Tag: politics

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Lord Ashcroft – why did he decide to acquire the Holyrood magazine ?

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Anonymous It appears though that Labour in Scotland’s leader (of sorts) Anas Sarwar is the bees knees as in yet another trolling (or comedy) exercise by media (of sorts) who dislike the SNP so much, that we now find out that, Anas Sarwar has been named as the “MSP of the year”, by the Holyrood Magazine (now owned by Tory Lord Ashcroft) in their yearly magazine political (of sorts) awards (of sorts) ceremony. Anas Sarwar tweeted in response to ‘winning’ this award (of sorts): “Thanks @HolyroodDaily for the MSP of the year award”. “Over 3 years, we’ve changed Scottish Labour so we can deliver the change our country needs”. “Economic … Continue reading Lord Ashcroft – why did he decide to acquire the Holyrood magazine ?

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2 000 mental health deaths in Essex not linked to Tory government but 1 in Scotland connects to the SNP government twice and earns the minister an photo

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In May 2024, BBC Scotland connected a single death in a mental health institution to the minister above and included in the report: The Scottish government said the commission’s recommendations would be “fully implemented” at the unit, which was anonymised in the report. (para 4) and at the end: The Scottish government’s Mental Wellbeing minister Maree Todd said she extended her “heartfelt sympathies” to the family of Mrs F. She added: “The relevant health and social care services have been issued with specific recommendations and learning points and we expect these to be fully implemented.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c25rgzl55edo Yesterday BBC Essex had: … Continue reading 2 000 mental health deaths in Essex not linked to Tory government but 1 in Scotland connects to the SNP government twice and earns the minister an photo

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Do you have to identify as British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ?

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By Anonymous  “I think the Scottish are just as racist as the English, same goes for the Northern Irish and Welsh. It’s a British problem“: UK’s first professor of Black studies, Kehinde Andrews (University of Birmingham), on “what’s wrong with the conversation around racist riots”, August 8th 2024: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/far-right-riots-black-history-kehinde-andrews/ So , going by that above statement, do you then have to identify as to being British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ? Sweeping generalisations here by this Professor who I would suggest should perhaps “think” again to make such an observation … Continue reading Do you have to identify as British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ?

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Why Scotland HAS avoided far-right unrest – Sir Prof Curtice fails to understand who Scotland’s Muslims are and even misunderstands his own percentages

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By Professor John Robertson I’ll start with the numbers. In BBC Scotland, Andrew Kerr’s grudging/riot-hopeful – Why Scotland may have avoided far-right unrest, today: Sir John says population plays a part too, with the proportion of people identifying as Muslim in Scotland much smaller than in England. The latest Scottish census shows 7% of the population is from an ethnic minority, compared to 18% overall in the UK. That would only make sense if the ethnic minority/Muslim population was spread evenly across Scotland and rest of the UK. It’s not. Ethnic minorities have clustered for decades in urban areas of … Continue reading Why Scotland HAS avoided far-right unrest – Sir Prof Curtice fails to understand who Scotland’s Muslims are and even misunderstands his own percentages

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Do the national branch offices of campaigning charities not understand devolution

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By stewartb Do third sector organisations with missions that extend across the UK feel unable to make statements that (in terms) state the following truth and if so WHY? ‘The situation in (a UK nation with a government with only limited, devolved powers) may be bad but – based on statistical analysis – not nearly so bad as in England, the nation with a government with EVERY power to have avoided this bad in the first place and with EVERY power now to deliver the necessary solution. ‘It is the government of England in Westminster – the one with ALL … Continue reading Do the national branch offices of campaigning charities not understand devolution

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Despite lowest reported anti-semitism, only Scotland must be warned about it

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By Anonymous BBC Website On the Scottish Politics page 7th story “Big rise in antisemitic incidents in UK – charity” Click on story and it comes up as part of the ‘UK’ page. Go to UK page to see article and I cannot see this story as an article on there. Story also not on UK politics page Story also not on Welsh politics page. So if the headline is “Big rise in antisemitic incidents in UK – charity” then why is this story only currently showing as a main article on the Scottish politics page ? So I checked the content of this article to see where they noted these incidents were happening within the UK as … Continue reading Despite lowest reported anti-semitism, only Scotland must be warned about it

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BBC Scotland to launch new board game called ‘Corpse Shortage!’

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On 30 July 2024, with not a trace of a cheeky grin, BBC Scotland reported: A rise in the number of students studying medicine in Scotland has resulted in a shortage of cadavers, according to a report. Prof Gordon Findlater, who is HM Inspector of Anatomy for Scotland, found that surgical colleges were having to cancel university training courses because the demand for bodies was so high. So, in response to an increase in the number of students studying medicine, previously called for by those Labour figures, Baillie and Sarwar, in BBC Scotland reports, the senior news editor who claims … Continue reading BBC Scotland to launch new board game called ‘Corpse Shortage!’

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BBC England reports on brutal County Lines drugs gang travelling into Scotland, Police Scotland News reports on these gangs 17 times in 2024 alone but BBC Scotland? Well you know….

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In the above BBC England report, the word Scotland does not appear but in every other report by West Midlands news outlets on the same day, they refer to their police teams working with Police Scotland. Why would Police Scotland do that? Because, English County Lines gangs, based on Police Scotland estimates, have for at least five years now, brought a wave of terror into at least 60 Scottish small towns and villages. They bring with them cheap drug supplies, extreme violence, the use of child drug carriers on the rail lines, people trafficking, prostitution, the exploitation (cuckooing) of vulnerable … Continue reading BBC England reports on brutal County Lines drugs gang travelling into Scotland, Police Scotland News reports on these gangs 17 times in 2024 alone but BBC Scotland? Well you know….

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Four weeks in and Labour Work and Pensions Secretary doing nothing for BBC Scotland’s struggling carer

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From BBC Scotland today: Brian Closs is a full-time carer for his two autistic teenagers and has been receiving income support with child benefit, carers allowance and child tax credits. But these benefits are being phased out by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of a “managed migration” to universal credit payments. Money is already tight for Brian, 55, but in order to receive his new benefit he has to claim and then wait more than a month for his new payment. The controversial “five-week wait” means he will fall further into debt unless he asks for … Continue reading Four weeks in and Labour Work and Pensions Secretary doing nothing for BBC Scotland’s struggling carer

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Child poverty: why is BBC hiding its article on poorer families in Scotland being ‘more fortunate’ than those in England due to Scottish Government action?

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No cheap tabloid images of sad wee weans here. And why is a Fraser of Allander economist so grudging? – “So it’s POSSIBLE the rate of child poverty would have been higher in the absence of the Scottish Child Payment”. Only just “possible” that £26.70 per week for each and every child in poorer families reduces poverty – really? By stewartb There is yet another example of strange editorial decisions taken by those that run the BBC News website. An article appeared (at c. 1 am on July 28) on the website entitled: ‘Tale of two nations: Meeting families with … Continue reading Child poverty: why is BBC hiding its article on poorer families in Scotland being ‘more fortunate’ than those in England due to Scottish Government action?