Readers will remember that the nearest A&E departments to the First Minister’s Glasgow constituency saw 72.4% of patients in 4 hours, in June 2022. This was lightly better than the Scottish average of 71.3% despite the particular challenges they face in one of the most deprived parts of the country. The nearest A&E department’s to the Norfolk constituency of Lizz Truss, only did a shocking 43.1% The nearest A&E to Sunak’s affluent Richmond constituency is in Darlington, 11 miles away. County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust’s A&E departments only saw 48.7% in 4 hours. Imagine either of these results … Continue reading Good constituency MPs like Sturgeon would do something about ‘third world’ local hospitals. Sunak and Truss have not

A post from stewartb pricked my memory on BBC Scotland Editor James Cook: Anyone listen to – have a view on the content of – today’s Radio 4 Feedback programme? Is it worth a listen? It featured this: ‘The BBC Scotland Editor James Cook explains how he manages to remain impartial, as the independence issue heats up again north of the border.’ Note the wording here: seems the assumption is that there just is ‘impartiality’ – that’s a given, it is the BBC after all! James Cook and impartiality is a theme I’ve often commented on. See these (link at … Continue reading James Cook says he is impartial! Ho ho….

From cuckooshoe Have I got this right? The Bank of England has just put interest rates up from 1.25% to 1.75% this week, inflation is set to reach to 13% by the end of the year, there is a real possibility of the energy price cap reaching £4000 in January, the UK expected to entering a recession in the next quarter and staying in a recession until the end of 2023 and Scotland’s business leaders are calling on the Scottish Government for more support not the Chancellor of the Exchequer? I looked at the other parts of the massive BBC … Continue reading Scotland’s business leaders are calling on the Scottish Government for more support not the Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Despite actually referring to the desire to eradicate rough sleeping in Scotland, there’s not a word in this Herald report of this important contextual fact: Worst forms of homelessness less common in Scotland than England, research finds Rates of the worst forms of homelessness are significantly lower in Scotland than in England, new research from Heriot-Watt University has found. The 2021 Homelessness Monitor Scotland – commissioned by homelessness charity Crisis and led by Heriot-Watt University – provides the most in-depth study of homelessness in GB.  The research found that the rate of ‘core homelessness’, which includes people rough sleeping, using … Continue reading Bias by omission: ‘Rough sleeping’ in Scotland is around half the level of England ‘as a result’ of Scottish Government actions

It’s the kind of news BBC Scotland excel at – tabloid sob stories with a health board absurdly apologising for protecting us from Covid. Wouldn’t a real journalist think: ‘Hey, I wonder what the stats are like?’ If they sniffed failure to hit targets would even a Reporting Scotland reporter have told us all about that? You be they would. What are the stats like? So, to repeat myself for the umpteenth time. From May 2022: 99.8% of IVF patients seen on time by NHS Scotland despite large increase in demand From Public Health Scotland today: During the quarter ending … Continue reading Bias by omission: More than a thousand words on IVF but not one on how NHS Scotland beats the target year after year

Quietly inserted in the fourth paragraph of the above report: Scotland’s business leaders have called for more support in the face of the bleak economic outlook. The Bank of England has increased interest rates to 1.75% and warned inflation is now set to hit more than 13%. Retail and licence trade associations said more UK and Scottish government support is needed ahead of an expected recession. The Scottish government has said its focus is on supporting the lowest paid. Latest data from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) showed footfall in July was 16.5% down on pre-pandemic levels and 0.7% worse than … Continue reading SNP Government confirms it is the party of the democratic left in Scotland

Readers may remember the blanket coverage of the GMB bin collectors in 2021 as Cop26 loomed. Anas Sarwar was on TV ad nauseam, posing with refuse and blaming both the SNP Council and the SNP Government for Glasgow refuse not being collected. BBC Scotland went in pursuit of the piles but, notably, only found this image: Edinburgh City Labour runs Edinburgh with the support of the Tories and the Lib Dems in key posts after suspending two Labour Councillors who would not support the dirty deal to keep out the SNP: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/council/two-edinburgh-labour-councillors-suspended-after-abstaining-on-vote-which-put-their-party-into-power-3748068 I look forward to a pic of Anas … Continue reading Will Anas Sarwar pose with heaped garbage in Labour/Tory-run Festival Edinburgh?

In the Times today: A majority of Scots would be happy for the nation’s benefits system to be more generous even if it meant they paid higher taxes, according to research published today. A report also found 79 per cent were in favour of a minimum income guarantee (MIG) being introduced. The research from IPPR Scotland, who describe themselves as ‘progressive’ as opposed to ‘independent’, also includes this statement: Following the publication of three significant reports by IPPR Scotland over thelast two years, the Scottish government have made ambitious commitments towork towards our vision for a ‘living income’ – ensuring … Continue reading Another brick in walls of a better home?

Gregor Gall is a ‘man of the left‘ as we used to say. Industrial relations professor at Bradford University, editor of the Scottish Left Review and ‘Joe Strummer studier’, he was never going to be happy with the SNP attempts to create a fairer Scotland. Strangely, though, he seems more concerned about that, than about the view to his south, of London burning. Gall is correct in that the idea of a social democratic ‘Nordic’ nation is being simplified and ignores more recent less-egalitarian developments in those nations. He’s correct in that the SNP have not been able to fully … Continue reading We all know why being a ‘Nordic nation’ trumps being an ‘Anglo Saxon’ one

In the Independent today: A&E waits are now “apocalyptic” and “worse than ever imagined” leaked NHS data shows, and could be driving 1,000 patient deaths a month, The Independent can reveal. Almost 700,000 people have waited more than 12 hours in A&E in the first seven months of 2022, according to leaked NHS data. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/a-e-hosptial-trolley-waits-patient-deaths-b2135801.html Unlike Public Health England, Public Health Scotland openly publishes data on waits of more than 12 hours. From January to July 2022, there were 24 145.* All things being equal, with 10 times the population, NHS England should have had around 250 000 waits of more than 12 hours but it … Continue reading ‘Apocalyptic’ emergency waits of more than 12 hours in NHS England three times more common than in Scotland