In another of his many u-turns, to woo the right and be presented as business friendly, Sir Keir Starmer plans to introduce a variable minimum wage – with workers considered less worthy receiving only a basic amount.  See this from the leftist Skwawkbox yesterday: The party is disguising this move as a ‘gradual return to collective bargaining’, but the ‘fair pay agreements’, applicable only in certain sectors, would be set by ‘sector bodies’, not negotiated collectively by workers themselves. This is being presented, to cosy up to employers, as a return to the ‘no-strike’ days of Tony Blair. According to … Continue reading Be very afraid minimum wage earners in Rutherglen and Hamilton West – Middle Class Labour consider you less worthy of a living wage

In the above, there is not a mention of the Welsh Labour government nor of it’s Health Secretary (who knows). Most strikingly, the Conservative opposition shadow health secretary is not platformed. Only the ambulance service is expected to plan changes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66751473 Imagine that in Scotland? In 2010, BBC Scotland had a tiny 208 word report on no actual patient death: ‘No patient risk’ after 999 fault yet found space for this: No patient was put at risk as a result of a failure in the phone system at Scotland’s ambulance service, the health secretary has said. Nicola Sturgeon said back-up … Continue reading When a woman dies following 999 call handler failures Welsh Labour is not even asked for comment

From ‘AI-enhanced’ Policy Mogul today: The House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee has heard estimates that there were 4,706 excess winter deaths in 2022/23 caused by living in a cold home in England, Scotland, and Wales. A report from the Warm This Winter campaign shows that on half of the key measures to tackle the energy bills crisis, the government is making no progress. On one measure, the government has actually gone backwards by increasing reliance on expensive fossil fuels. Evidence suggests that a new class system based on access to energy is emerging in Britain, with … Continue reading Winter 2026 – A Labour win will only ensure at least 500 excess winter deaths caused by cold homes

STV, the National, Herald and Insider have this but BBC Scotland are off on a grouse shoot today. Recently, we’ve seen them hide Kezia Dugdale’s drift toward independence, Labour Party paedophiles and misogynists and the UK Labour Party utterly humiliating their Scottish branch members with orders to u-turn on progressive social policies. Today, see this: Scotland’s energy minister Gillian Martin will this week lead a trade delegation to Denmark, the Scottish Government has announced. Martin will be in Copenhagen to tout the country’s renewable sector in meetings with the Danish Parliament’s Climate, Energy and Supply Committee, the country’s energy agency … Continue reading STV over BBC again as SNP Government acts to strengthen energy links with Denmark but is ignored by Reporting Scotland Down

The Starmer Party candidate above in the Times, where else, with London Labour lies. Here’s the truth about their council tax costs: And another truth: It was the local Labour-led council [South Lanarkshire, Joe Fagan] that increased council tax by 5.5% this year. In Holyrood, Labour voted with the government on income tax rates for this year, their spokesperson stating, “I am pleased to see the proposals being made” and noting “the measures are progressive.” Tom Arthur https://twitter.com/ThomasCArthur/status/1700896348793450905?t=xzDeBueKnUbi-FjkFS6fOA&s=03 Continue reading Rutherglen and Hamilton West voters need to know the truth of their council tax, the lowest in Britain by a mile and how Labour hiked it

By stewartb The BBC is promoting an upcoming three part series called the State of Chaos presented by Laura Keunssberg (first part on BBC 2,  11 September at 21:00). Now I’m really not inclined to promote any BBC output on news and current affairs but there’s something quite ‘sweet’ in the article Ms Kuenssberg has written to give a sense of what to expect from her series. (See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66755345) Given the author – a former BBC political editor undoubtedly sympathetic to and perhaps even an apologist in the past for the UK/Westminster political establishment and reputably to Tory governments too … Continue reading Kuenssberg – yes that Ms Kuenssberg – points to the ‘chaotic, high-stakes soap opera’ of UK government!

The BC Ferries MV Queen of Alberni, above, in 2020. Yesterday, we see: Multiple cancellations set for the next few weeks between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, starting Sunday. According to BC Ferries, the cancellations are because the Queen of Alberni ferry will be used for service on the Duke Point to Tsawwassen route, while the Coastal Renaissance is being repaired. As a result, 27 sailings between Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast will be cancelled, starting with tomorrow’s sailing departing Horseshoe Bay at 3:20 p.m. https://www.mycoastnow.com/72584/featured/27-sailings-cancelled-from-horsehoe-bay-to-langdale-over-the-coming-weeks/ The population of Vancouver is 675 218, comparable to Glasgow’s 635 130. The Sunshine coast … Continue reading Canadian ferry operator forced to shuffle one 47 year-old ferry to serve population the size of Glasgow

Campaigner Laura Young was interviewed by the National yesterday: Young, who is studying for a PhD looking at climate resilience, said she has been astounded at the speed Government officials have committed to act on the problem. But she admitted she fears any Scottish attempt to prohibit the sale of disposable vapes could hit the buffers because of the UK Government’s recent record of blocking the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) via the Internal Market Act. https://www.thenational.scot/news/23776866.fears-uk-government-block-disposable-vape-ban-scotland/ What could motivate the Tories to do this? The Conservatives have defended accepting a donation from the chief executive of a company accused of … Continue reading What could motivate the Tories to block the Scots vape ban?