In the Guardian today: Air pollution kills thousands a year in the UK and abroad – why isn’t there a bigger uproar? by Prof Devi Sridhar who though based in Edinburgh makes no mention of Scotland. Why should she: ‘Only seven countries meet WHO air quality standard, research finds’….plus Scotland According to the Guardian in March 2024, Scotland is not a country and by implication falls with the UK into the failed group. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/19/air-pollution-health-report The latest WHO level for the deadly PM2.5 particles is 5 micrograms per cubic metre. Though no Scottish average seems available, you can, I find, go to … Continue reading ‘Only seven ‘countries’ meet World Health Organisation air quality standard, research finds’….plus Scotland of course

The above from September 2023, shows private healthcare providers (red) and MPs taking money from them to push their interests (blue £), notably then only one in Scotland – Ian Murray, Edinburgh South (Labour). https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1_vYkm4Yb_3r1SCl76qvgdR6zwqqB4u4&femb=1&ll=54.52217059297223%2C-2.3420011625000114&z=6 BBC Scotland this morning put the third-largest party first, to tell us that Scottish Labour are campaigning on the NHS and accusing the Scottish Government of creating a ‘two-tier’ system. You really want to see a two-tier system, first check out the distribution of private healthcare across the UK and of MPs being paid by them in the above map. Second, while the map shows … Continue reading BBC put Labour first this morning to suggest a two-tier NHS in Scotland which this simple map and that only 4% were done privately completely ridicule

Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From the Guardian today, the above and: Customer complaints over water bills surge by 50% in England and Wales – Number of households complaining rises to 16,000 in 2025, with Southern Water the biggest target. Complaints about water companies in England and Wales to an independent monitor surged by more than 50% last year, as customers bristled at steep bill increases. More than 16,000 complaints were lodged in 2025 with the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), a government-sponsored body that represents customers’ interests.1 Scottish Water does not publish broken-down complaints, but for all complaints, … Continue reading England, the only country in the world with a fully privatised water system gets nearly FOUR times as many complaints about water bills

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Today, in the Guardian: Home Office to launch ‘British FBI’ to deal with serious crime UK-wide – National Police Service will investigate organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse. The government is setting up a National Police Service – dubbed the “British FBI” – to deal with organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse in a major change to policing in England and Wales. The new organisation, which will be announced by the Home Office in a white paper on Monday, means fraud, criminal gang and UK-wide counter terror investigations will no longer be carried … Continue reading The Home Office would do better to just copy Scotland than set up a ‘British (sic) FBI’