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The impact of spending decisions by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh

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By stewartb Cut to funding for nurse training in England – what impact on Westminster’s spend for England on health, or will the ‘saving’ be from the Department of Education’s budget? Is this leading to a reduction in overall departmental spend or more likely, a more limited increase in departmental spend overall than England’s services (and devolved equivalents in NI, Scotland and Wales) need? What impact of this – and the cumulative impact of multiple other – spending decision by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and … Continue reading The impact of spending decisions by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh

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Sarwar’s duplicity on Reform UK

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By JB “Institutional lies are at the level of organisations or public discourse. Many politicians use the common interpretation that telling a falsehood is lying whereas concealing or distorting the truth is not, leading to tortuous statements that technically avoid falsehoods but are certainly deceptive. Political lies in office and during campaigning are necessarily institutional: they are in the public domain. In contrast, private lies by politicians are individual lies, but they can become institutional lies when they are brought into the public domain.” Commentators and voters are less likely to believe a politician with a reputation for lying, especially … Continue reading Sarwar’s duplicity on Reform UK

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A handful of assaults and damage to property in the Scottish news every day – the Scottish ‘gangland feud’ is dwarfed by the massive plague of extreme drug gang violence and surging overdoses from England’s cities but this is hidden from you

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland continue to report and of course misreport from Spain, Scotland’s gangland feud. How did they misreport from Spain to try to add two deaths to the list? See this: What is the list of crimes affecting Scotland? This: Timeline: How the gang feud developed Very upsetting, I know, for all involved but only damage to property and no serious violence, no deaths. How does the above compare with the effects of the now 6 years, at least, of County Lines gangs from cities in England? In the Express July 20th 2024, we read: Knife crime epidemic … Continue reading A handful of assaults and damage to property in the Scottish news every day – the Scottish ‘gangland feud’ is dwarfed by the massive plague of extreme drug gang violence and surging overdoses from England’s cities but this is hidden from you

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Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Telegraph yesterday and across media in England, the above astonishing decision by this Labour government, to follow from a series of cuts to services and tax increases for the less well-off, which can only further degrade the performance of the NHS in England and strengthen to role of the private sector, which funds many leading Labour politicians. What would a Labour presence in government at Holyrood, say with Reform UK, put at risk here? The Scotsman in February 2025 was front-paging Alarm over fresh drop in applicants for nurses course based on a 2% reduction in applications, from … Continue reading Labour to slash nurse training in England as Scotland trains nearly TWICE as many

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How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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stewartb How to ‘play’ Scotland’s voters – how to attempt deceit or manipulation for political advantage? Is there a recurring mainstream news reporting pattern in Scotland? Step 1: mainstream media outlet/s make ‘judicious’ selection of a ‘newsworthy’ item about Scotland – to qualify, it must be a negative story and ideally linked to a topic of natural concern to many; 2: report this on newspaper front page with a ‘scary’ headline – big black font visible from metres away on a supermarket rack and visually impactful when the front page is pictured on the BBC News website’s Scotland page; 3. avoid giving … Continue reading How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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By stewartb – a long read In recent days, British Labour Party politicians as well as journalists writing for ‘patriotic’ British media outlets have been trying to make mountains out of the molehill of Scottish Enterprise not awarding Rolls-Royce a £2.5 million grant. It’s tough competition but pellisonrhaps the prize for the ‘best’ headline – the most ridiculous –  goes to the ‘Scottish’ Daily Express (May 31) with this (my emphasis):  ‘SNP’s ‘student politics’ threaten Scotland’s ‘national security’ after it blocks £11m investment’. From the Express, we learn: ‘the SNP have been accused of threatening Scotland’s national security after blocking … Continue reading So ‘Scotland’s national security’ is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? This silliness from ‘patriotic Brits’ requires Scotland’s electorate to suspend basic thinking skills!

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Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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Liz S BBC has this story on their website in relation to the NHS in England….It is on the main UK page , when you click on the story it then takes you onto the Health page, it is not on the UK Politics page: “Police investigate heart deaths at NHS hospital” “Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of patients following heart operations at an NHS hospital, the BBC has learned”. “Documents seen by us (BBC) suggest patients suffered avoidable harm – and that in some cases their death certificates failed to disclose that the procedure contributed to their deaths”. “One woman’s operation at Castle Hill Hospital near … Continue reading Would police investigating “heart deaths” at a Scottish Hospital not then become a political matter.

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Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, the above graph and: Of all planned operations during April 2025 in NHSScotland, 733 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 638 (2.7%) were cancelled by the patient, 415 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 85 (0.4%) were cancelled for other reasons. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-30-april-2025/ Only that 1.8% figure can be meaningfully used to assess the performance of Scotland’s hospitals. Decisions to cancel by patient or doctor are to be expected in some cases as opinion and emotions shift. NHS Scotland was ready … Continue reading Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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How the great Professor Noam Chomsky (96!), whose work still fully explains the media bias we suffer today, was inspired by a Scottish philosopher

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Professor John Robertson OBA (PhD on the Propaganda Model (Chomsky) Thanks to JB for alerting me to this. Force and Opinion Noam Chomsky Z Magazine, July-August, 1991 In his study of the Scottish intellectual tradition, George Davie identifies its central theme as a recognition of the fundamental role of “natural beliefs or principles of common sense, such as the belief in an independent external world, the belief in causality, the belief in ideal standards, and the belief in the self of conscience as separate from the rest of one.” These principles are sometimes considered to have a regulative character; though never … Continue reading How the great Professor Noam Chomsky (96!), whose work still fully explains the media bias we suffer today, was inspired by a Scottish philosopher

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British Ultra-nationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit

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By JB British Ultranationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit. The vacuous and politically impotent Sarwar and his side kick, the deceitful dyscalculic Baillie with their combined mendacity and their relentless obsession of him becoming First Minister of Scotland, without any desire to serve the public good, are either completely apathetic or too stupid in their empleomania to realise that they are, like their boss in England, complicit in the rise of the far right-wing highbinder opportunist Farage. When left-wing British Labour in Scotland leader Richard Leonard contradicted swindler Starmer’s decision to back the Tory government’s Brexit ‘deal’ … Continue reading British Ultra-nationalism and how the Scottish Unionists Are Morally Complicit