By Jim
I’m going to hazard a guess here that drug deaths in England and Wales are every bit as bad as here in Scotland, but we can’t have mother England looking bad now can we. look at the recent BBC reporting of riots ‘Across the UK’. They cannot even own up to the racist English Nationalist problem that exists in their own backyard. They have to make out that it is the whole of the UK and not just England, the OO in Belfast who love to look for any excuse to cause trouble.
The English Government, and that’s what it is, that runs the whole UK has to paint the image that England is the bestest performing country in the whole world. So in order to facilitate the charade they cheat at everything they record.
PISA Tests…..The underperforming schools are not recorded to make them look better than they actually are.Every school in Scotland posts results, good or bad to get a true picture.
A&E Waiting lists….Only Type 1 are recorded, and only after the patient is seen by a doctor, not from when they walked in to A&E. To make them look better than they are.Every A&E department in Scotland starts the clock when the patient enters A&E.
Ferries…. Scotland covers a multitude of Islands keeping them connected to the mainland with astonishing levels of service at reasonable prices.( Check out Prof John’s reference to the costs of the ferry to the Isle of Wight, with regular breakdowns) Yes there are occasional breakdowns with our ferries and in the summer months excessive demands but does that not happen in the Aviation business? It’s not the first time that my flight to Heathrow to get a connecting flight to elsewhere has been cancelled because there were insufficient passenger numbers booked for the flight.They just cancel the flight and you have to make other arrangements.Does that EVER happen with our ferries? They run regardless of passenger numbers.
That brings me on to the railways. In Scotland the railways are nationalised and run a service regardless of passenger numbers which means if you want to get a train to wherever, you can turn up in the full knowledge that that train will be there on time to get you to where you want to go. Not so in privatised England. If insufficient numbers have booked then that train journey is cancelled due to ‘Not financially viable’. Which in Scotland would you prefer? Turn up at the railway station knowing the train will be along or turn up at the railway station not knowing whether the train is going to turn up at all.
Tax…. How they love to report that Scotland pays higher tax than the rest of the UK. What they don’t report, deliberately, is that the lowest paid in Scotland pay LESS tax than elsewhere in the UK due to our broader tax bands.
There are also a raft of other measures not mentioned by BBC Scotland.
Child benefit payments to reduce child poverty.It’s a disgrace that there is still child poverty in what they claim as the world’s fifth richest economy. Only the Scottish Government is trying to do something about that.But why would BBC Scotland want to make the UK Government look bad.
No bedroom tax so that you can continue to live in the house you’ve lived in most of your life instead of what is sufficient for you without penalty.
No University fees so that you or your children can get the best education available regardless of your ability to pay, or your child or you to pay off for the next 30 years.
Free bus passes for kids to get to school and for pensioners to get around where they have no longer access to a car.
There are many, many more things that the Scottish Government do to try to alleviate the UK Government’s policies. And remember this. If the UK Government succeed in their wish to destroy the SNP as Government of Scotland ( with massive help from BBC Scotland) and replace it with a UK friendly Government all of what you now take for granted will be gone and will fall in line with England and Wales.
Think very carefully about it. The SNP are by no means perfect by any stretch of the imagination but by god they try to make things easier for the people of Scotland with the budget they are given.
Let me put it this way. You give me all your income and I will decide how much I think you need to give you back to exist on.
No deal? You would be crazy to accept such a deal. So why does that happen with the circumstances that we find ourselves in now within the union?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Yes every positive aspect of life in Scotland is downplayed in the media while the opposite is true for England. The English media are very adept at promoting everything English and anything else is dismissed as an irrelevance.
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The glaring omission via all criticism by the UK media and also the UK politicians is the obvious fact that Scotland is not an independent country .
Perhaps if more of my fellow Scots also considered that fact then they may be less critical of the current Scottish government.
Plus the SNP, who are the current Scottish government , also then do not have all powers and monies to run Scotland as an independent country.
So as an example when the UK media and UK politicians compare and critique us, Scotland, to Europe in matters that they say that we here in Scotland are failing at then they collectively forget (deliberately) to note that all of these (other) European countries are not linked to a UK that places many constraints and financial limitations upon it (as our government must endure) which then restricts our Scottish government from making improvements, making any significant inroads to ultimately preventing much of these problems/issues from then being eradicated or at least greatly reduced.
(Obviously I am referring to Drug deaths and the fact that the UK media and UK politicians state that we, Scotland, have the “highest drug deaths in Europe”).
Yet surely like the recent riots (in England) where the UK media and UK politicians declared them as being riots “across the UK” and also as being “British”, then why are drug deaths not also promoted as a UK problem and a British one. Why only always single out Scotland within the UK when there is a problem/issue ?. (This pertinent fact was noted in a previous comment by millsjames1949).
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In respect to my above comment which highlights the fact that Scotland is not an independent country.
I now find myself in a position that I loathe in that I must (kinda) criticise an article currently on another Pro Indy site, Bella Caledonia, which is , as an action by me, one that I freely admit , in doing so is counter productive for unity in the Yes movement as there are , I am sure, far better targets to direct my disappointment at.
This is an article by Jo Clifford who is involved with the Creative Arts.
In this article which is headed as “Living in an Un-Creative Scotland”
So straight away you know exactly the tone of this piece is not going to be positive.
She then goes onto state that she is “profoundly disgusted by the Scottish government’s actions with regard to culture…”
So straight for the jugular so to speak in blaming the Scottish government (not an original or unique opinion nowadays it seems though mostly from hostile sources )
Then she has put an ‘open’ letter to her local (SNP) MSP onto this article.
The contents include her conveying her “dismay at yesterday’s announcement at Creative Scotland’s decision to no longer allow individual artists and performers to apply for funding for our artistic activity”
Also stating that “these decisions are being taken because the Scottish Government has failed, yet again, to come to any decisions with regard to arts funding”
So once again she reiterates who she sees is to blame for this. (So yet again no show without Punch (Bag) aka the Scottish government).
“So in effect your government is destroying the cultural sector in our country”
“I hope I don’t need to convince you how destructive this is to our economic wellbeing and to our future as a country”.
“It is also disastrous for the cause of Scottish independence and for your party”.
“As a cultural worker, I was proud to put my talents and skills at the service of the creation of an independent Scotland”.
“I regret this. There is no point in lifting a finger for the cause of Scottish independence when the result, as now, is a pale and dysfunctional replica of an English government that has no commitment to our country’s cultural wellbeing”.
Now I agree with Ms Clifford that Culture and Arts are important to the community and also to a country and that Scotland has a rich wealth of talent in this area which should be encouraged, nurtured and funded.
However Scotland is not a country that has the luxury of having all control of all of the money with which to allocate funding to everything that is important to many individuals who consider funding to their sector as essential to them personally. (and also to the various communities throughout Scotland)
Reality is that we have often (at times a disorderedly) queue forming to hold the Scottish government to account in demanding that they, as a devolved government, put more money into the NHS, Education, Environmental issues , Rural affairs and Housing etc etc etc
(It is also , as a disorderedly and aggressive Q, relentless and merciless as a Q that gives absolutely no quarter for the circumstances with which our government finds itself in as a devolved government , that is very much dictated to and controlled by a UK government, while also viscously criticised by a UK media)
We also have councils in Scotland demanding more money for them from that same Scottish government while complaining they are being short changed in their funding. It seems the list is endless and constant of those demanding money from our government.
Gimme Gimme Gimme (Question is where the H will all of this money come from ?)
So someone will, it seems , always be disappointed based on the reality of the circumstances that a devolved government finds itself in (previously we saw the former hostile UK Tory government and now it seems another one has taken over as in the new Labour UK government who, like the Tories, intends to bypass funding for our government and thus disrespect devolution).
I too wish that in Scotland the Creative Arts had their funding increased and that Creative Scotland had not felt they had to make this decision .
It was reported that “Creative Scotland has closed a major arts fund indefinitely over concerns about Scottish government budgets“
The Scottish government spokesperson stated that they “had increased arts culture funding this year “as the first step to achieving our commitment to invest at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by 2028/29”
Also they added that “The Scottish Budget continues to face significant challenges. We are considering the implications of the actions announced by the chancellor on 29 July for our public finances, and the next steps required by the Scottish government.”
My son wants to work in the Creative Arts so I too would also love to see more funding for this sector , but I am a realist, and know that when your budget, as a devolved government within the UK, is limited then you have to make a decision as to who and what do you prioritise and also who and what must ultimately suffer when it is decided that they, at this point , are not to be considered as a top priority for funding being allocated.
If Ms Clifford does indeed “regret putting her talents and skills at the service of the creation of an independent Scotland” just because government finances in Scotland are now tight and therefore decisions are hard to make re allocating or even increasing funding in some sectors then I wonder whether her commitment to Scottish independence is only based on whether her own sector, that she works in, is one that gets priority funding consideration via the Scottish government/SNP (an indy supporting party). If not then she bows out in her sating that she then will no longer be “putting her talents and skills at the service of the creation of an independent Scotland”
Trust me there is far more to wanting and supporting Scottish independence than having a strop because your particular sector loses some of it’s funding.
How about promoting the fact that if Scotland were independent this would not happen as our government would have all powers and monies to fund who and what they liked. (Sure Creative Arts would get plenty of appropriate funding in an independent Scotland).
Anyone else on here sick of our government in Scotland getting constant flak !
I am.
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And if, for any reason, the ‘national’ media have to refer to something positive in Scotland it will be framed as part of the ‘Union dividend’ because Scots are ‘subsidy junkies’.
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ENGLAND SENDS ALL DRUG GANGS TO SCOTLAND
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Right, here we go again. Off to share this on FB and X. It’s OK on X but we’ll see how quickly it’s removed from FB.
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” No bedroom tax ” there is, it’s paid by the Scottish government to the English exchequer, and it doesn’t matter whether your rich or poor the SG has to pay for every spare bedroom, big or wee house, England gets our money one way or another.
Golfnut
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