Tag: scotland

5 Comments

A9 dualling – Anas Sarwar’s unconvincing claims

johnrobertson834

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 Thanks to rtpscott for alerting us to the above and noting: A long time back we had the Unionist parties block the money for the dualling of the A9 go to the trams in Edinburgh and Jack the lad sending money back to London now we have this from them. By stewartb Mr Sarwar wants us to believe that with him as FM in Holyrood matters will be so much better because we will have a British Labour Party government. But what does his party’s … Continue reading A9 dualling – Anas Sarwar’s unconvincing claims

6 Comments

‘Top doctor’ is more a top propagandist shamefully using his part-time experience and ignoring these 12 facts to misrepresent NHS Scotland

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA Dr Iain Thomas Robert Kennedy is a Highland GP with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. That’ll come in handy in his local area. Kennedy is just the doctor’s trade union, the BMA, rep in Scotland. You remember when your union advertised union rep vacancies? Who applied? The best? The top? Aye right. ‘Top’ doctors, to my mind carry out cutting edge research or are, at the very least, involved in that. Alternatively, they are in charge of several doctors in … Continue reading ‘Top doctor’ is more a top propagandist shamefully using his part-time experience and ignoring these 12 facts to misrepresent NHS Scotland

4 Comments

The Scottish values that Reform UK cannot align with, but which produce an ‘impenetrable wall’ of support for the SNP?

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA This was first published in Scots Independent in July 2025. A recent survey by pollster More in Common for GB News, has cast doubt on Reform UK’s prospects in Scotland and suggests an ‘impenetrable wall’ of support for the SNP. On 19 July 2025, GB News reported: Reform UK’s hopes of generating a tartan tidal wave have been handed a damning verdict as a pollster has told GB News that the party’s values do not fully resonate with Scottish voters. According to a … Continue reading The Scottish values that Reform UK cannot align with, but which produce an ‘impenetrable wall’ of support for the SNP?

1 Comment

Scottish taxpayers to pay another £100 million every year to keep an English steelworks in business as Scotland no longer produces any crude steel, just recycles old stuff, only weeks after hearing we must also contribute around £100m every year to save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie once more for alerting me to this. In the Guardian yesterday, the above, and: Ministers have lined up special managers to run Liberty Steel’s South Yorkshire operations if they are put into administration, according to a revelation at the high court in London. The development shows that the government is ready to step in immediately to secure the continued operations of the Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), which employs 1,450 people at the group’s operations in Rotherham and in Stocksbridge. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/20/ministers-line-up-plan-to-run-liberty-steel-south-yorkshire-plants-in-administration There’s … Continue reading Scottish taxpayers to pay another £100 million every year to keep an English steelworks in business as Scotland no longer produces any crude steel, just recycles old stuff, only weeks after hearing we must also contribute around £100m every year to save an English oil refinery so that it can replace a Scottish oil refinery to refine oil almost entirely from Scottish waters

3 Comments

Major study by respected Nuffield Foundation finds higher educational achievement across the board in Scotland

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA, for nearly 40 years a schoolteacher, a teacher education lecturer, Associate Dean for Quality Assurance, research methods lecturer, PhD supervisor and Faculty Research Ethics Chair From Comparing inequality and outcomes across post-16 education in the UK, published in the last few days: Since the formal introduction of devolution in the late 1990s, post-16 education and training (E&T)has looked increasingly different across the four nations of the UK, particularly as policyapproaches have diverged. With such differences in post-16 E&T across the UK, there are clearopportunities … Continue reading Major study by respected Nuffield Foundation finds higher educational achievement across the board in Scotland

6 Comments

BBC Verify team obviously gives a very very wide berth to BBC Scotland

johnrobertson834

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 By Liz S Sorry , he accused you of bringing the BBC into disrepute ? I assume his anger was because they, the BBC, want to be the only ones who do that themselves , via the low quality and clearly partisan output that they broadcast as news in Scotland, where they have an obvious mission to damage the SNP as a party while simultanously also protecting other parties in Scotland….. (Has Anas Sarwar been asked about Brian Leishman’s suspension from the Labour party yet by the BBC … Continue reading BBC Verify team obviously gives a very very wide berth to BBC Scotland

8 Comments

BBC Scotland’s Andrew Picken and Lisa Summers return to condemn one of the safest hospitals in Scotland with cheap, ill-informed and jaundiced reporting on infections and the child deaths NOT caused by them

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland return today with an extended piece on the re-convened public inquiry into ‘safety and wellbeing issues‘ at two Scottish hospitals, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and Royal Hospital for Children in Edinburgh. I’ll deal only with the former here. The BBC text is presented as quotes with my rebuttals below them in plain text: In the coming weeks it will examine contentious new evidence from Glasgow’s health board about the risk of infection from the water and ventilation … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Andrew Picken and Lisa Summers return to condemn one of the safest hospitals in Scotland with cheap, ill-informed and jaundiced reporting on infections and the child deaths NOT caused by them

6 Comments

“Kill ‘Em all” and “Palestine – time for action”

johnrobertson834

By Liz S I saw a picture yesterday on Blue Sky of a guy holding a placard that said “Kill ‘Em all” (Is ‘Em’ an abbreviated Scottish word for ‘them’…I do not think so ) . This picture and post on Blue Sky had been reposted by a guy called Colin Dunn (worth a follow as his Blue Sky account is great), The post also stated this……… “A woman was arrested in Glasgow today for wearing a T-shirt that said “Palestine – time for action” under terrorism legislation. Meanwhile this guy was allowed to stand outside an Asylum Seekers hostel … Continue reading “Kill ‘Em all” and “Palestine – time for action”

2 Comments

A million more tourists in one year, outperforming the UK, as people head north away from the burning to make Scotland the new Monaco, but BBC Scotland miss this real trend too

johnrobertson834

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 Professor John Robertson OBA From the Observer, yesterday: It may not offer a reliable tan, but Scotland has become the place to be this summer – midges and all. The most recent figures on Scottish tourism are from 2023, when almost 4 million international visitors set a new record. And Jill Walker, director of marketing and digital at VisitScotland, says early 2024 figures surpassed this by almost half a million, with anecdotal reports from this summer suggesting no slowdown. https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/manic-in-the-glen-why-the-world-has-gone-wild-for-scotland-this-year From Daily Business in October 2024: There were 1,975,000 … Continue reading A million more tourists in one year, outperforming the UK, as people head north away from the burning to make Scotland the new Monaco, but BBC Scotland miss this real trend too

5 Comments

By 2012, two years before, Ms Rowling had already made up her mind!

johnrobertson834

By stewartb “ I came to the question of independence with an open mind” Question to ChatGPT: ‘Please summarise the public statements in the press and online made by the famous author JK Rowling in 2014 and in prior years concerning the campaign for and referendum on Scotland’s independence. Please include her first public comment on the matter.’ ChatGPT said: in part: ‘J.K. Rowling’s comments on Scotland’s independence were a topic of much attention, especially during the campaign leading up to the 2014 referendum. Here’s a summary of her key public statements made in 2014 and the years leading up to the … Continue reading By 2012, two years before, Ms Rowling had already made up her mind!