In a long report, headlining on BBC Breakfast and online: An independent review launched after up to 15 babies died at a hospital trust will be published later. The report into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals, which is expected to be “harrowing”, examined up to 200 cases involving mothers and babies. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-62899900 A politician is mentioned. In the second-last paragraph, only this: Nadine Dorries, the former minister for patient safety, announced in February 2020 that the review at East Kent would be held. No opposition party criticism is allowed. Only the Trust is blamed. BBC Wales also does not politicise health … Continue reading FIFTEEN babies die in one hospital but not one politician is even contacted

On Reporting Scotland Down all day today, a story fed to them and all the MSM, by the Lib Dems – you know Alex Cole-Hamilton and…..whoever. It’s claimed ambulance staff are sacrificing their own health as figures reveal almost 170 000 hours were lost to mental health absences in a year. Data obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information requests revealed the total between July 2021 and June this year. They say workers that were off due to anxiety, stress, depression or other psychiatric illness. The Government says £12 million has been made available to support NHS … Continue reading Real ambulance chasing by the Scottish Lib Dems as staff take between 4 and 5 days off per year

Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office in a Press Release on ‘Delivery of employment support schemes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’, 13 October 2022. By stewartb If this was about a Scottish Government scheme of commensurate or even lesser scale, what would be the political opposition, corporate media and BBC’s response? On 13 October, 2022 the National Audit Office (NAO) published a ‘value for money’ report: ‘Delivery of employment support schemes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’. See https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/delivery-of-employment-support-schemes-in-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/ NAO reports don’t get much if any attention from the BBC, the broadcaster ‘devoted’ to PUBLIC SERVICE, even … Continue reading Why not newsworthy? –  “billions went to people whose incomes increased during the pandemic, and billions more was lost in fraud and error.”

From that throbbing media organ, the Daily Hitler Mail today: Ajax was meant to be the Army’s first new armoured vehicle in a generation, designed to make the military more deadly on the battlefield.  A massive £5.5billion was set aside for the project – but it has been a disaster plagued with glitches, with prototypes damaging the hearing of troops who tested them and making other personnel sick. Now, with £3.2billion of taxpayers’ cash pumped into the scheme – which has failed to put a single one of the promised 589 tanks into service – fresh question marks are swirling … Continue reading Calmac ferry costs and delays in perspective as £5.5billion British Army tank is too heavy, makes crew sick and can’t even fire on the move

The votes yesterday on the SNP Clause 18 to amend the Rees-Mogg-sponsored Energy Prices Bill. Here’s the story: The SNP sought to amend the Energy Prices Bill, which puts in law the support package and was fast-tracked through the Commons, to require ministers to set out to Parliament the full details on the different scenarios from April within 28 days of it receiving royal assent. SNP energy spokesman Alan Brown cited previous comments from Prime Minister Liz Truss as he warned Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg the average household energy bill will rise from an average of GBP2,500 per year to GBP6,000 per … Continue reading Labour betray us all by abstaining on SNP amendment to save lives in cost-of-energy crisis

In the Herald today: Labour opens up biggest poll lead since 1997: Labour have opened up a 36 point lead in one opinion poll, as reaction to the Conservative crisis continues. When you look deeper for the Scottish sub-poll figures, ignored by the Herald, you find once more Scottish Labour trailing far behind the UK Labour figure of 56% at only 30%: https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-16-october-2022/ This is not a one-off. In poll after poll, the Scottish Labour support, in the Scottish sup-polls of around 120, is averaging 26% having taken 6 to 8% off the Tory vote and perhaps 1 or 2% from the … Continue reading Scottish Labour trailing UK Labour by 26%

The Panelbase/Business for Scotland poll has already had a lot of publicity but some of the detail is fascinating and useful knowledge for the subsequent campaign. Based on 1 017 Scots from 16 years-up, with fieldwork on 5-7 October 2022, those likely to vote, when asked: If the Scottish Government put a Wellbeing approach at the heart of its economic plans for independence (a plan that recognised that quality of life, equality, fairness, sustainability, happiness, and health are all outcomes that should be given equal weight to economic growth), whilst committing to increase the state pension from £141.85 to £225.00 … Continue reading With a ‘Wellbeing’ approach, stunning 83% of younger women would vote for Scottish independence

So, the Hunt proposes to reverse almost all of Kwarteng’s budget. Given how much of it benefited the wealthy (or even the really wealthy), it’s hard to be critical. But not impossible. Some things to note. The planned cut in income tax to 19p is out, and indefinitely (though given there will have to be an election in the next year or two, is he just putting it in his hat to bring out later, Paul Daniels style?) The cut in dividend taxes is abolished – clearly that comes into the ‘wealthy’ category. The cuts to stamp duty will remain … Continue reading A jet plane does a hand-brake turn (with thanks to Faisal Islam)

There have been between 20 and 30 polls since the Labour surge began in late September. The small Scottish sub-polls within these have largely confirmed that there has been no Labour surge at the expense of the SNP but only redistribution among the Unionist parties with Scottish Labour averaging below 30%, the Tories at around 12% and the SNP stable around 45%. The above prediction that the SNP could fall to only 37 MPs at Westminster is an outlier. In terms of full polls, on 4 October, YouGov had Labour at 30% and Savanta ComRes had them at 26%. At … Continue reading Scottish Labour suffer electoral dysfunction

Small samples I know but far larger than a typical Reporting Scotland, Herald or Scotsman vox pops sample, typically, 2 to 5. NHS Patients: More than half experiencing no crisis at all and less than 1 in 5 reporting one? 2. NHS Staff Not quite a crisis with only 1 in 3 agreeing? 3. Care home relatives/friends Again not quite a crisis and these are folk who wouldn’t hold back if there was one. 4. Care home staff: Similar and they’d know. Continue reading Poll: More than half of patients see no sign of a crisis in NHS Scotland