Tag: scotland

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Researchers prove that Scotland’s drug death surge was the simple and tragic consequence of the UK Conservative Government’s brutal austerity strategy from 2012 to 2019

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With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA Drug deaths have always been more prevalent in poorer communities. In Scotland, half of all drug deaths are from among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods.1 According to research recently published by David Walsh and Gerry McCartney2, of Glasgow University, drug deaths amongst the most deprived communities in Scotland had begun to climb from around 2003 to 2009, under New Labour and then again, … Continue reading Researchers prove that Scotland’s drug death surge was the simple and tragic consequence of the UK Conservative Government’s brutal austerity strategy from 2012 to 2019

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Researchers find UK Government’s austerity policies ‘murders’ 335 000 across the UK and inadvertently reveal SNP mitigation saved more than 8 000 lives

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With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve already recommended the excellent, highly researched, ‘Social Murder? Austerity and Life Expectancy in the UK’ by David Walsh and Gerry McCartney (U of Glasgow), Policy Press. In the opening pages, they justify the term ‘social murder‘ for the fatal consequences of economic violence against the disabled and the poor. They estimate the level of social murder by comparing the observed mortality rates in the … Continue reading Researchers find UK Government’s austerity policies ‘murders’ 335 000 across the UK and inadvertently reveal SNP mitigation saved more than 8 000 lives

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A&E long waits – Candidly, the mainstream media is complicit in enabling Gulhane and Baillie’s hypocrisy

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With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 By stewartb There is so much more that could be written about the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s (RCEM) statement on long waits in NHS Scotland’s emergency departments and their impact, and on the mainstream media’s coverage of this. And then there is the MSM’s amplification – without any critical appraisal – of quotes from the Tory Sandesh Gulhane and Labour’s Jackie Baillie. From the … Continue reading A&E long waits – Candidly, the mainstream media is complicit in enabling Gulhane and Baillie’s hypocrisy

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The scale of the drift to privatisation – Nearly 100% of GPs in Scotland work in the NHS but only 66% do so in England

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With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian last week, the above and: One in three GPs in England do not work in the NHS, with increasing numbers seeking to move abroad or becoming a private contractor, deepening patients’ difficulties in getting appointments. The proportion of family doctors who, although qualified, do not provide care through the NHS has risen from 27% in 2015 to 34% last year, according to a study … Continue reading The scale of the drift to privatisation – Nearly 100% of GPs in Scotland work in the NHS but only 66% do so in England

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How can there be ‘an A&E crisis’ of deaths ‘associated’ with long waits only in Scotland when they are actually falling here and nearly FOUR times as common in NHS England?

johnrobertson834

With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA This morning, the Scotsman and the Metro are feeding BBC Scotland with the idea based on the emergency doctors’ trade union report, the RCEM, that long A&E waits are ‘associated with’, ‘costing‘ and the ‘toll‘ from stays of 12 hours and more. Only BBC Scotland has this headlined. As always there’s a basic flaw in their argument – the number waiting 12 hours … Continue reading How can there be ‘an A&E crisis’ of deaths ‘associated’ with long waits only in Scotland when they are actually falling here and nearly FOUR times as common in NHS England?

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Inverness is already ‘terrorised’ by UK Government drug enforcement failures – 309 young men with nothing to do all day is just asking for it

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Professor John Robertson OBA In yesterday’s Sunday Mail, former Sun ‘Environment journalist‘ Dan Vevers makes a determined effort to have the County Lines drug gang business model adopted by at least one Scottish city, to share the blame for the current plague in Inverness, with: Now a leading officer has warned that teens as young as 16 are being sent north from cities like Glasgow, Liverpool and London by drug gangs to claim turf and terrorise locals. I’ve been monitoring media reports of county lines-style behaviour by individuals arrested in Scottish towns and everyone has been English. The above claim is a first. … Continue reading Inverness is already ‘terrorised’ by UK Government drug enforcement failures – 309 young men with nothing to do all day is just asking for it

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Now a second research report casts doubt on actual level of drug deaths in England but still they surge toward Scotland’s steadily falling level

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With only 7 days left, 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 by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA Summary: FIRST, in September 2025, King’s College Researchers found that opioid deaths in England & Wales were 50% higher than recorded by the ONS. SECOND, two years earlier UK Government researchers found massive (25%) undercounting of drugs deaths in England & Wales. THIRD, though Scotland’s drug death rate may still be higher despite these, the rate is falling fast to meet … Continue reading Now a second research report casts doubt on actual level of drug deaths in England but still they surge toward Scotland’s steadily falling level

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It’s not just Emma Caldwell – Still deeply misogynist Scottish Labour should hope the truth about how they failed to scrutinise police complacency over 300 rapes and assaults in 2005 never comes out

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Professor John Robertson OBA In September 2025, Emma Caldwell’s mother thought the prosecutors hope she dies before the truth of her daughter’s tragic death comes out. I’d say Scottish Labour has more to fear. The Daily Record today does not spend any time on the wider picture of misogyny and callous neglect, going back for a century, so deep within Scottish Labour. Here’s what they won’t tell you, in case it should hurt Anas: From BBC Scotland, in June 2024: Nearly 300 rapes and sexual assaults reported by sex workers during the Emma Caldwell murder investigation were not dealt with by police at the … Continue reading It’s not just Emma Caldwell – Still deeply misogynist Scottish Labour should hope the truth about how they failed to scrutinise police complacency over 300 rapes and assaults in 2005 never comes out

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Police Scotland merger by FM Sturgeon criticised by opposition parties has resulted in world leading detection rate and every homicide committed in Scotland since 2013 solved

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I’m taking a wee break from TuS. Should be back in harness by Monday 22 or Tuesday 23 September. 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 by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA The Sun ‘newspaper’ this week has been milking Scotland’s dark history of murder, based entirely on offences which took place before the merger of Scotland’s eight regional forces. They have no choice to do so because not only has the murder level plummeted from 64 in 2012/2013, to 44 in 2024/2025, … Continue reading Police Scotland merger by FM Sturgeon criticised by opposition parties has resulted in world leading detection rate and every homicide committed in Scotland since 2013 solved

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99.96% of Scottish drinking water meets standards to be ‘amongst the finest in the world’ but the regulator will not rest till it’s 100% or better

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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 by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From Drinking Water in Scotland 2024, published10 September 2025 Issued on behalf of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland Water Quality Regulator says “Scotland’s tap water quality is impressive, but more needs to be done to reduce risk”.  The Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) for Scotland’s latest annual report shows that Scottish Water’s compliance with the stringent standards for drinking water remains very high, however there are too many … Continue reading 99.96% of Scottish drinking water meets standards to be ‘amongst the finest in the world’ but the regulator will not rest till it’s 100% or better