by NMRN I have stated many a time on here that the introduction of specific right wing rogue news channels being granted a licence to broadcast in the UK, was for Scotland, just an additional propaganda source….and thus surplus to requirement. The MSM, via televised news within Scotland, were already, as a media, ones that continually stated exactly the very same points, same adopted language and also opposition against independence and too against the SNP as a political party…..which these new rogue news channels have also been promoting on both of their channels via their presenters and gues ..read more

By Professor John Robertson In the Telegraph today, Sir Professor John Curtice, Cornwall and Oxford, utterly evidence free, tells us: Over the last two months, polls for this year’s Westminster election have on average put the party on just 33 per cent, twelve points down on 2019, and only neck and neck with a revived Labour party. and Meanwhile, voters are seemingly taking more notice of the SNP’s much criticised record in government, not least on the health service. Really? I’ll leave the notion that Scottish Labour are in any way ‘revived’ as opposed to on life support from Pacific ..read more

By Professor John Robertson I hadn’t heard of an equivalent nuclear-reprocessing plant to Sellafield – ‘the most toxic site in Europe’ – only a few miles from the Scottish border and with regular leaks of radioactive material into the air and water flows heading north, constantly. According to US writer Shannon Cram, author of the just published Unmaking the Bomb, above, most Americans are unaware that a site, like Sellafield, had produced weapons-grade plutonium and now houses the majority of the nations’ high-level nuclear waste. Hanford Nuclear Reservation is eerily placed, like Sellafield ..read more

Typically Anglocentric or should that be Britocentric (?), the Guardian has the above headline and: Exclusive: Whistleblowers point to broader sewage scandal, with wastewater systems manipulated to divert sewage. Whistleblowers say UK water companies are knowingly failing to treat legally required amounts of sewage, and that some treatment works are manipulating wastewater systems to divert raw sewage away from the works and into rivers and seas. It is well known that water companies are dumping large volumes of raw sewage into rivers and seas from storm overflows but an investigation by ..read more

From the Scottish Government today: The Chief Statistician for Scotland has released figures for Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022. The statistics show that recorded wildlife crime was down by 7% from 308 offences in 2020-21 to 286 offences in 2021-22. The report shows that there were noticeable decreases in recorded crime for fish poaching (from 110 to 49 offences) and hunting with dogs (from 44 to 13 offences). Publication of Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022 – gov.scot (www.gov.scot) BBC Scotland have no wildlife stories other than the fascinating, I’m sure, Will technology silence the shout au ..read more

You won’t see this on BBC Scotland – Murrell! Murrell! Sturgeon! Murrell, more ferry delays…. Nor on BBC Scotland Business – climate change targets scrapped (lie), bank closures, shouting at fish markets….no Murrell….isn’t embezzlement a kind of business? From the Scottish Government today: The Scottish Government is stepping up action to tackle climate change with a suite of new policies on transport, including increasing the number of electric vehicle chargers, and land use. The increase in charging points comes as part of a wider climate package that also includes an integrated ticketi ..read more

From the Guardian today: English primary schools cutting teacher numbers amid budget pressure, survey finds. A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders and teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that three-quarters said their primary schools were cutting teaching assistant roles, while a third were also cutting teacher numbers. From GOV.UK in November 2023, pupil-teacher ratios: Any class-teachers out these will be shouting things like ‘I’ve got 30’ and ‘I’ve never had fewer than 25’, and so on. That’s because the above ratios take into account promoted staff with n ..read more

Open Forum By Professor John Robertson In the voice of Paul Merton: An open forum? We’ve never had one of those before! The report from the Guardian above, prompted a friend of TuS to ask the above question. Now, if you want to argue about education or media effects, maybe these days, health, crime and transport, I’m up for that, but the economy? For some reason, my brain won’t go there with any conviction. However, I know, based on the evidence of comments over the last 10 years in TuSland, that you lot are smart, perhaps even ‘qualified’, perhaps (better ..read more

By stewartb Workforce statistics need very careful analysis based on trusted, objective assessment which gives readers ‘perspective’. No longer confident in the BMAs credentials in this regard and certainly not in the The Herald’s reporting on NHS Scotland. NHS Scotland’s total workforce in Q4 2023 was 160,567 (whole time equivalents), up 18.9% over the past ten years and up 14.1% in the past five years alone. The Q4 2023 the workforce included: In Q4 2019 the workforce included: Source: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics ..read more

By NMRN The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP…involves a surreal situation which reads almost like a Crime novel….involves a Tory MP, Mark Menzies (never heard of him) who is the MP for Flyde in Lancashire, where apparently he called an elderly party volunteer saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”……An eventual sum of £6,500 was paid to secure his release. The money is reported to have come out of local Conservative party funds and the party is carrying out an an investigation……I assume the Police are als ..read more