Ah lateral thinking! WordPress has been refusing my wee videos recently as direct posts but seems ok with them indirectly via X/Twitter. No idea why. Continue reading Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme reminds of Scotland’s higher blood price in WW1 and how that was suppressed for the Referendum in 2014 – short video
From the Scottish Government today: Views are being sought on plans to introduce two new council tax bands for properties worth more than £1 million and £2 million respectively to help fund local public services across Scotland. A public consultation seeks responses on possible increases of around £720 and £3,600 above the current highest Band H council tax charges. The final proposed rates for new Band I and Band J properties – expected to apply to fewer than 1% of properties – will be laid in Parliament for MSPs’ consideration following analysis of consultation responses and engagement with local government. Existing … Continue reading SNP’s ‘Mansion Tax’ will be popular, raise revenue and have no effect on inward migration
Travelling to Scotland’s West Coast islands with Calmac typically costs between £0.20 to £0.70 per nautical mile. For example, Ardrossan to Brodick one way, 19nm, 55 min, for a foot passenger – £5-101 Similarly subsidised, the Northern Isles pay the same rate. Isle of Wight with Wightlink typically costs £1.50 to £2.50 per nm. For example, Plymouth to Fishbourne, one-way for a foot passenger, 10nm – £14-£22. 2 Channel Isles – £1.50 to £3+ per nm, Jersey to Guernsey 30nm, one-way foot passenger £32 to £50 .3 Sources: Continue reading Scotland’s islanders paying between one quarter and a half of the price paid by those travelling to the Isle of Wight or the Channel Islands
From Fife Today, today: The leader of the Conservatives at Fife Council has quit the party – and made the shock move across the political divide to join Labour. Councillor Kathleen Leslie [above] said she was “increasingly unable” to support the Tory Party’s positions on “everything from migration to foreign policy to welfare reform” and said she was a “better fit” as part of Labour’s minority administration at Fife House. The Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy councillor, who was elected in 2017, confirmed she had also recently resigned from the Conservative Party “following much thought and reflection.” https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/fife-council-conservative-group-leader-quits-party-and-joins-labour-8779331 Why did … Continue reading Struck-off teacher who called Nicola Sturgeon a ‘drooling hag’ joins Labour rather than Reform UK because presumably they look the same to her
From Nursing Standard last week but for some reason I don’t understand, just appearing in one of my alerts today, the above and; Latest joint board papers for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, both part of the NHS Humber Health Partnership (HHP), said ED overcrowding, plus operational and staffing pressures were contributing factors in the cases. The trusts run five hospitals between them. Both incidents took place at the Hull Royal Infirmary in 2024. HHP said it had since introduced a mandatory training package for nursing staff to assess, recognise and treat deteriorating patients, … Continue reading Sepsis deaths in error still happening in NHS England 18 years after SNP Government took steps to prevent them
has dropped by a million since the fire near Central Station in March. Notably missing are the figures we need to see how big a percentage that 1million is and neither Glasgow Chamber of Commerce nor BBC Scotland have posted these. That’s very interesting because on 7th April the same BBC Scotland reporter, Jamie McIvor, told us this: Glasgow city centre is proving “remarkably resilient” after the recent fire in Union Street, according to new statistics. Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said the number of people in the city centre every day – including workers and shoppers – was back at … Continue reading ‘Glasgow city centre is proving remarkably resilient after the recent fire’ and drop in footfall is part of a longer trend unconnected to the fire but BBC Scotland is hiding that from you for some reason today
STV giving the 6th biggest, ie teeny, party, the Lib Dems, a platform for another of their attempts to mislead. No health service anywhere, meets waiting time targets like those the NHS across the UK imposes on itself – 95% on time. Anywhere I’ve read more on targets, in Europe and in North America or in Australia and New Zealand, I find the targets seen as aspirational and failure to hit them of little concern to media or opposition politicians. Here’s what the Lib Dems and STV are missing: NHS Scotland cancer treatment facing massive increase in referrals since pandemic … Continue reading NHS Scotland cancer treatment service now performing better than before pandemic and ahead of NHS England
Any rape is shocking and utterly unacceptable but a rape in Glasgow, reported with no context, reinforces an outdated but deeply embedded stereotypical image of the city. BBC Reporting Scotland, based in Glasgow offered no explanatory context last night. Is rape an increasing offence and is it higher than the Scottish average. In the last 5 years, that seems to be true though several researchers put the increase down to more victims having the courage to come forward, better policing and historical cases being dealt with. From Recorded Crime in Scotland: year ending December 2025 Published 24 February 2026 Source: … Continue reading A rape in Glasgow shocks as it should but a proper news service should tell you it’s an offence twice as common across even average places in England & Wales
Iain Kennedy, GP PT, poses, POSES, with a stethoscope trying to remember when he last used it, reflected by himself posing again in the mirror. Kennedy, known for the Union Flag in his twitter account, has been missing recently, as his bosses in BMA UK have praised the SNP Government’s recent respectful dealings with their colleagues resulting in NO, NO NHS strikes.. He’s back today, in Scotland on Sunday with this: Reality? This one? This one? This one? This one? This one? Oh come on Iain. What don’t you like about these? Continue reading Return of the Poseur – BMA Scotland’s Dr Iain Kennedy gets over BMA UK’s fondness for SNP Government’s respectful dealings which meant NO NHS strikes to dishonestly attack the SNP
In the Ayr Advertiser today, the above and: From July 1-13, 140 silhouettes are being displayed in Wellington Square to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. 1 From the National Records of Scotland in January 2001: The Battle of the Somme was a mass allied offensive of the First World War by the British and French armies against the Germans. Conceived by General Haig, the prelude to the attack was a week-long bombardment of the German lines. Over 1.5 million shells were fired, in an attempt to destroy the German defences and allow the allied armies … Continue reading As Ayr remembers the tens of thousands of Scots who died in the Battle of the Somme a reminder that ‘It can be said with certainty that men born in Scotland did suffer disproportionately more deaths during the First War’
