Tag: writing

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Reporting Scotland use Daily Express front page on longer waits for elderly but neither mention that they are TWICE as long in NHS England

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in an emergency department, data from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Over 51 000 over 60s waited more than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged in 2024. Doctors say the delays are unacceptable and unsafe. The Scottish Government says…… 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/detailsor, if you prefer, a bank transfer, at sort code 089300 account 1421 7339 Professor John Robertson OBA On the day that health unions in England, on BBC UK, suggest that Labour’s claimed reduction in waiting lists is more to do with ‘data … Continue reading Reporting Scotland use Daily Express front page on longer waits for elderly but neither mention that they are TWICE as long in NHS England

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This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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By stewartb Another example of the Daily Record plumbing the depths of political journalism in support of a British Labour Party politician choosing to mislead (or just lie) whilst talking down Scotland? (With apologies for the length of what follows but it seems to me to be an interesting illustration of engaging with an AI research tool.) I posed a series of questions to ChatGPT: ‘The Scottish newspaper, the Daily Record had this headline today 7 August: “Gordon Brown warns child poverty in Scotland is getting ‘worse every day’ as he calls for UK Government action”. Is the statistic claimed … Continue reading This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ – research review confirms the sense in this

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By JB The headline above is from Teachers Education Supplement magazine 2019 in an article about a teacher from England who came to work in Scotland. “Teachers have a far better time of it north of the border, says this educator who has experienced school life in both countries”  He goes on to say that “On balance, I think teaching in the Scottish state- education system is better than in the English one. It seems foolish now that I never considered there would be differences; it’s just that my English-centric view had me assume that the two systems would be identical. Believe me, … Continue reading ‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ – research review confirms the sense in this

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As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brian McGowan for alerting me to this: From the Canary factchecker today: The National Audit Office (NAO) has declined to sign off on the accuracy of the UK government’s national accounts for a second time, citing widespread unreliability in, and lack of, data supplied by local councils. The crux of the issue lies in the backlog of local authority audits, meaning only around a shocking 4% of English councils provided data deemed “reliable”. This is down from 10% in 2022/23 – which even then, was a dire reflection on the state of local and … Continue reading As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’

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New US law to compensate radiation emission victims needs to be introduced by UK Government for Essex breast cancer and Scottish child cancer cases

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From Spectrum News yesterday: A Detroit-area woman is among those hailing a new law that expands a federal trust fund that makes payments to those who may have been sickened by nuclear contamination. Kim Visintine, a local ER nurse practitioner, was raised in the St. Louis area with a career in the automotive industry that ultimately brought her to Michigan. In 2000, her son was born in St. Louis with a rare brain cancer, underwent neurosurgeries at just days old and later went on chemotherapy. He died in 2006. In the years that followed, Visintine learned of others who grew … Continue reading New US law to compensate radiation emission victims needs to be introduced by UK Government for Essex breast cancer and Scottish child cancer cases

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You’ll think I must be making this stuff up but English schools permanently excluded ONE THOUSAND times as many children, per head, as in Scotland but we’ll pay some of the price for that as they’re used as drug mules by the English County lines drug gangs plaguing Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie once again for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today: More than 10,000 children were permanently excluded from England’s state schools last year, alongside record numbers of suspensions involving pupils aged six or younger or with special needs, as teachers struggled to cope with worsening behaviour. The figures for the 2023-24 academic year revealed that the number of permanent exclusions leapt up by 16% compared with the year before, while the total number of suspension days rose by 21% to 955,000. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/10/rise-in-school-exclusions-in-england-including-among-children-under-six There were 11 676 temporary and 1 permanent exclusion from Scotland’s schools in 2022/2023, … Continue reading You’ll think I must be making this stuff up but English schools permanently excluded ONE THOUSAND times as many children, per head, as in Scotland but we’ll pay some of the price for that as they’re used as drug mules by the English County lines drug gangs plaguing Scotland

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A handful of assaults and damage to property in the Scottish news every day – the Scottish ‘gangland feud’ is dwarfed by the massive plague of extreme drug gang violence and surging overdoses from England’s cities but this is hidden from you

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland continue to report and of course misreport from Spain, Scotland’s gangland feud. How did they misreport from Spain to try to add two deaths to the list? See this: What is the list of crimes affecting Scotland? This: Timeline: How the gang feud developed Very upsetting, I know, for all involved but only damage to property and no serious violence, no deaths. How does the above compare with the effects of the now 6 years, at least, of County Lines gangs from cities in England? In the Express July 20th 2024, we read: Knife crime epidemic … Continue reading A handful of assaults and damage to property in the Scottish news every day – the Scottish ‘gangland feud’ is dwarfed by the massive plague of extreme drug gang violence and surging overdoses from England’s cities but this is hidden from you

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How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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stewartb How to ‘play’ Scotland’s voters – how to attempt deceit or manipulation for political advantage? Is there a recurring mainstream news reporting pattern in Scotland? Step 1: mainstream media outlet/s make ‘judicious’ selection of a ‘newsworthy’ item about Scotland – to qualify, it must be a negative story and ideally linked to a topic of natural concern to many; 2: report this on newspaper front page with a ‘scary’ headline – big black font visible from metres away on a supermarket rack and visually impactful when the front page is pictured on the BBC News website’s Scotland page; 3. avoid giving … Continue reading How the media ‘play’ Scotland’s voters

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More than 300 published studies prove that safe drug injection facilities reduce mortality and crime in surrounding areas but Reporting Scotland find a handful of locals to claim otherwise.

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….about the number of discarded needles that are being left outside it. Now the council have introduced bins to try to address the problem Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Reporting Scotland tonight reporting for the area around the pilot safe injection facility in Calton in Glasgow, now six months in operation, are uncritically accepting a few local residents’ claims that it has increased drug taking in the area. No reliable figures are offered. The report, typically, has no balance and lazily does not refer to the large body of existing published evidence on such facilities. From 8 years ago: The … Continue reading More than 300 published studies prove that safe drug injection facilities reduce mortality and crime in surrounding areas but Reporting Scotland find a handful of locals to claim otherwise.

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Suspensions 25 times higher and Permanent Exclusions 3 000 times higher in English Schools than in Scottish Schools

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By JB According to the most up to date Gov.UK education statistics for England, in the 2023/24 spring term they ‘shockingly’ had 295,559 suspensions from schools, which is actually a decrease from the 2023/24 autumn term when the figure was a ‘controversial’ 346,300 suspensions. This newest figure calculates as 35 suspensions for every 1000 students in England. There were also 3,107 students permanently excluded from schools in England. Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, Spring term 2023/24 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK In Scotland for the term year 2022/23 (Scottish statistics are calculated biennially) we had 11 676 suspensions, … Continue reading Suspensions 25 times higher and Permanent Exclusions 3 000 times higher in English Schools than in Scottish Schools