Here’s what Anas Sarwar said in June 2024: Anas Sarwar has accused the SNP of “breaking” the NHS as he set out Labour’s plans for the health service, should the party win the general election. The Scottish Labour leader said a government led by Sir Keir Starmer would cut waiting times and increase access to GPs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce99nlp03rqo We see today, above, from the BMJ, Sir Keir’s failure. https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s756 Comparisons with NHS Scotland can be very tricky, not least because NHS England restarts the clock after triage when the patient is allocated to a department whereas NHS Scotland counts from when … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s A&E waits of over 24 hours are still fewer than a fifth per capita of those in NHS England contrary to Anas Sarwar’s claims in 2024

in England’s accident and emergency departments last year, according to the British Medical Journal. The figures also show almost half-a-million people spent more than 24 hours in A&E before being admitted to a hospital bed, transferred or discharged. Here’s what the BMJ actually said: A&E crisis: Data show 13 386 patients waited over three days in England’s emergency departments as patients say “they’d rather die at home” Might BBC Reporting Scotland have made more of that? You bed they would. ‘Crisis?’ ‘Rather die at home?’ Right up there and all day long. And this graph? The full report is at: https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s756 … Continue reading England’s A&E ‘crisis’ as patients say “they’d rather die at home” but BBC UK don’t mention it

From AOL today, above and: The historic Lake Michigan auto and passenger ferry SS Badger, the last coal-fired steamship operating on the Great Lakes, is set to open its season Friday, May 15. https://www.aol.com/news/ss-badger-season-opens-may-162253664.html The SS Badger, built in 1952, is still operating on the Great Lakes (USA). SS Badger came under fire from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental groups in late 2008 because of her daily practice of dumping untreated coal ash from its boilers directly into the waters of Lake Michigan. Burning 55 short tons (49 long tons; 50 t) of coal a day produces 4 short tons (3.57 long tons; 3.63 t) of ash.[30] Coal ash is a … Continue reading 74 year-old coal-fired 4 000 tons ferry, still sailing Lake Michigan is three times the age of an average CalMac ferry and twice the age of its oldest

I’m reading Antony Beevor‘s Rasputin, only to discover one of Imperial Russia’s Prime Ministers, Boris Vladimirovich Stürmer was perhaps their least impressive and most feckless holder of the post. From Brittanica On Feb. 2, 1916, while Tsar Nicholas II was at the front with his troops, leaving the administration of the country to his wife, Alexandra, and to her personal advisor, the illiterate Siberian peasant and holy man, Rasputin, the little-known Sturmer was appointed prime minister because of his association with Alexandra and Rasputin. Sturmer did not establish his own policies while in office, had difficulty in grasping the subject of discussion at meetings, and relied heavily … Continue reading Stürmer in 1916 and Starmer in 2026, Imperial Russia and Post-Imperial Britain’s weakest PMs both controlled by flawed visionaries in the last days

From Children’s social care workers: minimum pay Last updated 21 April 2026: The minimum rate of pay for children’s social care workers in Scotland is £13.45 per hour. What to do if you are not receiving this. The minimum rate of pay for children’s social care workers delivering direct care in Scotland increased from £12.60 to £13.45 per hour from April 2026. This is in line with pay rates for adult social care workers and with the Real Living Wage rate announced by the Living Wage Foundation in October 2025. The Scottish Government provide funding to local authorities to ensure that both children and adult social care … Continue reading Children’s social care workers in Scotland to get Living Wage, £1 200 more than in other parts of UK but it’s not being reported – wonder why?