of their chauffeur-driven cars until the rail dispute is resolved. At question time in the Scottish Parliament concerns were raised about how tens of thousands of passengers would get to and from work and to events like the Scottish football against Ukraine, next Wednesday. Who raised the concerns and made this stupid suggestion? Ana Sarwar of course. The Tories love their cars. Why are ministers using these cars? Covid? Reporting Scotland have, of course, repeated Anas’ daft connection as if it made sense. My headline is comparably clever. Readers are invited to come up with more. Oh, and don’t the … Continue reading Right! I won’t use my bus pass till the ferries are fixed

Reporting Scotland eager as ever to talk us down, neglect to make the obvious comparison, with rUK. In England 64.2% of adults were obese (28%) or overweight (36.2%) in 2020. In Scotland, the figure was 62.2% (27.5%, 34.7%). The figure for Northern Ireland was 65% (27%, 38%). The data for Wales is not comparable. Source: Continue reading Scotland has fewer with weight problems than England or Northern Ireland

The QEUH, Scotland’s largest hospital and the regular target of the opposition parties trying to turn one or two deaths, challenged only by relatives, into scandals, has emerged from real evidence as one of the safest in Scotland. Based on their challenging circumstances in a large urban area with greater than average poverty, alcohol, drug and lifestyle problems, 3 225 deaths were predicted for 2021 but only 2 934 happened. This suggests, with other factors, of course, that the QEUH is overperforming, saving more lives than might be expected. For the period January 2021 to December 2021 no Scottish hospitals … Continue reading Queen Elizabeth University Hospital one of safest in Scotland

By iamsoccerdoc RMT’s planned action is an interesting one. Check out the list of train companies in the above link (you’ll have to scroll right down to the bottom) in which action is proposed. I can see no mention of Scotland at all, other than via Network Rail. Of course, THIS could be the reason: I dont know enough about railways to know how this will play out – for instance who employs signaling staff, but it’s interesting it is portrayed in the press as Scotland in a UK strike, or just an RMT strike in Scotland, when it looks as … Continue reading RMT members striking everywhere but Scotland because of Scotrail deal in 2021?

Once more BBC Scotland hides the facts in an attempt to put the viewer on the side of the ASLEF members and against Scotrail who run the system on behalf of the Scottish Government. Why is there no reporting or discussion of their 10% claim and whether or not that is reasonable? Why is this context not offered? ScotRail drivers typically earn more than £50,000 a year and a 2.2% pay increase was offered, with the opportunity to take part in a revenue share agreement, which would take the total package to 5%. https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotrail-boss-says-train-driver-27039221 The total offer is 5% for … Continue reading 10% claim on salaries greater than £50 000!

On BBC Scotland this morning at 07:30 and throughout the morning, Scotland’s drug deaths are still being trumpeted as ‘record‘ despite haven fallen in 2020 and 2021 and expected to fall further in 2022, as the lost generation of Thatcher’s children disappear from the data and as younger Scots become far less likely to die. 10 days ago, we were able to report: Scotland’s drug death figures were largely a product of the effects of Thatcherite economic polices in the 80s and that as that generation died tragic early deaths, as a result of overdoses and their ruined bodies, the … Continue reading Hanging onto Scotland’s drug deaths

By stewartb Perhaps you too missed the news coverage of a recent announcement concerning Scotland’s higher education sector. This relates to a publication on 17 May by the Scottish Funding Council on widening access to universities and colleges. Some key findings are summarised in the table below, from the SFC report. (CE = care experienced; COWA = Commission on Widening Access; MD20 = Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, most deprived quintile) It shows that: in 2020-21, 16.7% of all Scottish-domiciled full-time first-degree entrants were from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland – up 3 percentage points since 2013-14, a … Continue reading Widening access to higher education – Scotland’s progress

In the Herald today: More than 8,000 A&E patients were forced to wait over four hours to be seen last week, according to the latest figures.  The statistics, published by Public Health Scotland statistics on Tuesday, revealed that 70.2 per cent of those who attended emergency departments in the week up to May 15 were seen in less than four hours. The Scottish Conservatives described the statistics as ‘atrocious’ while Labour said the Government risked ‘normalising chaos.’ https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20161102.thousands-waiting-four-hours-seen-e/ There are no comparisons with the equivalent data for NHS England. NHS England doesn’t release weekly figures but the March monthly data is available. … Continue reading Scotland’s emergency services 22% better

By stewartb Oh dear, not PISA again? This supposed hammer blow to the SNP government and to the credibility of Scotland’s school system is becoming tiresome – and the claims based solely on it are just plain wrong and for lots of reasons. The claims are IMHO often driven by a political agenda. I venture the alarmist claims also run counter to most parents’/carers’ and school students’ direct experience of our schools. Could Scottish education be better? Of course – it would be daft to deny this for any education system as it would to deny it for any area … Continue reading Oh dear, not PISA again?

Only 10 years ago, the RMT leader in the Express and the Daily Mail. His death at only 52 was put down, by some, as partly due to endless media hostility and intrusion. Who is the ASLEF leader in the current dispute with Scotrail? It’s Kevin Lindsay. That’s him. See him much in media coverage? You’re more likely to see the First Minister: The saturation daily coverage of the pay dispute which is not even a strike yet with images of SNP politicians rather than ASLEF or even Scotrail reps, is classic media war by proxy. Glasgow University research in … Continue reading Rail Unions: From ‘most hated’ to useful against the SNP