Tag: scotland

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Herald’s Martin Williams reports others taking ‘pot shots at the SNP’ using the ferries for ammo! What? That’s his job isn’t it? He’s trusted for it!

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Professor John Robertson OBA, BA Journalism Research Methods Module Co-ordinator (really I was) One of these moments, eh? The Herald‘s main ferry correspondent, daily rubbishing the SNP Government for their oversight of the CalMac ferry service (best in the world, really), writes today: So much to say. So much to snigger at. Is that headline suggesting the PM not the FM is to blame for not getting new contracts and letting them go to Poland? The headline is a bit different at the full page: More confusion – Is Starmer now to blame for those ‘pot shots’, aimed at the … Continue reading Herald’s Martin Williams reports others taking ‘pot shots at the SNP’ using the ferries for ammo! What? That’s his job isn’t it? He’s trusted for it!

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Channel 4 reports 150 knife attacks in schools in England & Wales but has no figures for Scotland and the reason is simple

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Legerwood for alerting me to this. Channel 4 tonight had the above story. Had this been drug deaths you can be sure the Scottish data would be presented to remind us of our status as the drug death capital of Europe. I am not aware of directly comparable figures for Scotland and neither are Channel 4’s researchers, it seems, but there is evidence to point to them being significantly lower. In 2006/2007, there were just over 4 000 recorded crimes of ‘having in a public place and article with a blade or point.’ By 2016/2017, the … Continue reading Channel 4 reports 150 knife attacks in schools in England & Wales but has no figures for Scotland and the reason is simple

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BC Ferries in Canada just beginning to think of replacing four ferries between 7 and 19 years older than the oldest major CalMac vessel

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Global News yesterday: BC Ferries is going to get four new major vessels for its fleet. The new vessels will replace the aging Queens of Alberni [49], New Westminster [61], Coquitlam [49], and Cowichan [49], which are the oldest major ships still in use. BC Ferries applied for five new diesel-battery hybrid, all-electric-ready ships, but the independent British Columbia Ferries Commissioner approved four. This news comes as the Queen of Oak Bay suffered a mechanical issue on Monday morning. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/bc-ferry-breaks-down-as-commissioner-announces-4-new-vessels-coming/ar-AA1C1mcN?ocid=BingNewsVerp None of these vessels is even specified or designed yet, never mind actually ordered. The … Continue reading BC Ferries in Canada just beginning to think of replacing four ferries between 7 and 19 years older than the oldest major CalMac vessel

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So when will bills come down?

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By Liz S Research that is NOT “Good news” for Anas Sarwar and Labour. (that, as a situation, is now becoming a habitual position for Sarwar and Labour) I looked on MSM Monitor Twitter account. He has a video where in a September 2024 Radio interview the BBC’s Gary Robertson asks a straight forward direct Q that should then have received a straight forward direct answer from the interviewee, Anas Sarwar. However instead this is what was given as a response to the Q asked by Gary Robertson which was as a Q: “Can you tell us when Bills will start to come down … Continue reading So when will bills come down?

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Rail fares to go up by shocking 21% more in England than in Scotland despite far fewer views like this

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Professor John Robertson OBA, Travel Correspondent BBC Scotland this morning, on various cost-of-living increases in the next few days felt the need to remind us that Scotrail fares had gone up ‘nearly 4%.’ That was 3.8% on 31 January 2025. Back then, they had also felt the need to tell us all this: Opposition parties said the price rise would “hammer” passengers who would be “dismayed” at having to pay more despite regular disruption to rail services. Scottish Labour’s transport spokeswoman Claire Baker said the price increase would “hammer” rail passengers and “consign ScotRail to a spiral of decline”. She … Continue reading Rail fares to go up by shocking 21% more in England than in Scotland despite far fewer views like this

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Latest research – London School of Economics say 700,000 children could be lifted out of poverty by following Scotland’s approach but no media coverage in ‘trusted’ Herald

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the LSE two days ago, the above, being carefully ignored by the BBC and UK MSM, and: Recent days have seen a round of cuts announced to social security, which the UK Government’s own impact assessment shows will increase poverty. But new analysis shows that the Westminster government could cut child poverty in the UK by a sixth if they were to match Scotland’s investment in social security. The analysis comes as the annual poverty statistics show that a growing gap is emerging between the poverty rates of Scottish children, when compared to those in … Continue reading Latest research – London School of Economics say 700,000 children could be lifted out of poverty by following Scotland’s approach but no media coverage in ‘trusted’ Herald

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Social care – the British Labour Party in government is no more the ‘solution’ to the problems facing the sector in England than the Tories

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By stewartb Problems with social care? Just in Scotland? Is the British Labour Party in government in Westminster solving the resourcing issues underlying social care problems in England? It seems that the British Labour Party in government is no more the ‘solution’ to the problems facing the sector in England than the Tories! Indeed they seem to be contributing to their continuation. Given this, why would the British Labour Party in government in Holyrood be the ‘solution’ for Scotland? Nuffield Trust (March 26, 2025) Nuffield Trust response to the Spring Statement – press release. (https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/nuffield-trust-response-to-the-spring-statement) ‘Adult social care has once again … Continue reading Social care – the British Labour Party in government is no more the ‘solution’ to the problems facing the sector in England than the Tories

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Child poverty – Labour’s deep hypocrisy

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By stewartb The BBC News website on March 27 2025 had this headline: UK child poverty numbers reach a record high’. It repeated: ’An extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into relative poverty by these changes, according to the government’s own impact assessment.’ Of course the party of government referred to is the British Labour Party, the same party that wishes us to vote it into government in Holyrood in 2026. The very same party that ‘Scotland’s Champion’, the Daily Record urged us to vote for in the 2024 UK General Election and will no doubt support in … Continue reading Child poverty – Labour’s deep hypocrisy

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Infrastructure projects can stay in Scotland and take advantage of the speed of light

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By Liz S “Major infrastructure projects currently planned for Scotland being switched to other parts of the UK”. Is this another way of the BBC communicating (threatening) some people in Scotland would be better to STFU or else . I mean if we are talking “Energy” and “losing out” well the Labour Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband, tweeted this on 21 March 2025: “Great British Energy is coming to you. Our publicly-owned energy company is rolling out solar panels for schools and NHS sites across England. Cutting bills and saving money for frontline services”. “Coming to you” ? Like coming to the … Continue reading Infrastructure projects can stay in Scotland and take advantage of the speed of light

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Eight months later BBC Scotland tries to undermine zonal pricing for Scotland with evidence and threats reminiscent of 2014 from companies based in England and Spain

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in July 2024 in the National: THE boss of an energy company has said Scotland could have “the cheapest electricity in Europe” if the UK Government introduces regional pricing. Eight months later BBC Scotland feel ready to acknowledge but to undermine the idea, with: Could Scotland have Europe’s lowest electricity bills? The boss of one of the UK’s biggest energy providers says people living in Scotland could have the cheapest electricity in Europe. Greg Jackson, who founded Octopus Energy, wants the electricity market to be reformed to introduce zonal pricing. He argues that if prices were based on local generation, the high … Continue reading Eight months later BBC Scotland tries to undermine zonal pricing for Scotland with evidence and threats reminiscent of 2014 from companies based in England and Spain