According to the WHO: Herd immunity against measles requires about 95% of a population to be vaccinated. The remaining 5% will be protected by the fact that measles will not spread among those who are vaccinated. The figure for Scotland at 2 years, is 93.9% and at 5 years is 95.2%. In the England the equivalent figures are worryingly low at 89.2% and 93.4%. Sources: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/herd-immunity-lockdowns-and-covid-19#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20people%20who,among%20those%20who%20are%20vaccinated. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/childhood-immunisation-statistics-scotland/childhood-immunisation-statistics-scotland-quarter-and-year-ending-31-december-2022/ https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/2021-22 Continue reading Childhood vaccinations in Scotland safely in herd immunity range but….

In week-ending 19 March 2023, 62.9% were seen in 4 hours, down from 64.7% in the previous week, a fall of 2.5%. In the same period attendances went up by 2.6%. Tom Gordon loves to use these one-week changes which no statistics student, even a 12 year-old, would trust. The monthly data which are more reliable seem to be of no interest to Gordon. In January 2023, 68.7% were seen in 4 hours, compared to 62.1% in December 2022. In England in January 2023, the equivalent figure was 58% but this must be read in the light of the fact … Continue reading A&E performance falls by same amount as attendances increase – no worsening

By stewartb The Director of the Institute for Government (IfG), the London-based think tank close to the ‘establishment’ of Westminster governance (look up its board of directors), has recently (13 March) published an article on Westminster’s parliamentary practices entitled: ‘Illegal Migration Bill highlights how expectations of legislative scrutiny have plummeted – Expectations of parliamentary scrutiny of legislation have dropped over the past decade.’ (https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/illegal-migration-bill-legislative-scrutiny) This is a worrying trend in any parliamentary democracy. It is of course an ironic situation in a democracy that as recently as 2016 voted for Brexit in order to ‘take back control’ to the UK … Continue reading A warning: ‘marked decline in quality of law-making’ in Westminster!

‘Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd cannot yet demonstrate that the conditions are in place to secure value for money’ National Audit Office (27 March 2023) By stewartbThe latest National Audit Office (NAO) report into High Speed Rail (HS2) provides a rich vein of material for use in ‘shock’ media headlines and ‘outraged’ quotable comments from opposition politicians. As after publication of many NAO reports critical of Westminster governments, I suspect we won’t see any of this!   Source: National Audit Office (27 March 2023) High Speed Two: Euston. Value for Money  Report (https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/high-speed-two-euston/#downloads ) Background Euston is intended to be … Continue reading £2.6 billion? Could we make it £4.4 billion instead? The upward spiral of costs for London terminus of HS2!

In the week-ending 19 March 2023, Crosshouse Hospital’s A&E department saw 67.8% in 4 hours, up from 65.7% and 65.6% in the previous 2 weeks and 61.6% at the beginning of 2023. At the same time, demand climbed from only 876 at the beginning of 2023 and from 1 023 and 1 115 in the previous 2 weeks, to 1 154 in week-ending 19 March 2023. That was a 32% increase in less than 3 months and, at the same time, performance also improved. Local non-SNP MSPs, including our columnist Sharon Dowey, were unavailable for comment despite being on a … Continue reading Local Tory and Labour MSPs silent as Ayrshire A&E improves for third week in a row despite massive increase in demand

Only sub-polls, I know, because they rarely do full polls for Scotland, but the same story in them all tells us something. Reporting yesterday based on data collected from 24-27 March, Deltapoll has the SNP at 41% up from 38% in their previous poll on 17-20 March and 33% on 10-13 March. Support for both Labour and Cons is down. I know the data for the report yesterday will have been collected before the announcement of the new SNP leader but he had been the bookie’s favourite for some time before that. PeoplePolling on March 17 had the SNP at … Continue reading SNP support up as leader is elected

From WalesOnline yesterday (Thanks for the alert Scott): Most Welsh Government funds are held with in the UK Government Banking Service and the Treasury has taken back £155.5m from the Cardiff Bay administration’s balance because it exceeded the amount the UK Government allows the devolved administration to carry forward at the end of the financial year. The figure emerged as part of the scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s accounts by the Senedd’s Public Affairs and Public Accounts Committee and has caused controversy. Wales’ finance minister Rebecca Evans called the decision “completely arbitrary” and the Welsh Government said it was “wholly unacceptable” and … Continue reading Labour handing cash back to Westminster? Where have I heard that before?

stewartb I know – most folk in Scotland know – what a Tory is. Most people in Scotland have rejected Tories at elections for decades. In the next GE, the Tories are unlikely to be a substantial threat to the SNP. Labour is different: there may still be residual ‘muscle memory’ in parts of Scottish society that Labour will seek to exploit. But Labour offers no long term solution to Scotland’s challenges – the Tories will be back soon after a period of Tory-lite Labour Unionism. Labour offers the voters of Scotland and our elected Parliament no significant additional agency. … Continue reading Labour are the demoralising party