SNP lead in an increasing trend which casts serious doubt that Sarwar can ever be FM

From Survation today with quite a big, thus more reliable, sample of 3 106, evidence of steadily increasing SNP support and falling support for Labour. In the most recent 3 polls the average lead was 5% for SNP, in the previous 3 it was 3.66% for the SNP and in the previous 3, before the General Election, it was 1% for Labour. Looking at individual pollsters, Survation have gone from a 4% Labour lead in June, to a tie in mid-September and in mid-November, a 5% lead for the SNP. Norstat have gone from a 3% lead for the SNP … Continue reading SNP lead in an increasing trend which casts serious doubt that Sarwar can ever be FM

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times approaching 90% target and waiting list slashed by massive 26% in Scotland is not, it seems, news

By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today: One in three child and adolescent consultant psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, according to a “shocking” analysis laying bare the workforce crisis that experts say is fuelling “unacceptable” long waits for NHS care. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/28/long-wait-for-nhs-mental-healthcare-has-stark-consequences-for-childrens-life-chances BBC Scotland are not picking up on this with a view to reminding you things are bad here too> Could this be why? From Public Health Scotland in September 2024: 84.1% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from the 73.8% for the same quarter ending June 2023. The Scottish Government standard states … Continue reading Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times approaching 90% target and waiting list slashed by massive 26% in Scotland is not, it seems, news

FFS Steven, Greens hate soya. It’s being grown in the cleared Amazon forests to feed pigs in China. Do catch up. Above is the latest lame attempt by the Herald’s third-best cartoonist to squeeze a laugh out of the new ferries. Should you have effall better to do, look and despair at his previous stuff: It’s a sad state of affairs that the above pub-level banality passes for political satire at the Herald. To waste more time on his output considered, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=Camley On ferries, here’s why his infantile pokes are not so much below the belt as below the average … Continue reading

Why dualing the A9 is less important than the opposition claim

By Professor John Robertson OBA This is a constant chorus from the opposition parties but it’s not based on any scientific evidence. From the London School of Economics in 2013: In theory, transport improvements decrease transportation costs, improve access to markets, foster economic integration, stimulate competition, generate agglomeration economies and a number of other ‘wider’ economic benefits….Although road improvements are routinely subject to appraisal – predicting the economic benefits before the roads are built – they have not historically been subject to any evaluation in order to work out whether these benefits actually materialised! So will road-building set the UK on … Continue reading Why dualing the A9 is less important than the opposition claim

Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

By Professor John Robertson OBA David Bol of the Scotsman today has this astonishing headline: SNP dealt blow as NHS recovery in Scotland lagging behind England This claim is based on the supposed evidence that performance in NHS Scotland is worsening while in NHS England it’s improving. Yes, but, but, David, what if performance in Scotland is worsening and is improving in England but the English performance is still worse than the Scottish performance, isn’t it England that’s lagging, until, at least it overtakes Scotland? Get me? Objectively, which NHS is lagging? The facts once more: First, THREE times as many wait … Continue reading Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

By stewartb Seems they are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too. The BBC News website in its Wales section today (November 26) had this headline about NHS Wales: ‘Ambulance response target may change after failures’. It reports: ‘Ambulance response targets in Wales may change in 2025, after four years of the service failing to meet its key measure.’ ‘A total of 65% of the most life-threatening calls are expected to arrive to a patient within eight minutes, but this has been missed for the past … Continue reading They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

The Alison Pearson case proves how corrupt much of the MSM really really are, so much so, that can we in Scotland ever really trust anything they report?

Anonymous Here is a classic example of all things wrong with the corrupt and tainted UK media. Peter Osborne , now an apparent enlightened member of the media, and so determined to do the job as per his job description as one who considers himself to be a real and honest journalist , has written an article for the Middle East Eye. This article exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of the UK media , many of whom are compromised by their allegiance to respective UK political parties, and so as such are complicit in obscuring those things that these political parties … Continue reading The Alison Pearson case proves how corrupt much of the MSM really really are, so much so, that can we in Scotland ever really trust anything they report?

Labour should rethink this one, and give money directly to the devolved Scottish Government for them to allocate to Scottish councils

Anonymous The National (England) Audit Office stated yesterday that “Just one in 10 local authorities submitted reliable formal accounts of their spending in 2022-23. Of the remaining 90%, half failed to submit any financial data at all and half submitted accounts that had not been audited“ Remember Labour’s big plan for Scotland is to bypass the Scottish government and allow Ian Murray, as Labour’s new SOS for Scotland ,to allocate funds directly to Scottish councils so hopefully they, the Scottish councils, are more diligent and careful with their accounting. This BTW is a carbon copy of what the Tories were going to do … Continue reading Labour should rethink this one, and give money directly to the devolved Scottish Government for them to allocate to Scottish councils

Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Richard Murphy, today: The national debt has just fallen by £1.5 trillion There is a very strange feature that, as far as I can see, has not had much attention paid to it so far within the Whole of Government Accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 that were published yesterday. Ignoring the fact that, as I noted yesterday, these accounts were subject to qualification by the National Audit Office because about 90% of the data from local authorities required for their preparation was either unavailable or had not itself been audited, some … Continue reading Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

90% of English councils failed to delivery audited accounts for 2022-23 making the GERS data even more just GUFF

Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Civil Service World yesterday: The National Audit Office has refused to give an opinion on the latest Whole of Government Accounts for the first time ever because of major backlogs in local-authority audits. Out of 426 local authorities across England, just 43 – around 10% – submitted reliable data to the WGA [Whole of government Accounts]. Just over half of those remaining submitted information that had not been audited, while 187 councils – 44% of the total – did not submit any data at all. https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/whole-government-accounts-nao-disclaimed-opinion-local-authorities-missing-data This is shocking. Imagine it … Continue reading 90% of English councils failed to delivery audited accounts for 2022-23 making the GERS data even more just GUFF