Tag: scotland

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Did Annie Wells want Glasgow to spend less on needle bins so that local weans can get their hands in more easily?

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Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or, if you prefer, a bank transfer, at sort code 089300 account 1421 7339 Professor John Robertson OBA In little more than another Conservative Party release, the Herald has a report today from Annie Wells (Con) that Glasgow City Council has spent £5 000 on installing two public sharp bins for used injection needles. I’m sure Wells will know that these bins must be safe and that an ordinary wheelie bin is not on. Did the wee researcher for Wells check the going rate … Continue reading Did Annie Wells want Glasgow to spend less on needle bins so that local weans can get their hands in more easily?

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STV simply lie about police numbers in little more than a Labour campaign leaflet, despite 300 more police officers in Scotland since last Labour government, despite a massive fall in crime and 30% more officers than England

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Professor John Robertson OBA STV, only 5 days ago had the above inaccurate claims, overtime figures found by the thoroughly discredited friend of Labour, the 1919 magazine, with an extended rant from Scottish Labour‘s Pauline McNeill. The STV report is utterly devoid of reliably sourced facts such as these: From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: July 2025 published today, some key points getting no media attention: There were 16,553 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2025. This was 319 (+2.0%) more officers compared to the position on 31 March 2007, and 197 (+1.2%) more than on 31 March … Continue reading STV simply lie about police numbers in little more than a Labour campaign leaflet, despite 300 more police officers in Scotland since last Labour government, despite a massive fall in crime and 30% more officers than England

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Scotland’s ‘top pillar’ patient safety ignored as rogue BMA Scotland’s anti-SNP agenda is exposed in dishonest report for Times

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Professor John Robertson OBA The above report, two days ago, in the Times, is just the latest in a stream of BMA Scotland activity which diverges from the BMA UK‘s tendency to report favourably on the Scottish Government’s handling of the NHS (more on this below). The findings referred to are from the General Medical Council‘s 2025 National Training Survey.1 In it, the word ‘safety‘ appears 9 times but is never linked to Scotland specifically. Indeed the only link of this kind is made to Norfolk University Hospitals Foundation Trust! As for ‘Scotland‘, this only appear in four tables which … Continue reading Scotland’s ‘top pillar’ patient safety ignored as rogue BMA Scotland’s anti-SNP agenda is exposed in dishonest report for Times

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Academic’s research confirms that County Lines gangs plaguing Scottish towns and villages, fuelling drug deaths, is an exclusively English phenomenon

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Law Society of Scotland Journal in July 2025: Criminologist Ross Deuchar presents insights from his research into Scottish gang culture, and makes the case for the courts to apply supportive, problem-solving approaches to the teenagers and young adults affected. While in England young people are sent out from their own towns with drugs to be sold in provincial markets (known as ‘County Lines’ dealing; see Harding, 2020), the young men I interviewed tended to suggest that drugs are most commonly collected from afar before being brought back to Scotland and sold within or around … Continue reading Academic’s research confirms that County Lines gangs plaguing Scottish towns and villages, fuelling drug deaths, is an exclusively English phenomenon

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Scotland does a better job of monitoring bathing water quality than England does

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today, the above map, and: England’s swimming waters five times more likely to be polluted than in EU, research finds Experts warn country is in danger of becoming ‘dirty man of Europe’ as it falls to bottom of bathing water leader board. The campaign group Best for Britain analysed the quality of bathing waters under UK and EU standards and found that across all four nations of the UK, holidaymakers are less likely to enjoy “excellent” quality waters than in the EU. Their research found … Continue reading Scotland does a better job of monitoring bathing water quality than England does

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Which Scottish public service has the highest customer service rating? I’ll give you a clue – it has red and black funnels

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Professor John Robertson OBA We’ve seen a steady stream of politicised propaganda based on CalMac for a few years now and as recently as the above Scotsman headline only 5 days ago, suggesting some kind of crisis in Scotland’s west coast ferry system. You’d think, given its frequency and intensity, it must be real and that, because of that, ferry-users would be making their views clear, on the day they were in some way disappointed, through the company’s own evaluation easily accessible to them. They have made their views clear, but not in the way media critics might have hoped … Continue reading Which Scottish public service has the highest customer service rating? I’ll give you a clue – it has red and black funnels

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So, we’ve to pay more for electricity pylons and cables to ‘shift’ the ‘excess’ electricity we don’t need, over the border, because you will have produced 10 times what we need in our waters?

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Professor John Robertson OBA In BBC Scotland TV reports this morning and on their website, the above headline and a report based on an interview with Scottish Power Energy Networks‘ chief executive Nicola Connelly. Her thinking is entirely, but I think unconsciously, based on the unquestionable nature of the Union. It’s by no means propagandistic as she makes no case for the Union, just takes it for granted and so, for the discriminating reader, like you, it offers a shocking insight into just how exploitative and pointless that union is for Scotland. First: A £34bn investment in Scotland’s electricity network … Continue reading So, we’ve to pay more for electricity pylons and cables to ‘shift’ the ‘excess’ electricity we don’t need, over the border, because you will have produced 10 times what we need in our waters?

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There is nothing worse than Scottish exceptionalism on summer riots? Yes, the dark kind Tory and Labour SPADs spend their hours grubbing for

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Professor John Robertson OBA In Holyrood Sources YouTube podcast (?), three days ago, with an ex-SNP (disappointing) and and ex-Tory (full cringe) SPAD, on whether or not Scotland will be immune to race-related riots this summer, the latter said: Um, I think it’s fair to say that there is an increase in Scotland in kind of low…it does seem to be fairly clear that there’s an increase in relatively low level anti-social behaviour…I think there are big problems there. There’s big unrest there….but…Scotland is not England and Scotland doesn’t necessarily experience the same things that England experiences particularly around the … Continue reading There is nothing worse than Scottish exceptionalism on summer riots? Yes, the dark kind Tory and Labour SPADs spend their hours grubbing for

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‘Scottish’ newspaper platforms English charity warning of dangerous ‘refugee’ dog organisations that cannot operate in Scotland and cannot be bothered to helpfully inform its readers of the details of the law in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Daily Record on 28 July, 2025, the above and: Buying or adopting a dog always comes with risks, namely around the canine’s health and/or how likely they are to lash out or not take to training as well as the owner would hope. There are also circumstances that can exacerbate these risks, and it turned out importing dogs into the UK is one of them, according to an animal charity, which is calling for stricter regulations on animal rescues doing just that. The RSPCA has cited concerns about disease risks and behavioural issues, just as government statistics show … Continue reading ‘Scottish’ newspaper platforms English charity warning of dangerous ‘refugee’ dog organisations that cannot operate in Scotland and cannot be bothered to helpfully inform its readers of the details of the law in Scotland

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Scotland has only half the TB rate of England due to less poverty, more affordable housing and better healthcare access and could further improve with independence

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Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve used the Grok AI to assist in researching and presenting this paper. I’m able to check the references it helpfully offers. Last year the Scottish and English media widely reported a one-year surge in TB cases reported in Scotland from 2022 to 2023. Yesterday, Public Health Scotland published the latest data: To my knowledge, the media have not since reported the fall in the number of cases between 2023 and 2024. For context, all things being equal, we might expect England to have had around 2 700 cases in 2024. It had almost exactly twice … Continue reading Scotland has only half the TB rate of England due to less poverty, more affordable housing and better healthcare access and could further improve with independence