The above map of unattributed origin is currently high on the reddit r/scotland thread. It’s a stunning illustration of how different Scotland is becoming, post-devolution. Regular readers will know that this is a theme returned to here, now and again. On May 11th, I wrote: In the Herald today from William Loneskie of Lauder: The Labour Party was founded on the principle that working people of all countries have more in common than divides them. The problems of workers in Glasgow are exactly those of workers in Leeds. Mr Stenton claims that Scots think differently from English. Rubbish. We speak the same international language, … Continue reading Different Scotland

Liz Smith, Conservative: Scotland’s named person policy ‘was both universally unpopular and unworkable.’ “Through children and families knowing who to contact, their access to help is made easier. This is an essential feature of a child centred approach.” South Ayrshire council policy in 2016 https://sourcenews.scot/scottish-tory-council-has-run-named-person-scheme-for-5-years-without-problems/ By stewartb There is a new (May 2022) report on the findings and recommendations of an important independent review commissioned by the Westminster government. It considers child safeguarding practices in England following yet more tragic incidents. Source: The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (2022) Child protection in England – National review into the murders of … Continue reading Information sharing for child protection in Tory England – does this bring back memories of Scotland’s approach?

Two days ago we had a wee snigger at Anas Sarwar calling for Scottish ministers to hand back the keys their chauffeur-driven cars. No surprise, he was being a big hypocrite again. Yesterday, in the National, we saw: Millionaire, Sarwar’s double standards on the living wage are well known. See this: Continue reading Hypocrite Sarwar only travels by car!

From Alasdair Galloway Blair en Marche? The press seems full of the possibilities of a “new centrist party” which would be in the mould of Emmanuel Macron’s party “En Marche”. This would be led, according to press reports, by Tony Blair, but some of the other names are interesting as well, including as it does (according to a list of names, who should be involved in UK politics, helpfully provided by Blair as far back as 2017) Ruth Davidson, David Miliband, John Major, Ruth Davidson, David Cameron, Yvette Cooper, Nick Clegg, Anna Soubry, George Osborne, Nicky Morgan, Ken Clarke, Peter … Continue reading New Blairite party would ignore demands of Scottish people

stewartb The data on Scottish Funding Council (SFC) grants to universities are published in a very transparent, accessible way. The basis of their allocation is also explained. It’s easy also to compare the current levels of award with historic ones. Here are some facts that place The Herald’s headline in proper context. 1) Total value of SFC Grants for Teaching, Research and Innovation:2021-22 = £1,029,057,0032022-23 = £1,040,952,798Change: a 1.2% increase. Specifically on total grants for Research and Innovation:2020-21 = £289,973,0002021-22 = £294,376,0002022-23 = £299,086,000.Change: up 1.6% on last year Also, 11 out of 19 institutions received an increase in their … Continue reading Aberdeen University punished for lack of excellence in research?

From SNP Media: A number of key figures have spoken out against stitch-ups that have seen Labour gift Tories positions of power in administrations or sat on their hands and opened the door to the Tory party taking control of councils. MSP Mercedes Villalba tweeted that ‘no Labour representative worth the name would ever put Tories in power’. Whilst former MSP Neil Findlay said he was ‘appalled’ by West Lothian Labour councillors and their ‘shameful’ decision to vote Tories into power there. Meanwhile in Edinburgh, former Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz described the Tory-Labour deal in the city as ‘unacceptable’. Plus, two Labour councillors … Continue reading Cracks starting to appear in Labour over their grubby backroom deals with the Tories

In the Herald today: University bosses have accused ministers of threatening Scottish research excellence after it emerged top institutions face swingeing grant reductions of up to 10 per cent. Growing pressure on Nicola Sturgeon’s government follows publication of research allocations for the 2022/23 academic year, with Aberdeen University set to see its money slashed by nearly £2 million. The Glasgow School of Art is bracing for a decrease of £122,000. https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20169357.snp-ministers-accused-threatening-university-excellence-research-cuts/ Further down we read: The news at the end of that statement tells me that the opening sentence is a lie. I’ve been through 4 research assessment exercises and I … Continue reading University leaders accused of not liking the facts?

of their chauffeur-driven cars until the rail dispute is resolved. At question time in the Scottish Parliament concerns were raised about how tens of thousands of passengers would get to and from work and to events like the Scottish football against Ukraine, next Wednesday. Who raised the concerns and made this stupid suggestion? Ana Sarwar of course. The Tories love their cars. Why are ministers using these cars? Covid? Reporting Scotland have, of course, repeated Anas’ daft connection as if it made sense. My headline is comparably clever. Readers are invited to come up with more. Oh, and don’t the … Continue reading Right! I won’t use my bus pass till the ferries are fixed

Reporting Scotland eager as ever to talk us down, neglect to make the obvious comparison, with rUK. In England 64.2% of adults were obese (28%) or overweight (36.2%) in 2020. In Scotland, the figure was 62.2% (27.5%, 34.7%). The figure for Northern Ireland was 65% (27%, 38%). The data for Wales is not comparable. Source: Continue reading Scotland has fewer with weight problems than England or Northern Ireland

The QEUH, Scotland’s largest hospital and the regular target of the opposition parties trying to turn one or two deaths, challenged only by relatives, into scandals, has emerged from real evidence as one of the safest in Scotland. Based on their challenging circumstances in a large urban area with greater than average poverty, alcohol, drug and lifestyle problems, 3 225 deaths were predicted for 2021 but only 2 934 happened. This suggests, with other factors, of course, that the QEUH is overperforming, saving more lives than might be expected. For the period January 2021 to December 2021 no Scottish hospitals … Continue reading Queen Elizabeth University Hospital one of safest in Scotland