Post-Brexit, Ireland has become almost completely free of its former dependency on congested and expensive land routes, through England from Liverpool to the channel ferries at Calais. Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister for European Affairs, told RTÉ News a year ago: “The whole port, the [Nord Pas de Calais] region, the [Dunkirk] chamber of commerce, is behind this, to get even more connections to Ireland. We only had 12 direct routes to France before Brexit, now it’s 44. We are looking as well next summer towards tourism to get Irish tourists into this region, but also of course, tourists from Northern France, … Continue reading Ireland 44 Scotland 0: The other ferry fiasco story not being covered

Image: Politics Home stewartb The latest A&E waiting time statistics for NHS Scotland are getting the usual coverage on the BBC News website. Yes the data are disappointing but this is probably not surprising: there is no quick fix available to NHS Scotland or the Scottish Government. In a UK context, the NHS in Scotland is NOT exceptional in the length of waits and it is NOT exceptional in its inability to fix its problems quickly. However, it is worthwhile reflecting on the comments from opposition politicians in Scotland quoted in today’s (8 November) BBC article. Let’s get Tory spokesperson, … Continue reading Labour fails to treat UK’s worse health service

From Public Health Scotland today, we see that Scotland’s largest hospital, in the First Minister’s constituency, the QEUH, had 2 868 deaths in the last year but, based on previous years, had been predicted to have 3 176. This represents a 9.7% reduction or improvement. From Public Health England, the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in which the PM has his constituency, 2 205 deaths were predicted but 2 370 were observed. This represents a 7.5 increase or deterioration. Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/hospital-standardised-mortality-ratios/hospital-standardised-mortality-ratios-july-2021-to-june-2022/dashboard/ https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNmEyNTIyZjQtOWQ2NC00ODlkLTkwMjItNmYxZDVmNTI2YWY2IiwidCI6IjUwZjYwNzFmLWJiZmUtNDAxYS04ODAzLTY3Mzc0OGU2MjllMiIsImMiOjh9 Continue reading Sturgeon’s local hospital performing much better than Sunak’s

From Public Health Scotland below, every Scottish hospital is saving more lives than statisticians have predicted based on previous years and the system overall is tight with almost no postcode lottery. In sharp and disturbing contrast, above, NHS England is in trouble with large numbers doing less well than they should and lives being lost when they might be saved. Off course, we see greater inequality in England with 12 hospitals in affluent areas doing far better. Now that’s a postcode lottery! If ever we saw visually the difference between the two countries, the above two funnel plots do it. … Continue reading NHS England in crisis as 10 hospitals record unacceptable high death rates while NHS Scotland have none – now that’s a postcode lottery!

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/keir-starmer-snp-win-2021-would-be-mandate-indyref2-2981560 Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed he stands by his claims that if the SNP win Holyrood in 2021 they have a mandate for another referendum. The Labour leader today insisted a vote was “not needed” but refused to rule out another referendum after being repeatedly confronted with the question. Speaking to Sky’s Beth Rigby, Sir Keir first claimed the question was “hypothetical” and insisted he and Scottish Labour were focused on the “importance of rebuilding the economy in Scotland”. He added: “We will be making the argument going into that election that this is not the time for another … Continue reading Keir Starmer: SNP win in 2021 would be mandate for Indyref2

BBC England: Children at Eaton Valley Primary School in West Bromwich BBC England and the Guardian are headlining stories of imminent staff reductions. The National in Scotland has: ‘More than half’ of England’s schools planning ‘catastrophic’ staff redundancies Try searching for ‘Teacher redundancies Scotland’ and you just get the English reports. Will this matter too much? Surely England’s schools are so much better than those in Scotland? Hasn’t Prof Paterson been on Radio 4 telling the UK how bad we are? Haven’t all of the opposition Education spokespersons said the same. In 2019 in the run-up to the General Election, … Continue reading A far better pupil-teacher ratio and no planned redundancies: Is SNP Government better?

A National Care Service is an idea well past its time. The current system, dominated by corporations milking it ignored standards required by the local councils and health boards with fatal consequences during the pandemic. Unable to deny the overall approval for such a system, Scotland’s media, fed by Cosla and the unions, seek to weaken it with this argument: Councils would essentially no longer be involved in the delivery of social care – and complain that this could undermine local accountability. They don’t like the idea of a “power grab” by central government, and are wary of the potential … Continue reading Why we need a National Care Service: Media Bias

I joined Mastodon, the alternative to Twitter two years ago but let it slip due to a small following. In the light of recent musky events, I’m using it again to post RSU/TUS reports. Will stay with Twitter for the moment. Do join me at: https://mastodon.scot/@ProfJWR Continue reading After Twitter, Mastodon?

The UK DWP record above From the Scottish Government news pages today: More than £160 million in support paid out across 11 benefits in 2021-2022 Social Security Scotland has published its Annual Report and Accounts, which shows that it made £163.6 million in direct payments across 11 Scottish benefits from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. The combination of direct payments and those delivered through Agency Agreements with the Department of Work and Pensions saw the Scottish Government invest a total of £3.48 billion in benefits across Scotland. The results of an annual survey of clients by Social Security Scotland … Continue reading 94% of clients praise Social Security Scotland staff for ‘kindness’ as we make a ‘better nation’ with our hands tied

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50488094 Back in 2019, BBC Scotland had plenty to say about rough-sleeping but they seem to have gone off the topic. Could this be why? Throughout last year [2021] Glasgow had less than 10 people sleeping rough on the streets, often as low as 4 at any one time with the street team and partners actively working to prevent 30 people a week from having to sleep outdoors. That is still 4 too many and we are working hard to find the right solution to each and every one of them. However there is no European City that has achieved … Continue reading BBC Scotland longing for the good-old-days when Glasgow didn’t have fewer rough-sleepers than ANY city in Europe?