From the Guardian today: Four NHS hospital trusts in England have declared critical incidents after a “surge” in A&E admissions driven in large part by patients with flu, norovirus and respiratory viruses. Three trusts in Surrey and one in Kent sounded the alarm after a “surge in complex attendances to A&E departments”. A critical incident, which is usually declared when A&E departments are not able to necessarily deliver all of their services safely, is the highest alert level used by the NHS and allows bosses to take immediate steps to create capacity. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/13/four-nhs-trusts-in-england-declare-critical-incidents-after-surge-in-ae-admissions Media in Scotland have, of course, tried to invent … Continue reading ‘Begging the public to stay away from A&E?’ No Scottish health board has actually said that or declared a ‘critical incident’ but four in NHS England have

The Scotsman’s right-wing tabloid headline today is based on this from Audit Scotland published on 13 November 2025: Altogether, the net benefit to Scottish Budgets since the introduction of devolved taxes in 2015/16 is around £4.1 billion. https://audit.scot/publications/financial-sustainability-and-taxes Services not improved eh? What is the evidence in the Scotsman? It’s a Survation UK-wide opinion poll of 2032 so that means around 200 at most, a tiny percentage of the Scottish population in a poll carried out by a pollster with a bad rep finds a barely one hundred folk who think that? I can’t see the data tables published yet. … Continue reading SNP’s more progressive taxation raised £4 billion for higher employment, lower crime, shorter hospital waiting lists, more teachers and better schools

In the Guardian today: London’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade with police in the capital and the mayor saying it is now one of the safest cities in the western world. The figures come as those on the radical right criticise the city for having a crime problem, hoping to gain politically from such claims being believed. In 2025, the Metropolitan police recorded 97 homicides in London, down from 153 in 2019, and down from 109 in 2024. The fall in the number of homicides comes despite a rise in London’s population, to 9.1 million compared … Continue reading Labour Mayor welcomes murder rate falling but to still nearly 40% higher than that in Scotland

From the Metro yesterday: A new ferry service linking Scotland and France for the first time could set sail in just a few a months. The route, from Rosyth to Dunkirk, nicknamed ‘Project Brave’, was first proposed in 2022, but stalled in 2025. Funding issues, as well as the need to build a new border control facility at Rosyth, to allow the processing of food and drink, halted the project. It’s only when you have a look at the map above of existing UK to Europe ferry services, that you see just how Scotland has been stifled by the Union. We have one service … Continue reading The real ferry fiasco where Scotland has been stifled by the Union