are warning they are under more pressure than ever. Only 44% of A&E patients at the Queen Elizabeth University in Glasgow were seen within the Government’s four-hour target. Giving up on the national data where NHS Scotland is 22% better than NHS England, Reporting Scotland’s Lisa Summers digs out the data for one hospital to imply a crisis that can then be attached to the SNP Government. Only Reporting Scotland is carrying this story. BBC Scotland’s website does not and, of course, most of the Conservative Government friendly or feart English media do not cover A&E crises there. They could … Continue reading 90% seen in 4 hours at Tayside’s biggest emergency department!

By stewartb Organisations such as the National Audit Office (NAO) and the House of Commons cross-party Committee for Public Accounts are now regularly providing evidence of financial mismanagement and waste by the Tory Government.  As the evidence mounts up, is anyone keeping a tally?   Despite the huge sums involved, critical findings get relatively little attention from the corporate media, the BBC or candidly, opposition politicians.  Isn’t it odd that even a public service broadcaster shows so little interest given we know how easy it is to cover such news stories – scan report for a phrase to use in … Continue reading Evidence for ‘talking down Westminster’ – time to keep count?

The Heralds, trains and boats, propaganda saga staggers on. To put it all in perspective: From the Guardian last November: Warrior armoured vehicle – £430m wasted A long planned upgrade to the Warrior armoured vehicle was scrapped in March, after £430m had been spent on an attempt to upgrade the weapon and turret of the vehicle. Lacking a stabilised gun, the Warrior could not fire while moving, identified as a major problem as long ago as during the first Gulf war. The procurement programme began in 2009 and a contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2011. But despite spending … Continue reading £150 million over 10 years compared to…

By stewartb It looks as if a policy position of our elected government in Holyrood is about to be circumvented by the overarching legislation contained in the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. The latter you will recall is a Tory government ‘fix’ for domestic consequences of Brexit. The House of Commons Library (HoCL) has just published a briefing on the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill. This was introduced to the Commons on 25 May 2022: the second reading is scheduled for 14 June 2022. (See: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9557/CBP-9557.pdf ) Background The Bill applies to ‘precision bred plants and vertebrate animals (excluding … Continue reading The next democratic bypass?

Reporting Scotland’s Connor Gillies (14) opens with: Scotland’s airports have distanced themselves from the chaos at English airports in recent weeks which saw thousands of people queuing for hours before some missed their flights. But could Scots passengers be facing delays when the summer holiday season kicks in later this month? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61758252 The disappointment is understandable given the Reporting Scotland editorial line on crises in England being immediately transferred to Scotland, regardless of the lack of evidence. What evidence does Gillies have for turning this good news story bad? Negative guesswork about staff shortages and school holidays and, ONE complainant. … Continue reading No, Scotland’s airports are not facing holiday disruption?

The good news is in there. It’s just the headline distorting the content to keep the ‘crisis’ going as long as possible. The Ferguson Marine yard is ‘on an upward curve.’ Completion dates for the delayed ferries have been agreed. Remember these were new complex designs not thoroughly planned by the Jim McColl team. Meanwhile, all six of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers will be at least SEVEN years late, to be repaired fully. Just repaired, remember. The yard has successfully built similar small ferries over the last ten years. Continue reading ‘Crisis-hit yard’ NOT in crisis?

‘… it should be local authorities that are in the lead’ and ‘the decision making is with UK Government Ministers’! By stewartb – a long read We’ve had another assessment of actions by the Tory government in Westminster impacting adversely on Scotland. It reveals what is being done to Scotland with no democratic mandate from Scotland. The assessment is by the cross-party House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts in a report entitled ‘Local economic growth’ (published 8 June 2022). See: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/22483/documents/165800/default/ It’s worth noting that the Committee has 16 members, including just one from Scotland (the redoubtable SNP MP … Continue reading Holyrood usurped – economic development in Scotland post-BREXIT

NOTE: In the spirit of open debate, I’ve posted this. The ideas are entirely those of Alasdair. I have my own dissenting views on, for example, NATO and the Monarchy, but as a party member choose to keep them for a later date. By Alasdair Galloway Richard Murphy, as so often, is well worth a read in the National (https://www.thenational.scot/politics/20199448.snp-must-drop-disastrous-policy-currency-scottish-independence/) He concludes his most recent piece with this – “The SNP really do need to drop the idea of sterlingisation, because it would be a disaster”. I fully agree with him. In fact, I felt the “sharing the pound” argument … Continue reading Tim Rideout, Currency, Suspensions and the role of Leadership

For cancer waiting times, in the period from 1 October to 31 December 2021: There were 6,388 eligible referrals within the 31-day standard, an increase of 0.9% from the previous quarter, and 11.8% increase compared with quarter ending 31 December 2020. 97.1% of patients started treatment within the 31-day standard, compared to 97% in the previous quarter and 98.6% for quarter ending 31 December 2020. The 31-day standard was met by all boards except NHS Grampian and NHS Highland. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-october-to-31-december-2021/ Radiologist staffing under the SNP. This from 2019, so needing updating: Continue reading 97.1% treated within target time due to major increase in radiologist staffing under SNP