There’s a story that Reporting Scotland’s or the Herald’s oh-so-concerned health correspondents might tell us. In the Independent today, this shocking news: Tory measures to stop “health tourism” on the NHS have been linked to the deaths of three pregnant women in a major report that was delayed until after the election. The women all died after delays in seeking help because they mistakenly believed that they would have to pay for care under the government’s strict charging regime. They sought help in hospitals too late and died as a result of complications. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-report-delayed-until-after-election-reveals-pregnant-women-died-because-of-mistaken-fears-they-a9245966.html I wrote about this in September, … Continue reading Against Tory brutality: The kind of country we voted against becoming?

The November 2019 summary for NHS Scotland A&E is not yet published but you can see the weekly figures: Week-ending   Seen within 4 hours 3rd November  85.5% 10th                  84.6% 17th                       85.1% 24th                       83.8% 1st December  81.2% Average          84.04% https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Emergency-Care/Publications/2019-12-03/Summary-Weekly/index.asp From the Guardian , extrapolated from the NHS England report which sneakily tries to hide the truth of their Type 1 department (comparable with NHS Scotland) performance amongst the data for the small non-emergency activities in hospitals with no full A&E departments: 71% of patients who attended a hospital-based A&E unit in November were seen and discharged, admitted or transferred within … Continue reading One reason for SNP support? Scotland’s A&E departments massive 18% better than NHS England in November

In June, BBC Business reported: The number of British people who own a second home, buy-to-let or overseas property has doubled since 2001, says think tank the Resolution Foundation. While the number of millennials who own a home continues to fall, one in 10 people now own an additional property. Just 37% of people born in the 1980s managed to buy a home at the age of 29, compared with half of those born in the 1960s. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48637484 Meanwhile in Scotland: The owning of second homes has declined by just more than a third in eight years, according to new … Continue reading Second home ownership plunges by a third in Scotland as it soars elsewhere, hitting young people

Ludo Thierry Meanwhile – The SNP Scottish Govt and YES majority Scottish Parlt continue to foster Community Ownership in the early days of our New and Better Scotland. In tomorrow’s Westminster election our new and better Scotland can take another important step forward – Let’s Do It. Link and snippets from news.gov.scotland site below: https://news.gov.scot/news/community-ownership-is-increasing-across-scotland Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published the Community Ownership in Scotland 2018 publication. As at December 2018 there were 593 assets in community ownership, owned by 429 community groups and with a total area of 209,810 hectares, 2.7% of the total land area of Scotland. In … Continue reading Community ownership increases in Scotland

Ludo Thierry: Thanks to TaxResearch UK blog for directing me to some interesting stats put together by the High Pay Centre. This uses EU data to identify the UK regions with below 75% of average EU GDP. Of the 7 areas identified in the UK one is located in Scotland – it is the South of Scotland region. Who has been representing this South of Scotland area in Westminster? Both Fluffy Mundell and Alistair ‘Union’ Jack draw handsome salaries for ‘representing ‘ the South of Scotland at Westminster. ‘Union’ Jack is a dyed in the wool brexiteer. Fluffy swore to … Continue reading South of Scotland Tories serve their constituents badly

More than three years ago, I wrote this. Looking back, we can see steps toward Johnson’s Tory putsch: Though BBC Scotland are sheltering them, the Scottish Tories need to reject some of their nasty English pals to avoid sharing the Nazi comparisons Image: heraldscotland.com October 10th 2016 ‘The Conservative Party’s conference has unleashed ugly and downright scary rhetoric that I was brought up to believe was to be left in the past. I am not exaggerating when I say that the policies being brought forward are reminiscent of early 1930s Nazi Germany.’ These are the words of SNP MP Mhairi Black, … Continue reading Something wicked this way comes. Run Scotland run and don’t look back!

TuS Health Correspondent: Brian McGowan From NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde yesterday: Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) has celebrated its 225th birthday with the unveiling of a commemorative mural documenting its rich history and positive impact on healthcare.The hospital has been serving the public since 1794 and today symbolises one of the busiest and best equipped healthcare facilities in the country, serving a catchment area of more than 320,000 people.BBC Scotland, obsessed with infection and dead babies, had no time for this earlier in the year: The GRI was recognised by Newsweek as one of the top 100 hospitals in the … Continue reading 225th birthday of one of best hospitals in the world and it’s in Glasgow but BBC Scotland ignore it again

Nicola Sturgeon said: “75% of Scotland’s electricity comes from renewables.” Reality Check: This is true, but only one part of the picture. Other parts of the picture are the selected facts that heating and transport use much less renewable energy and that the WWF has criticised SG policies for not ‘being enough to meet Scotland’s future climate targets.’ It’s grudging but, hey, as long as they apply the same kind of approach ot the others this might be fair. Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Now as we come out of austerity with the best growth rate, one of the best … Continue reading BBC Scotland leaders fact-check with one rule for the SNP and different ones for the others

At the beginning of a report heavy with hammy acted indignation from the opposition parties, Reporting Scotland made a deliberate intervention in the election by arbitrarily choosing a fact from many that could have been chosen. To suit the agenda, it was the only one which could be used to imply a failure of some kind and then to remind the viewer/voter that it was the responsibility not of the Scottish Government but of the SNP: The number of teachers in Scotland is at a ten-year high. The number topped 52 000. That’s up nearly 300 on the last year’s … Continue reading Reporting Scotland INTERVENE in the election to blame SNP for ‘teacher reductions’ but forget to tell us that pupil-teacher ratio is 34% better than in England

Ludo Thierry Some further encouraging stats regarding Scotland’s schools (and Early Learning) released today. Good to see the SNP Scottish Govt and YES majority Scottish Parlt ignore the desperate Britnat hype and just keep focusing on shaping a School education which delivers for ALL Scotland’s young people. It’s called Doing The Day Job – and doing it rather well. Link and snippets below: https://news.gov.scot/news/teacher-numbers-rise Primary school teacher numbers are at their highest level since 1980 and total teacher numbers have risen by 288, new statistics have shown. The overall number of teachers rose to 52,247, an increase of 1,530 since … Continue reading Talking-up Scotland’s Schools