By stewartb I’d like to draw attention to an interesting line of argument being promoted by the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) in its ‘Scotland’s Budget Report 2026-27’ (January 9, 2026). In Chapter 1 on ‘Fiscal Outlook’, the FAI goes to great lengths in seeking to undermine the claim that the Scottish government balances its budget. It states: ‘.. an interested observer will be surprised to hear that the apparent definition used by the Scottish Government of a balanced budget includes borrowed funds. When the Budget Bill is set out and in outturn, the Scottish Government’s expenditure plans are “funded” and fit within the limits … Continue reading Why is this Glasgow think-tank now, for the first time, trying to cast doubt on the SNP’s balanced budgeting in the months just before an election?

Thanks to Bernadette for alerting me to this: From SMA UK 5 September 2025: We are absolutely delighted to hear the news that NHS Scotland will be adding SMA to their newborn screening programme in an evaluative and research capacity with the aim of the first baby being tested in early 2026. External funding will be used to help purchase specialist testing equipment for the Scottish Newborn Screening Laboratory in Glasgow, and with only one testing site in the country, this means that every baby born will be screened for SMA, approximately 45,000 each year (45,763 live births in 2024). With … Continue reading Good news about Scotland’s babies ‘our’ media missed

In August 2024, I wrote to my new MP, Elaine Stewart (Labour) in Ayr on energy security and bills in Scotland. Today, 20 months later, I get a reply in which she writes: What the SNP could do to help deliver energy security is drop its ideological block on nuclear which rejects the creation of well-paid jobs, apprenticeships, and reliable low-carbon energy. The Nuclear Industry Association reported more than 10,000 new nuclear jobs being created in the last year alone – the SNPs stance is clearly untenable and is holding Scotland back when it comes to clean power.   In this, she aligns herself with the UK Labour … Continue reading Ayrshire Labour MP backs new nuclear power stations that have made Scotland the ‘Cancer Capital of Europe’

In the Herald, today in a clear and sickeningly cynical election run-up: Anas Sarwar has called for a criminal investigation into Nicola Sturgeon and managers at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde after the board’s eleventh-hour admission that contaminated water at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital probably caused serious infections among vulnerable patients, including children with cancer. The health board’s U-turn, revealed in closing submissions to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, comes after years of denying any link between the hospital’s water system and a cluster of infections that contributed to multiple deaths and left dozens of patients seriously ill. Sarwar has been ‘working with‘ the parents for near on 10 years and … Continue reading Neither Nicola Sturgeon nor any member of the Scottish Government has ever denied any link between hospital water systems and infections that may have contributed to deaths but neither have they ever groomed the parents of a dead child

In the Guardian today: There’s no mention of Scotland in the above nor is there in the full NCT report. The latter has a ‘methodology’ section but that does not feature the word ‘sample.’ Remarkably, the above report seems unaware of State of Health Visiting, UK Survey Report – From disparity to opportunity: The case for rebuilding health visiting” (11th annual edition, based on 2024 data and published January 2025.1 What’s in there we wonder? What percentage of of health visitors are able to provide continuity of carer to families ‘all or most of the time?’ This: There’s more: “I … Continue reading Babies in Scotland get more than twice as many home health visits and have twice the carer continuity that mums and dads want, than those in England

I used to write complaints to the BBC all the time but can’t remember the last one. The responses, surreal at times, would ruin your day. Anyhow, here we go again. Do join me? Continue reading Complaint to BBC on misrepresentation of Glasgow hospital infections inquiry