Tag: scotland

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The deep irony of BBC Scotland talking about ‘hidden’ waiting lists when they routinely hide target-beating and lists much shorter than elsewhere in the UK

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland today, based on a feed from one psychiatrist and no actual figures, the above tasteless image and unsubstantiated headline. Let me be clear, as always, I’m not doubting the opinion of the medic here, but challenging the politicising of the unconfirmed data by BBC Scotland with a view to, always, implying failure by the Scottish, SNP, Government. In this report, BBC Scotland do credit the meeting of targets for children and adolescent’s mental heath care last month but when the data were first published on 4 March 2025, were quick to move on … Continue reading The deep irony of BBC Scotland talking about ‘hidden’ waiting lists when they routinely hide target-beating and lists much shorter than elsewhere in the UK

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Westminster MP report and BBC UK suggests ‘unprepared police’ and summer riots ‘across the country’, hiding the Scottish data and why they are different

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC UK today: Police forces were in several cases unprepared for the level of violence that broke out in riots after the murder of three children in Southport last summer, a report by MPs has found. Acknowledging this was the worst disorder the country had seen since 2011, MPs said police forces should have “better anticipated the risk of disorder in general” following an initial instance of disorder in Southport. Officers across the country worked “tirelessly”, the report said, but forces being unable to act proactively left them exposed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20zrjr5n4ro In the full House of … Continue reading Westminster MP report and BBC UK suggests ‘unprepared police’ and summer riots ‘across the country’, hiding the Scottish data and why they are different

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SNP 1 and 2? A bold and bald campaign

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Professor John Robertson OBA How and why did we manage to get an overall majority in 2011? How might we shape future campaigns to recreate this result? Some ideas for debate: The campaign Research by the London School of Economics (LSE), in 2011, concluded that this was ‘an extraordinary result in an ‘ordinary’ election.’ By this, they mean that the data from 4 000 eligible voters in the Scottish Election Study did not reflect a surge in support for independence but, rather a desire to reward the SNP for effective government from 2007 to 2011. This is echoed today in … Continue reading SNP 1 and 2? A bold and bald campaign

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BBC Scotland’s Lisa Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution

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By stewartb Lisa Summers’ ‘Analysis’ of the Scottish Nurses 8% pay deal: The gamble here is that it doesn’t know what deal will be offered to NHS staff elsewhere in the UK as negotiations are ongoing. However, the UK government has so far said it would recommend a 2.8% increase, a move described as “offensive” by unions. If the pay deal is significantly higher for Scotland, the government will have to find the money to pay for it with no additional money coming from Westminster … Ms Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution. The NHS is the responsibility of the … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Lisa Summers exposes the sham – and the trap – of devolution

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Lisa Summers reporting NHS Scotland down as Unison talks it up

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brenda Robb for alerting me tot his. In Nursing Times yesterday: The latest NHS pay offer in Scotland “sends a really powerful message” to other UK countries about what can be achieved through direct pay negotiations, Unison Scotland’s co-lead for health has said. Speaking with Nursing Times, Matt McLaughlin said other UK countries were “hiding behind bureaucracy” when it comes to NHS pay and it was “no good” for the health service. “In the other parts of the UK, it seems that people are hiding behind bureaucracy” Matt McLaughlin Scotland is the first UK … Continue reading Lisa Summers reporting NHS Scotland down as Unison talks it up

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Revealing how BBC Scotland skewed the response of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to a Scottish Fiscal Commission report: – but why, is there a legitimate, public service reason?

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By stewartb The Scottish Fiscal Commission published April 8 a report entitled ‘Fiscal Sustainability Report – April 2025’. An article in the Scotland section of the BBC News website covered this under the headline: ‘Significant challenges’ for health funding, warns report.’ (See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgxyegeelyo ) As will become apparent, two things about the BBC article are significant: (See https://ifs.org.uk/articles/scottish-fiscal-sustainability-report-immediate-response) By avoiding any mention of the UK or of Westminster, the BBC misses important context- and perspective-giving references prominent in the IFS’ commentary. The IFS response states right up front: ‘Today’s Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) report highlights the fiscal challenges facing the … Continue reading Revealing how BBC Scotland skewed the response of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to a Scottish Fiscal Commission report: – but why, is there a legitimate, public service reason?

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Five years of threats, violence and death in Perth as English County Lines drugs gangs seize homes in towns and villages across rural Scotland but BBC Scotland will not report it

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today, the Courier reports the above. Notice that word in the last line? Yes, it’s another County Lines drug from an English city (there is no other type) gang bringing ‘threats, violence and death‘ to parts of Scotland which were formerly less familiar with such trauma. The County Lines business model provides new more powerful and cheaper drugs in small towns and villages, based on children acting as mules to bring the supply in on buses and trains, backed up by heavies from the cities to suppress any local opposition. Neither BBC Scotland nor BBC Scotland … Continue reading Five years of threats, violence and death in Perth as English County Lines drugs gangs seize homes in towns and villages across rural Scotland but BBC Scotland will not report it

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How death due to a cancer screening error in Scotland is different from one in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Leicestershire today has the above and: The family of a mother who died from cervical cancer after twice being wrongly told she had negative results have been awarded undisclosed damages. The misreporting of Louise Gleadell’s cervical screening results was admitted by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust following her death aged 38 in March 2018. An internal review in 2017 found the samples, taken four years apart, were not good enough to produce reliable results but neither Ms Gleadell – a mum to three boys – nor her relatives were told about the “inadequate” samples … Continue reading How death due to a cancer screening error in Scotland is different from one in England

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How ‘two 13-year-olds charged after Scottish primary hit by ‘sectarian arson attacks’ tells us to calm down

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the National today and no doubt all over the Scottish media with dramatic headlines, two 13 year-olds are charged with vandalism in the form of ‘anti-Catholic‘ graffiti on the wall of a primary school. I do feel for the staff, parents and the children. It will have been unsettling and it is unacceptable. I was pleased that the FM will visit the school to show support but let’s keep things in perspective. This is not evidence of surging or worsening hate crimes against Catholics. Hate crime based on religion, including against Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and … Continue reading How ‘two 13-year-olds charged after Scottish primary hit by ‘sectarian arson attacks’ tells us to calm down

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Labour , the union which supports them and ‘their’ media have all damaged the reputation of this shipyard

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By Liz S Gary Cook of the GMB at Ferguson Marine, and others like him, needs to get their stories straight and adopt a consistent narrative. So with a workers Union and a media supporting a Political party (Labour) targeting , as in making political attacks, upon this company, as in their shipyard, that then prompts a lack of confidence in the company’s shipyard, but then their , Labour’s, real target (the SNP) must somehow be in the thick of this story , as they were the ones who nationalised it so this must end up, like all things Scottish, … Continue reading Labour , the union which supports them and ‘their’ media have all damaged the reputation of this shipyard