Tag: politics

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There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary

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By stewartb What’s so hard for opponents of the present Scottish Government (SG) to grasp? If public services in Scotland fall short or fail but the same ones in Wales are exemplary, then yes severe criticism of the SG may be valid. This would suggest that resource allocation under UK devolution settlements should be enough for Scotland to do at least as well as Wales. There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary. This should not be too hard to grasp but is it ignored because it runs counter to … Continue reading There is no evidence of public services in Wales being consistently better than those in Scotland – on the contrary

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How Labour has failed Scotland’s young people

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Professor John Robertson OBA Labour Deputy Leader candidate, Phillipson, is in the Record today criticising the SNP for supposed failings with regard to the young. That takes nerve and the most shiny of brass necks. I’m going to have to be very selective and use a few examples of how Labour rather than the SNP, in the past and today regularly betrays the young. First, school exclusions plummet to just over a quarter of the level under Labour and full ‘expulsions’ to just one three-hundredth of the level then From School exclusion statistics published in April 2025, we can see that there … Continue reading How Labour has failed Scotland’s young people

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Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: Developers will be allowed to build lower numbers of affordable homes and claim higher subsidies to build them under plans being drawn up by the government to solve London’s housebuilding crisis. What will this do for the current Scottish Labour campaign to try to suggest the SNP is failing on affordable housing supply? Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Mail in April 2025 had the above headline and: Yesterday, inews had: The Daily Mail did not, of course, have the facts. Here they are: For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level … Continue reading Affordable housing supply – Does Anas Sarwar support this latest UK Labour move to make the SNP look even better

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Scottish nationalism is not just civic it’s leftist too

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Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland Figure 15, meanwhile, analyses the relationship between where people stand on our left-right scale and their constitutional preference. To construct this figure, we have for each of our yearly samples identified the one-third of respondents whose score on our scale puts them among the one-third most left-wing in that year, those whose score puts them among the one-third most right wing, with the remaining one-third in between. The figure shows that, from the outset of devolution, those on the left were somewhat … Continue reading Scottish nationalism is not just civic it’s leftist too

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As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones

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By Brenda Robb A UK wide report heavily focused on what happens in England, why are we not surprised? Just  a brief scan of the further reading reports listed in the appendix backs up the notion that this is fundamentally an English document, somehow they fail to list Play Scotland and the range of documents published to promote play in Scotland. (see www.playscotland.org/resources/) Contrast this:   A freedom of information request to all local authorities in 2023 found that almost 800 playgrounds had closed across the UK over the ten years before (amongst those authorities that responded), over 400 of which were in … Continue reading As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones

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Only since the first SNP Government have Scots thought devolution made a difference and now they have 100 reasons to think so

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Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland Forget dip in the last year; we can confidently label that a hanging form of branch (geddit?). In the Labour/Lib Dem era, 1999-2007, most Scots thought that having a Scottish Parliament made no difference to life up here. Within a few years, ignoring spikes and dips, the majority have thought it does make a difference. Why? Because it does, indisputably: 1. Free Tuition. We believe in education based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. While students in England now … Continue reading Only since the first SNP Government have Scots thought devolution made a difference and now they have 100 reasons to think so

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Why has British identity in Scotland plummeted since 2021

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Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland The researchers offer no explanation for this recent collapse, from 2021 to 2024, in the proportion of Scots who consider themselves ‘British’, at all or best as. Readers will have their own views. I’m guessing the rise of Reform UK, Nicola Sturgeon managing the pandemic response far better than Boris Johnson, the Partygate Scandal, UK support for Israel even before the full genocide, England fans riot after losing to Italy on penalties, and the last years of … Continue reading Why has British identity in Scotland plummeted since 2021

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UK Governments slammed for cutting British Transport Police staffing and allowing surge of sex offences on Scotland’s trains in excess of those elsewhere

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by over 70% in the last decade, according to figures obtained by BBC Scotland news. There were 98 assaults reported last year, compared to 58 ten years ago – more than a quarter of those cases were closed without a suspect being identified. 24 victims were under 18 years of age. The Scottish Government said they’ve discussed these crimes with the Chief Constable but noted this area is reserved to the UK Government. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Reporting Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast today has the above story which is not being covered anywhere else. They haven’t reminded us … Continue reading UK Governments slammed for cutting British Transport Police staffing and allowing surge of sex offences on Scotland’s trains in excess of those elsewhere

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A ‘new honesty’ over child poverty sought – and found!

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Eluned Morgan, Labour FM in Wales: ‘the levers of power to make a difference to the number of children living in poverty in Wales lie with the UK Government.’  By stewartb The Herald had this headline on September 9: ‘Leading charity demands ‘new honesty’ over child poverty’. The plea came from the CEO of the Aberlour Trust in Scotland. Let’s see what can be done to help further this worthy objective. From Labour List (September 30, 2025), there is an article entitled: ’Bringing emotion and reality to the debate on child poverty.’ It’s written by a Labour Party conference attendee, … Continue reading A ‘new honesty’ over child poverty sought – and found!

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Scottish doctors’ branch union organiser lies about there being fewer GPs and ignores Scotland having 25% more of them to staff new SNP drop-in services

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government today: A network of walk-in GP clinics will open as part of work to improve access to primary care. The clinics, which would be staffed by GPs, nurses and support staff, will be open seven days a week, 12:00-20:00, in addition to existing primary care services. They will provide a range of same-day assessments, diagnostics and treatment. Fifteen clinics in sites across Scotland will proceed initially to test the benefits for patients. https://www.gov.scot/news/improving-access-to-primary-care/ Typically for BBC Scotland but contrary to practice in BBC England or Wales, their reaction was: A leading doctor has … Continue reading Scottish doctors’ branch union organiser lies about there being fewer GPs and ignores Scotland having 25% more of them to staff new SNP drop-in services