In a BBC UK report today, we read: Swimmers across the UK have lost access to more than 60 public pools in the last three years, BBC News has found. Freedom of Information requests to UK councils revealed 65 pools had closed, either temporarily or permanently, in the three years to March 2022. Ukactive said a lack of staff, rising energy costs and chemical shortages had created a “perfect storm” for centres. Greg Whyte, a board member at the organisation, said the closures were an “absolute health and welfare disaster”. The body’s chief executive, Huw Edwards, said there were other … Continue reading Scots have more than twice the access to public swimming pools

From SNP Media in the last few minutes, Joanna Cherry: “The British Government wants the Supreme Court to throw the case out without even hearing the substantive arguments. Their written argument exposes the fact they no longer believe the UK is a voluntary union of nations, instead, they want to impose Westminster control by denying democracy and dismissing the democratic right of the people of Scotland to determine our own future. “Scotland voted to hold an independence referendum, and the Scottish Government has a mandate to deliver that manifesto commitment – with the backing of the Scottish Parliament. A clear … Continue reading UK Government wants Supreme Court to throw case out without even hearing the arguments

From BBC Health today: All children aged one to nine and living in Greater London will be offered a polio vaccine after the virus was detected in sewage. The virus, which can cause paralysis, has been found 116 times in London’s wastewater since February. The urgent immunisation campaign will see nearly a million children offered the vaccine – including those already up to date with their jabs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62492784 Polio in Scotland was wiped out in the UK by 2003 and, I feel sure, many years before that in Scotland. The above news reminds us that border checks between Scotland and … Continue reading Why a harder border has its benefits

‘UK ministers will argue in court..’ When? More than a month from now on 11 and 12 October. Just another quiet day when BBC Scotland can headline, unwarranted, doubts over the elected Scottish Parliament’s right to hold a referendum. ‘Bin workers to strike?’ When? Maybe never or in 2 to 3 weeks, on 24 to 31 August, unless they accept the offer resulting from the Scottish government’s extra £140 million to local authorities. Extra funds? Where? At the bottom of the BBC Scotland report. This is not the news. This is propaganda based on negative assumptions aimed at keeping the … Continue reading If there’s no bad news about Scotland today…predict some

In an all-too-typical feeding frenzy, Scotland’s MSM misinterpret the data and personalise it in terms of the First Minister, not the education minister, not the education authorities, not the schools and not the teachers, all of whom, to some degree have had day-to-day responsibility for narrowing the attainment gap between those in the most deprived area and those better off. The Herald has clearly restrained its Nicolaphobes, avoided such a front page, and has provided this correct data: Statistics from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show that for pupils in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland, the … Continue reading Exam-based attainment gap narrows significantly in Scotland

Last week, I pointed to the shocking fact that Glasgow hospital A&E departments, where Nicola Sturgeon is a local MSP, were 68% faster than those in Norfolk and Norwich, where PM candidate, Liz Truss is a local MP: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2022/08/02/sturgeons-glasgow-emergency-departments-are-a-shocking-68-faster-than-those-in-the-norfolk-constituency-of-liz-truss/ Two days ago, I pointed to the fact that local MPs are expected to challenge failure in local hospitals but that neither Truss nor Sunak seem bothered to do so: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2022/08/07/good-constituency-mps-like-sturgeon-would-do-something-about-third-world-local-hospitals-sunak-and-truss-have-not/ Today, we see that all of Scotland’s hospitals fall within the expected range of mortality and only one has a significantly lower-than-expected rate (Western General). The Scottish average mortality rate … Continue reading Shocking death rate in England’s most dangerous hospitals, where Liz truss is a local MP, compared to that in Glasgow

The pass rate for pupils sitting exams in Scotland has dropped from the levels seen in the two years when they were affected by Covid pandemic measures. At Higher level, the number of pupils getting an A to C pass was 78.9%, down from 87.3% last year. This was higher than the rate of 74.8% in 2019, the last year in which formal exams were sat across the country. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-62463451?at_custom2=twitter&at_campaign=64&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_medium=custom7&at_custom4=9399CA90-17C1-11ED-B247-9DD92052A482&at_custom3=%40BBCScotlandNews Even a complete eejit knows you cannot compare exam pass rates with a different assessment strategy not involving formal exams. So, the statistically meaningful fact here is the 4.1% increase … Continue reading Wrong! ‘Exam’ pass rate climbs by 4%

From YouGov, based on polling of 169 Scots on 4-5th August: Con 22% Labour 16% Lib Dem 5% SNP 51% Reform UK 1% Green 4% Also, worth noting, the Scottish sample was the most certain it would vote at 63% compared to 52-58% in other parts of the UK. This is of course just a sub-poll with a small sample but the previous YouGov polls tell a similar story with 56% for pro-independence parties on 27-28 July and 50% on 21-22 July. Continue reading Poll: Pro-independence parties at 55%

Even the full data above from Redfield & Wilton yesterday, puts Scottish independence last out of 15 issues which 2000 UK voters were asked to consider as factors determining how they would vote. They could choose 3. When you take into account that 44 out of the 68 respondents selecting that issue, live in Scotland, the response becomes vanishingly small. Only 24 out of the 1 824 non-Scots is 1.3%, lower even than the ‘other’ or ‘don’t know’ categories, at the very bottom. Continue reading Scottish independence barely visible as an issue for UK voters

In the above shocking report we read: People would rather go to England if they had a stroke than use the A&E at a north Wales hospital, a health watchdog has said. Inspectors said there was a “clear and significant risk to patient safety” after inspections at the department in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Denbighshire. North Wales Community Health Council’s Geoff Ryall-Harvey said it was the “worst situation” they had seen. Betsi Cadwaladr health board said it was committed to improvements. The Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) report said the A&E department required significant improvement after an unannounced three-day inspection in May. … Continue reading Welsh stroke patients would rather go to England but buck does not stop with Labour Health Secretary…whatsername