The Scottish government told CNN that the service has already delivered results in terms of public health. “Through the ability of staff to respond quickly in the event of an overdose, the Thistle service has already saved lives,” Scottish health secretary Neil Gray said. The service, … Continue reading Shock as some locals tell CNN they see fewer needles and drug paraphernalia on ground around ‘controversial’ SNP safe drug injection centre in Glasgow which has now saved lives after 2 500 supervised injections in only 6 months

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If spend by Westminster/Whitehall on Scotland’s behalf is made in England, the economic benefit will accrue to England

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stewartb ‘The multiplier effect is one of the most important concepts you can use when applying, analysing and evaluating the effects of changes in government spending and taxation.’ It’s hard to understate this! A TuS blog post (May 19, 2025) entitled How the ‘Scottish’ media have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of the ferry services’ had this: ‘on the decision taken to procure two large CalMac ferries from Ferguson’s and then to nationalise the yard, the mainstream media studiously avoids any consideration of the economic benefits derived from sustaining employment in the yard and its domestic supply chain. … Continue reading If spend by Westminster/Whitehall on Scotland’s behalf is made in England, the economic benefit will accrue to England

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Suspensions 25 times higher and Permanent Exclusions 3 000 times higher in English Schools than in Scottish Schools

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By JB According to the most up to date Gov.UK education statistics for England, in the 2023/24 spring term they ‘shockingly’ had 295,559 suspensions from schools, which is actually a decrease from the 2023/24 autumn term when the figure was a ‘controversial’ 346,300 suspensions. This newest figure calculates as 35 suspensions for every 1000 students in England. There were also 3,107 students permanently excluded from schools in England. Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, Spring term 2023/24 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK In Scotland for the term year 2022/23 (Scottish statistics are calculated biennially) we had 11 676 suspensions, … Continue reading Suspensions 25 times higher and Permanent Exclusions 3 000 times higher in English Schools than in Scottish Schools

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How the ‘Scottish’ media have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of the ferry services

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By stewartb: The level of mainstream media ‘interest’ in CalMac ferry services has been ramped up and highly politicised over recent years. However, in sharp distinction to coverage by the highly resourced-constrained TuS, the highly resource-rich BBC Scotland and others in the mainstream media – those supposedly serving Scotland – have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of these ferry services. This failure is despite pointing out the economic and social importance of the ferries to the communities served. As best as I can recall (and do correct me if I’ve missed something substantive): And … Continue reading How the ‘Scottish’ media have singularly failed to investigate and fully report on the true state of the ferry services

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How only one Scottish Labour MP opposed ‘the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity’

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By stewartb Back on June 13, 2024, a BBC Scotland editor published an article on the BBC News website (so it must be true) with this opening: “Read my lips,” said Anas Sarwar, during the BBC Scotland leaders’ debate this week. “No austerity under Labour.” Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp4409yejrwo Fast forward to today when the push back against the policies of Mr Sarwar’s Labour in Name Only (LINO) party in government in Westminster has been given further impetus. It is being reported that 42 Labour MPs have sent a letter of protest to the PM. Here is how two Labour-supporting online media organisations are covering the … Continue reading How only one Scottish Labour MP opposed ‘the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity’

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CalMac ferry contract – Polish shipyard may have been unfairly subsidised to lower costs

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Professor John Robertson OBA Amidst fake indignation over the loss of the new ferries contract to a Polish shipyard and attempts to blame the SNP for what the media and the opposition parties have done to the reputation of a Scottish shipyard, the fairness of the competition has to be questioned. In November 2008, BBC UK reported: The European Commission has ordered Poland to reclaim more than 3bn euros of state subsidies paid to two shipyards which were facing bankruptcy. The move means Poland will have to sell the Gdynia and Szczecin yards, putting some 60,000 jobs at risk. The … Continue reading CalMac ferry contract – Polish shipyard may have been unfairly subsidised to lower costs

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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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Even the intelligent Bella Caledonia jumps unthinking onto the barricades, brandishing little more than a tooth-pick, to stop Trump coming to Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The typically excellent Bella Caledonia [ I mean that] has this today, joining with all the other folk I respect on Scottish independence but suddenly ‘armchair tank commanders‘, and rushed to the barricades to try to stop President Trump coming to Scotland. I mean, really, you hate him more than Narendra Modi of India or whichever Israeli diplomat comes to Scotland? Look properly. He’s a horrible horrible guy but he has done little to compare with the horror inflicted on Muslims in India or in the Israeli Empire. They write: America is a shadow of … Continue reading Even the intelligent Bella Caledonia jumps unthinking onto the barricades, brandishing little more than a tooth-pick, to stop Trump coming to Scotland