By stewartb An article on the STV News website from yesterday that candidly, looks more like an opposition party press-release. Headline: ‘Humza Yousaf’s record-breaking failure putting lives at risk’ – Labour – The SNP MSP was appointed as Scotland’s health secretary in May 2021.’ I’m left wondering if the journalist who wrote this STV piece has: – ever examined NHS performance statistics in England, NI and Wales – has any professional curiosity about/interest in why the NHS model across the UK is under such pressures – has any conception as a professional of the need to, the value of placing … Continue reading STV News report looks more like an opposition party press-release

A 5th poll suggesting confidently a Labour surge in England now also confirms that the Starmer/Sarwar appeal is weak in Scotland. Yesterday Opinium published their poll of 2 000, based on data collected from 28-30 September, suggesting Labour on 36% and the Cons on 18%. But, for the 177 Scots asked, the figures were Cons on 15%, Labour on 20% and SNP on 43%. Of the previous four polls, only YouGov suggested a mini-surge for Scottish Labour at 38% but this now looks like an outlier. Across the five sub-polls with a sample total of around 900, the averages now … Continue reading Confirmed: NO Labour surge in Scotland

A winter crisis in NHS Scotland eh? Given what we know, that Scotland, compared especially to England, has the best-performing A&E departments, significantly more beds, nurses and doctors, all of its hospitals with mortality rates in the expected range and currently with far fewer Covid patients in ICU, BBC England, Wales and Northern Ireland will surely be all over this story too? England? Nope. Wales? Nope. Northern Ireland? What’s going on BBC Scotland? It’s as if you have a different agenda. To find something that might by association undermine the Scottish Government because if they were successful in gaining independence, … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s proxy war on the SNP, using the NHS, continues

Imagine the SNP Government had stuck rigidly to EU regulations on contracts and these ferries had gone to yards other than in Scotland? Ministers cowardice over EU law leads to massive loss of jobs! EU regulations are constantly being bent or broken in the interests of ‘national’ industries or, in the UK, against those interests, to break unions and to offshore contracts for lower prices or to please multinational corporations funding certain parties. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/government-hiding-behind-eu-rules-to-offshore-shipbuilding-contracts-say-union/ Up to a third of chemicals breaching EU safety laws have been found in toys. https://eeb.org/a-third-of-chemicals-break-eu-safety-laws/ The above two took 5 minutes of research. Readers will … Continue reading TWICE! Scottish ministers bend EU rules to protect Scottish jobs just like they do in every other country

A 75-year-old former nurse believes a prescribing error cause severe loss of sight. She may be correct but we don’t know for sure yet. NHS Scotland had around THREE MILLION outpatient attendances last year. I know that journalism can be a desperate struggle for survival but, really, is this all they have? https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual-annual-year-ending-31-march-2021/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20there%20were%20around%203,around%202.2%20million%20return%20attendances. Continue reading 1 ‘blunder’ maybe, in 3 million medical treatments, is not a story in the public interest

BBC Scotland’s Politics online page has something missing. BBC Wales and Northern Ireland are not missing it: What is it? Constitutional change – independence for Wales and re-union for Ireland. It headlines in that really divided society, Northern Ireland and gets two reports in Wales. Maybe there was nothing of that kind on in Scotland? You can’t expect BBC Scotland to just make something up. Well, there was something on. This: Oooh, I wonder why only BBC Scotland have ignored this issue, again? Maybe it’s just a one-of, innocent error? I’ve been reporting the consistent and stark contrast between the … Continue reading What is allowed on BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland but not on BBC Scotland?

By stewartb – a long read This draws attention to the state of poverty and inequality in the UK. It’s also intended to help fill what might be called the ‘perspective void’ left by the Unionist media – both commercial and (so-called) public service – in Scotland.   In a recent blog post for TuS, poverty and income inequality in the UK was compared with other western democracies. It identified a number of smaller nation-states with substantially lower poverty rates and less inequality than the UK, places not unlike Scotland once independent. See ‘On poverty and inequality: how England’s voters have … Continue reading On poverty across the UK – helping fill the ‘perspective void’!

Throughout September 2022, NHS England has had twice the number, pro rata, of Covid cases in ICU than NHS Scotland. Wales with a significantly smaller population tends to have as many and, often more, that Scotland does. This trend began around the beginning of August 2022. Before that Scotland had a similar rate to England. Might this be the explanation: From around October 2021, Scotland began to pull away from the other three nations and, notably has given third vaccinations to significantly more than NHS England has managed. Other factors may have been the quicker vaccination of the elderly and … Continue reading Has SNP Government’s superior vaccination programme resulted in far fewer Covid cases in Scottish Hospital ICUs?

The National has been making much of the latest predictions from pollsters Electoral Calculus, with a good sample of 10 435 across the UK and roughly 900 in Scotland. I understand why they like the predicted defeats for Governor General Alister Jack and for Leader Douglas Ross but I take even more pleasure in the thought of Andrew Bowie getting dumped. Why? That face? OK, then these: Continue reading Never mind Ross and Jack, this would be the sweet one for me!

Today based on polling on 29 September with 112 Scots, don’t knows and non-voters excluded, Omnisis, has Labour at only 28% in Scotland but 40% for the UK. The Cons have collapsed to 12% suggesting their support is simply moving across to the right-of-centre Labour Party, while the SNP hold at 46%. A poll of 2216 on 29 September, by PeoplePolling with has Labour 30 points ahead of the Cons with 50%. The Scottish sub-poll of 190 has Labour at 25%, Cons at 3% but SNP at 56% and Greens at 6%. Survation on the same day with 1 329 has Labour … Continue reading Fourth sub-poll confirms Labour surge will not cross border