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As Welsh Labour call out Starmer’s cruelty, Scottish Labour hide behind BBC Scotland

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By stewartb The British Labour Party is under pressure in Wales with the Senedd elections upcoming in 2026. It seems that having British Labour Party colleagues in government in Westminster is being seen as an electoral handicap. The party leaders in Wales – unlike those of the British Labour Party in Scotland – are now seeking to differentiate themselves from LINO (the Labour In Name Only party) that dominates Westminster with its MPs from England and Scotland. A BBC Wales analysis offers an insight into how Labour’s First Minister Eluned Morgan intends to promote voting for Labour in 2026. It … Continue reading As Welsh Labour call out Starmer’s cruelty, Scottish Labour hide behind BBC Scotland

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Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’

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By stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has a press release (issued May 6) which makes a positive reference to NHS Scotland – yes really! The statement has this title: ‘An alarming threat to patient safety’ – over a million older patients endured 12-hour waits in England’s A&Es last year.’ It goes on: ‘Figures obtained by RCEM via Freedom of Information Act requests, reveal in England’s major EDs last year, a staggering 1,148,666 people aged 60 and over waited more than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged. That’s over 3.5 times more people when compared to … Continue reading Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’

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Number of police officers increases for third quarter in a row to remain higher than under Labour despite plummeting crime and far lowest level in UK

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 March 2025, published yesterday: there were 16,553 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2025 police officer numbers increased by 45 FTE officers (+0.3%) in the last quarter from 31 December 2024 police officer numbers increased by 197 FTE officers (+1.2%) in the last year from 31 March 2024 this is an increase of 319 FTE police officers (+2.0%) from the 16,234 FTE police officers recorded at 31 March 2007. 1 At the same time: Many of us, understandably are skeptical about the picture of falling … Continue reading Number of police officers increases for third quarter in a row to remain higher than under Labour despite plummeting crime and far lowest level in UK

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NHS Scotland’s A&E departments treat many thousands of patients more, per head, in one month, within target time, than in NHS England

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Professor John Robertson OBA According to Public Health Scotland, today, 66.7% of patients in Type 1 A&E departments were treated within 4 hours in March 2025.1 The comparable figure for NHS England was 60.9%.2 NHS Scotland‘s type 1 A&E departments were thus 9.53% more efficient (5.8 as a % of 60.9), on average than those in NHS England. That nearly 10% matters. NHS England‘s type 1 A&E departments treated 883 691 patients in March so had they been in hospitals as effective (well-staffed) as those in Scotland, 10% of that total, around 88 000, would have been seen on time … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s A&E departments treat many thousands of patients more, per head, in one month, within target time, than in NHS England

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Despite greater demand, more than 98% of 25 000 planned operations in March 2025, carried out on time in NHS Scotland’s hospitals

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: During March 2025, there were 25,226 operations planned to take place across NHSScotland. This is 6.9% higher (+1,626) than the number planned in the same month a year previously in March 2024 (23,600). Of all planned operations during March 2025 in NHS Scotland, 816 (3.2%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 719 (2.9%) were cancelled by the patient, 449 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 81 (0.3%) were cancelled for other reasons. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-march-2025/ Month after month NHS Scotland’s hospitals have to cancel … Continue reading Despite greater demand, more than 98% of 25 000 planned operations in March 2025, carried out on time in NHS Scotland’s hospitals

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Why is this ‘leading charity head’ not attacking the real target, the real cause of child poverty across the UK?

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Professor John Robertson OBA On Friday 24th March 2024, Aberlour hosted an event for Debt Awareness Week – ‘Giving with One Hand, Taking Away with the Other’ – to highlight the impact of public debt on low income families and the role it plays in trapping families in poverty. We finished the day with a discussion featuring our expert panel, which included Dr Jim McCormick (CEO, The Robertson Trust), Emma Jackson (National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP (Scottish Labour spokesperson for (Social Justice and Social Security), alongside SallyAnn Kelly and Professor Treanor. https://www.aberlour.org.uk/news-item/giving-with-one-hand-taking-away-with-the-other Today, the Aberlour … Continue reading Why is this ‘leading charity head’ not attacking the real target, the real cause of child poverty across the UK?

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The Netflix hit Adolescence is not a warning for Scotland and the Glasgow Lib Dems are irresponsibly wrong to suggest otherwise

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the National today: AN increase in petty violence among Glasgow’s teenagers could lead to a rise in serious violent crime in the coming years if attitudes go unchecked, an expert has warned. The topic of youth violence has been in the headlines after the success of Netflix hit Adolescence, with creators Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne shining a light on the views and influences that can lead to serious violence. Research conducted by Glasgow LibDems revealed that 2790 violent incidents have taken place in schools within Glasgow in this academic year so far. Neither the film … Continue reading The Netflix hit Adolescence is not a warning for Scotland and the Glasgow Lib Dems are irresponsibly wrong to suggest otherwise

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Talking-up Farage and Reform UK against the clear consistent evidence in the polls

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Professor John Robertson OBA For some time, it’s been apparent that the media in the UK, including notably the BBC, have been promoting the interests of Nigel Farage and his Reform UK, despite the ugly nature of their candidates and policies, which I feel sure many of the staff – centrist, socially liberal and educated – must be uncomfortable with. Look at BBC Scotland above, talking them up and predicting they will do well in 2026. Who is doing this predicting? Certainly not the pollsters: Averaging in the mid to low teens, Reform UK will get some regional seats but … Continue reading Talking-up Farage and Reform UK against the clear consistent evidence in the polls

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Scotland beware – Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”

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By JB Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”. One of the many companies the multi-millionaire Farage owns, which was set up in May 2024, is called ‘Action on World Health LLP’. As “Co-founder and Chairman” Farage wants to reform or replace the World Health Organisation. One of its directors is also a director of a consultancy which advises, among other sectors, health care firms – “particularly mental and behavioural health”.  According to the hypocritical Labour Government Health Secretary Wes Streeting “Farage has been pushing healthcare charges to his supporters in … Continue reading Scotland beware – Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”

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90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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By stewartb A notable statement has been published today from the National Audit Office. The NAO performs a similar role to Audit Scotland but has a quite different public profile: whereas BBC Scotland and others in the mainstream media crawl through every line of every report published by Audit Scotland searching for ‘juicy’ negatives, the NAO’s output gets little mainstream news coverage in England or UK-wide, even when reporting significant negative findings. Today’s NAO report is clearly a major ‘negative’ – and the first of its kind ever – but at the time of writing this comment, there is nothing about it … Continue reading 90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?