Year: 2025

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‘The scale of challenge facing the NHS [England] today and foreseeable in the years ahead is unprecedented.’ 

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By stewartb The Scotland page of the BBC News website has this headline (November 4): ‘Health board facing ‘unprecedented’ financial challenges, auditors warn.’ The article – the same story as covered by the Daily Record – outlines Audit Scotland’s reporting of the financial problems being experienced by Grampian and by Ayrshire & Arran health boards. Never slow to provide quotable comments, we get the views of Scottish Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane: ’.. the reports were symptomatic of problems facing the NHS across Scotland’. And a quote: “It’s appalling that health boards have been driven into crippling debt and are reliant on huge bailouts … Continue reading ‘The scale of challenge facing the NHS [England] today and foreseeable in the years ahead is unprecedented.’ 

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Police investigate over 1 000 avoidable baby deaths in NHS England, none in Edinburgh and none in Scotland where ‘maternity failings’ pay-outs are half, per head, of those in England but Jackie Baillie calls for a national review in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today, the above and: Scottish Labour has called for a national investigation into maternity and neonatal services following a catalogue of safety concerns raised across Scotland. The party is set to use a debate in the Scottish Parliament today to push the Scottish Government to launch a nationwide review into what it describes as “dangerously overstretched” services that are failing mothers, babies, and staff. and: This is a purely political move underpinned by self-centred ambition and the evidence offered here but never by the ‘Scottish’ media, is clear and unambiguous. NHS England has to pay out more than twice … Continue reading Police investigate over 1 000 avoidable baby deaths in NHS England, none in Edinburgh and none in Scotland where ‘maternity failings’ pay-outs are half, per head, of those in England but Jackie Baillie calls for a national review in Scotland

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England to copy Scottish Curriculum for Excellence after 16 years as school leavers are “better prepared in soft skills” (teamwork, communication, adaptability)

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: A review of England’s curriculum has recommended reducing the amount of content and emphasis on exams and instead focusing more on life skills and “enrichment”. The review, led by Prof Becky Francis, wants pupils to spend less time in exam halls and have more time “for all of those amazing other things that schools do”, such as plays, sport and work experience. It also urged the government to cut back on policies introduced by the former Tory education secretary Michael Gove, including an overhaul of controversial grammar tests in … Continue reading England to copy Scottish Curriculum for Excellence after 16 years as school leavers are “better prepared in soft skills” (teamwork, communication, adaptability)

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SNP praised for being able to delay 100 trucks of Scottish waste going ‘South of the Border’ to a 100 leaking landfill sites in England having reduced landfill in Scotland to only ONE-THIRD of that under Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA Having just replaced ‘Bonfire Night Disorder’, the Bee Gees soundtrack that was never used, as the headline story, ‘A 100 trucks over the border’, rejected by Johnny Cash, seems also to be of no interest to the newspapers. As often before, a headline in the morning broadcast in BBC Breakfast, by a BBC Scotland reporter catches my eye. This morning, when she got to say ‘A HUNDRED TRUCKS’, she positively exploded like a demented infant teacher. I thought – ‘I’ve seen that number before!’ and I had. April 26th 2025: As toxic waste leaks from more … Continue reading SNP praised for being able to delay 100 trucks of Scottish waste going ‘South of the Border’ to a 100 leaking landfill sites in England having reduced landfill in Scotland to only ONE-THIRD of that under Labour

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17 newspapers sense a damp squib tonight but BBC Scotland positively lust for ‘Bonfire Night Disorder

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland‘s newspaper review – Scotland’s papers: Plea to probe killer Beggs and tax hike ‘fears’ – has 17 of them and not so much as one wee banger on their front pages, yet they have the above. Once a week, for a month, from 9 September raising fears based on the actual disorder two years ago but using the figures from the year before because in real last year offences had plummeted unhelpfully. How it started: It’s kind of predictable that they would operate in this way, trying to scare the vulnerable and elderly into … Continue reading 17 newspapers sense a damp squib tonight but BBC Scotland positively lust for ‘Bonfire Night Disorder

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NHS Ayrshire & Arran is not ‘on the brink of collapse.’ In England, some NHS trusts have entered special measures or been merged, but Scotland’s 14 territorial boards remain operational

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Record today has the above and: NHS Ayrshire & Arran owes nearly £130m and now tops the list of Scottish health boards with the largest amount of debt, says the Auditor General for Scotland. And the health board has been warned that its savings plan, aimed at reducing their crippling debt levels, is “overly optimistic” and they “may not be achievable.” Now South Scotland Conservative List MSP, Sharon Dowey, has waded into the issue and savaged the SNP Scottish Government for their handling of the unfolding financial crisis. Will a health board ever be allowed to … Continue reading NHS Ayrshire & Arran is not ‘on the brink of collapse.’ In England, some NHS trusts have entered special measures or been merged, but Scotland’s 14 territorial boards remain operational

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Child homelessness soars 67% higher in England than in Scotland after a year of Labour austerity

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting us to this. From BBC London on 23 October 2025, the above and: Rents across England continue to rise, external as the numbers of households in temporary accommodation across the country are at a record high [170 000]. Meanwhile, the amount of housing benefit private renters can claim – the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) – remains frozen – as it has been for most of the past decade. Housing sector organisations, including landlords and homeless charities, are urging the government to unfreeze LHA, fearful that it’s driving more renters into homelessness. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj41v8n1ydvo The equivalent figure in Scotland … Continue reading Child homelessness soars 67% higher in England than in Scotland after a year of Labour austerity

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BBC Scotland amplified her unsubstantiated charge, so it’s a political ‘win’ in advance of the Holyrood election

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By stewartb Lots of BBC coverage online of NHS Scotland today (November 4), but no space for positive news! Lots of quotes from opposition politicians amplified (without challenge of course) by BBC Scotland, by the media organisation that supposedly performs a public service. For example, the British Labour Party’s deputy leader and health spokesperson in Scotland is working to undermine public trust through her (unsubstantiated and unchallenged) claims of ‘fiddling’ data. On October 28, Public Health Scotland published this statement from its Director of Data and Digital Innovation and Head of Profession for Statistics: ‘Updating the frequency of our waiting … Continue reading BBC Scotland amplified her unsubstantiated charge, so it’s a political ‘win’ in advance of the Holyrood election

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‘The Home Office and policing do not have a shared understanding of the resource implications of changing demands’

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By stewartb The National Audit Office (NAO, November 3, 2025) published this report: ‘Police productivity – Home Office. Report HC 1380’. (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/police-productivity.pdf) It is concerned with policing in England and Wales. The NAO notes that the Home Office allocates the majority of police funding for England and Wales. Why relevant to TuS and to Scotland? In common with other devolved public services, what the UK government decides on resources for policing in England and Wales impacts financial resources made available to the Scottish Government via the so-called Block Grant. And it is not only the size of the Block Grant that is impacted but … Continue reading ‘The Home Office and policing do not have a shared understanding of the resource implications of changing demands’

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207 more police officers in Scotland than under Labour despite 40% reduction in crime since then – Imagine it was the other way round?

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 30 September 2025 published today: Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published statistics on Police Officer Quarterly Strength, which gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. The key findings of the statistics are: From Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2024-25 published in June 2025, the above table showing a 39.8% fall in recorded crime since the last days of the Labour/Lib Dem coalition in 2007. Can the SNP get some credit? If it was the opposite way round and crime had climbed nearly 40% under them, they’d be … Continue reading 207 more police officers in Scotland than under Labour despite 40% reduction in crime since then – Imagine it was the other way round?