Tag: politics

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One more time – flammable cladding is not that dangerous if……

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Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve been constructing this ‘tower of knowledge‘ for years now and virtually nobody, including the Scottish Government, seems be even aware of it. Based on the expert advice of a reader of TuS and a retired architect, as I understand it, flammable cladding is not dangerous enough, on its own, to cause a towering inferno and the deaths of hundreds, IF you have cavity fire barriers preventing the fire from spread from floor to floor, due to a chimney effect as happened in Grenfell. This fact is proven by four recent tower block fires in Scotland … Continue reading One more time – flammable cladding is not that dangerous if……

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Another Orkney Saga….   62.4% identify as Scottish ONLY so expense isn’t important in deciding to stay in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland today, the above and: Orkney Islands Council has accepted it must remain part of the UK – after spending two years exploring opportunities for greater autonomy. Officials looked into various models for “alternative governance”. These included changing their status in the UK or even potentially becoming a self-governing territory of Norway. A report to councillors concluded the proposals were too difficult and too expensive and members agreed to investigate a single authority model to reform how public services are delivered instead. Two years ago TuS reported on this and the following was written … Continue reading Another Orkney Saga….   62.4% identify as Scottish ONLY so expense isn’t important in deciding to stay in Scotland

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The history of the Tories, Liberals and Labour in covering-up systematic child abuse by MPs that underlies the more recent inaction by government and by police on grooming gangs

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By JB Independent Inquiry Child Sex Abuse From the 2012 investigation  ‘Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster’. “This investigation concerns institutional responses to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation involving persons of public prominence who were associated with Westminster. Westminster is defined in this report as the centre of the United Kingdom’s government, government ministers and officials, as well as Parliament, its members and the political parties represented there. Seven topics were covered in evidence. These were: police misconduct, political parties, whips’ offices, the Paedophile Information Exchange, prosecutorial decisions, the honours system, and current safeguarding policies in … Continue reading The history of the Tories, Liberals and Labour in covering-up systematic child abuse by MPs that underlies the more recent inaction by government and by police on grooming gangs

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Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but Reporting Scotland platform the opposition to claim the SNP cannot be trusted

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today and on BBC Scotland: John Swinney will today pledge a “national project of renewal” to overhaul Scotland’s public services, warning that the status quo is no longer good enough. In what the Scottish Government has described as a “major speech”, the First Minister will tell leaders from across the NHS, education, local government, justice and the third sector that long-term reform is needed to meet the country’s looming demographic and economic challenges. Despite having only seconds to tell the story, Reporting Scotland, this morning, managed to fit in the opposition parties claiming that the SNP … Continue reading Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but Reporting Scotland platform the opposition to claim the SNP cannot be trusted

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Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK is headlining the above as a ‘national inquiry’ though it is clear, reading on, that it is not: The prime minister has announced there will be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs. Sir Keir Starmer said he had accepted the recommendations of an audit by Baroness Louise Casey into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse. Baroness Casey has recommended a national inquiry is required, he said. The inquiry will cover England and Wales. The Guardian, notably, does not clarify that and leaves it to … Continue reading Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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Beware ‘gushing’ British Labour Party politicians in Scotland in the wake of their government’s Spending Review which quietly cuts Great British Energy funding to zero

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By stewartb The BBC News website on June 11 covered the Spending Review announcements in separate articles, in its Wales and Scotland sections. The BBC Wales article had this cautionary headline: ‘Spending review could mean cuts in Wales – experts’. Critical views ares shared by BBC Wales on the significance of the SR and not just from politicians opposed to the British Labour Party government but from ‘experts’ too: Here we learn: ’On Wednesday, the chancellor announced a real-terms increase of 3% to day-to-day funding for the NHS in England. That will result in extra funding for Welsh ministers to … Continue reading Beware ‘gushing’ British Labour Party politicians in Scotland in the wake of their government’s Spending Review which quietly cuts Great British Energy funding to zero

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The dark Brian Wilson allowed to challenge SNP universalism on winter fuel allowance in a typically under-educated manner

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Professor John Robertson OBA Brian ‘Bad Vibrations’ Wilson, former Minister under Tony Blair, is in the Herald today to claim: Winter fuel payment u-turn exposes flaws in SNP’s universalism Have I read it? No way? Do I need to read it? No way. I have the oven-ready, fully-researched, response from a think tank set up by that real socialist, the late Jimmy Reid. The facts, from the Jimmy Reid Foundation: In 2012, I read and was much impressed by their The Case for Universalism An assessment of the evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of the universal welfare state which made these telling … Continue reading The dark Brian Wilson allowed to challenge SNP universalism on winter fuel allowance in a typically under-educated manner

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As Police Scotland send officers to help in Northern Ireland again, how the Scottish Government has made them the only UK force able to help with such ‘uncommon’ demands

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland yesterday: Police Scotland has agreed to send officers to Northern Ireland after two nights of disorder in Ballymena. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) asked for extra support under mutual aid arrangements following violent scenes in the County Antrim town. The deployment will involve an undisclosed number of public order officers who are trained to police civil unrest. Police Scotland previously sent 120 officers to Belfast last summer after a number of PSNI officers were injured during several nights of rioting and disorder in the wake of attacks on children in Southport, Merseyside. Mutual … Continue reading As Police Scotland send officers to help in Northern Ireland again, how the Scottish Government has made them the only UK force able to help with such ‘uncommon’ demands

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Covid Inquiry reports praising Scottish Government’s approach which you’re not going to hear anywhere else

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By Brenda Robb I’ve done what BBC reporters routinely do ie scan a document and pick out selective bits to back up an argument. I make no apologies for this because rarely does Scotland get any positive mentions, while negative findings are highlighted, amplified in headlines and endlessly discussed. If I ever get the time & energy I’m going to work my way through all the Covid reports, maybe do a list of positive/negative statements and make my own conclusions before the BBC or Rupert Murdoch try to tell me what to think. Below are statements from the most recent Covid … Continue reading Covid Inquiry reports praising Scottish Government’s approach which you’re not going to hear anywhere else

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A closed breastfeeding support service and failed hospital disinfectants research but no mention that Scotland has the lowest stillbirth rate and the cleanest hospitals in the UK

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS BBC Scotland today, headlining: A breastfeeding support service which has helped mums of newborn babies for a decade has closed down after funding was withdrawn. Breastfeeding Buddies was run by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) charity in five hospitals in Greater Glasgow and Lothian, offering peer support to mothers who wanted to breastfeed. The Scottish government had previously funded the scheme directly but this year it said it had allowed the health boards to decide how to meet local need. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian will no longer fund … Continue reading A closed breastfeeding support service and failed hospital disinfectants research but no mention that Scotland has the lowest stillbirth rate and the cleanest hospitals in the UK