Tag: poetry

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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

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Far more working-class students in medicine in Scotland

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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 Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  From the Guardian yesterday, the above shocking headline. You won’t be surprised to see the Guardian report is typically and lazily, Anglocentric when you see this from the original … Continue reading Far more working-class students in medicine in Scotland

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UK Labour government to cut funds for safety at Sellafield – the “bottomless pit of hell, money and despair” just upwind and upstream of millions of Scots

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS, former power station and dyeworks worker In the Guardian today, the above and this: Sellafield has said nearly £3bn in new funding is “not enough” and bosses are now examining swingeing cuts, prompting fears over jobs and safety at the vast nuclear waste dump. Sellafield’s chief executive, Euan Hutton, has told staff that the funding was “not enough” to carry out planned works, leaving bosses to make “difficult decisions” over spending, sources told the Guardian. The public spending watchdog has said the ultimate cost of cleaning up Sellafield is expected to rise … Continue reading UK Labour government to cut funds for safety at Sellafield – the “bottomless pit of hell, money and despair” just upwind and upstream of millions of Scots

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While BBC UK reported Starmer claiming the meeting of more appointments than in a period with 23 days of strikes, so probably fewer, BBC Scotland completely ignores Swinney actually exceeding his promise

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily, finishing in 8 days, 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 Professor John Robertson OBA On February 17th 2025, BBC Health and BBC 1 reported: The government has met a key election pledge to deliver two million extra NHS appointments in England in its first year, the prime minister has said. The target … Continue reading While BBC UK reported Starmer claiming the meeting of more appointments than in a period with 23 days of strikes, so probably fewer, BBC Scotland completely ignores Swinney actually exceeding his promise

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The evidence that UK Government ‘suspicion of the Scots’ led to inferior Covid-19 pandemic measures and the unnecessary deaths of thousands in England and Wales

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA In the National today: Mark Drakeford: Tories’ ‘suspicion of the Scots’ hindered UK in Covid THERE was an “inherent suspicion” in the way the UK government dealt with its devolved counterparts during the Covid pandemic because they were “worried about the Scots,” the former first minister of Wales has said. The above table is summarised by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on page 100 of UK Poverty 2023 published on 26 January 2023, as: Scotland has the lowest mortality rate per 100,000 people for every degree of deprivation across the UK [p100] https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2023-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk That the above variation … Continue reading The evidence that UK Government ‘suspicion of the Scots’ led to inferior Covid-19 pandemic measures and the unnecessary deaths of thousands in England and Wales