From Polling Report on 5 September above, and below, from Electoral Calculus for the same seat on 28 August: SNP 35.7% Labour 47.9% Con 6.9% LD 2.9% https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?postcode=g733AE Only 8 days apart but in that time repeated slaps for Scottish Labour from their leaders, on the two child benefit cap, on a wealth tax, on workers rights, on gender reform, and on rent controls. Also, an increasing awareness that the child benefit and free tuition might be at risk under Labour? Hopefully, it’s sinking in and it’s now all to fight for. Continue reading Rutherglen and Hamilton West polls – Labour lead slashed

The Herald is trumpeting: Only one in four in Glasgow back LEZ as hotspot pollution rises Those are surprising figures but may just be the result of dodgy research methods. See that ‘of those asked in Glasgow?’ Just how many were asked? A handful, way below statistical reliability? I can’t see the TLF Research. Their website denies ever having researched ULEZ or Glasgow. Equally DriveElectric’s site has nothing. Why are the findings surprising. From a credible YouGov poll on an even more radical scheme, on 30 August: More Londoners support the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to the whole … Continue reading LEZ is much more popular than this suspect survey suggests

In the Herald today: This would be embarrassing for some of us. Trying to show off with a clever reference based on an architectural movement when you clearly know nothing or perhaps care nothing for accuracy. See that ‘exposed, unpainted concrete’ bit? By definition RAAC has to be covered to stop water/frost penetration softening and cracking it and allowing corrosion of the reinforcing metal bars. ‘Brutal’ concrete had to be the very best, the hardest, the toughest. There are some schools in the Brutalist style but they seem to be all in Japan and, notably, have not crumbled: https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/brutalist-classroom-9-schools-that-embrace-concrete/ The … Continue reading Scotland’s RAAC has been kept dry and so is not ‘crumbling’

Kevin McKenna’s report this morning in the Herald is, to be fair, in the ‘opinion’ category as it should be because it wouldn’t survive a collision with the evidence. From YouGov on 8 August 2023: Even at this difficult time for the SNP, McKenna’s view is way out. For Westminster, Holyrood Constituency and Holyrood Regional votes, the SNP has a bigger share of the C2DE (manual workers and the unemployed) than Labour and almost three times that of the Cons. Indeed for the Holyrood ‘headline’ vote the SNP is far ahead of Labour, 42 to 29. Labour, indeed, seems to … Continue reading Fact – the SNP IS the people’s party

Today BBC UK has: The parents of a teenager who died in hospital two years ago are calling for patients to be given the right to an urgent second opinion, if they feel their concerns are not being taken seriously by medical staff. Martha Mills, who would have been 16 today, died after failures in treating her sepsis at King’s College Hospital. An inquest said she could have survived had her care been better. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66676770 In nearly 1 400 words there is no reference to any politician, government or opposition. In 2016, BBC Scotland had: The mother of a 10-year-old girl … Continue reading BBC England’s non-political reporting shown to be far superior to BBC Scotland

Douglas Alexander asks for it. Labour on crime: When Harold Wilson’s Labour came to power in 1964, there were around 160 000 crimes recorded across Scotland. By the last year of the Labour/Lib Dem alliance at Holyrood, in 2006, that figure had almost tripled to more than 400 000! After 16 years of SNP rule that figure had fallen steadily year-on-year to less than 300 000 in 2023. At the same time, in England and in Wales, with the Conservatives in control in England and Labour running devolved government in Wales, crime surged. By 2023, there 94 crimes for every … Continue reading New Labour record truly was a study in impotence and failure – just a few examples

The Herald has covered the story, just (above) but it’s getting no coverage at all on the front pages anywhere else in the MSM on the day when the date for the Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election might be announced. Just as the bullying, misogynistic and child grooming Labour politicians are being kept off BBC Scotland reports [https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2023/09/02/the-the-bully-and-the-child-groomer-bbc-scotland-shield-labour-in-run-up-to-by-election/] and the schisms and pathetic u-turning by Scottish Labour [https://www.politico.eu/article/all-of-keir-starmers-u-turns-in-one-place/] are being hidden, so this positive news about the SNP candidate is being ignored and downplayed. The SNP candidate vying to become the next MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West has pledged … Continue reading SNP by-election candidate will table plan to scrap two-child benefit cap and rape clause but no one must know!

From BBC England but not on BBC Scotland, this morning: Britain’s busiest railway stations with the highest rates of cancelled trains this year have been revealed. As of 31 July, Huddersfield has had more than 5,500 scheduled trains cancelled – the highest rate at 13%. BBC analysis of National Rail data also shows that almost half of the trains that ran across Britain were at least one minute late. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66664323 There’s a link to the survey which reveals no Scottish stations in the worst 100 for cancellations and delays until Edinburgh at 48, Glasgow Queen Street at 68 and Glasgow … Continue reading Worst ‘most cancelled’ 40 UK railway stations – NONE in Scotland