Typically ignorant of the nature of taxation in the UK over centuries, the Scottish Tories try to tell us we should be grateful for Westminster’s generosity with this supposed handout. This tweet offers part of the response: Here’s another part: It is an accepted fact that every year for 30 years Scotland has generated more tax revenue per head for the UK treasury than the rest of the UK.  The latest figures taken from the Government Expenditure and Revenue Report Scotland (GERS) state that Scotland generated £800 more in tax per person than the UK average.  Scotland would have been … Continue reading It’s our money!

From stewartb: Today (1 June) the Daily Record tells its readers that the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland  is complimenting the SNP Scottish Government’s handling of the virus in Scotland. Yes, that is correct!  He is reported as saying: “On the whole, I think they’ve handled it well. I think they’re precautionary approach is one that we support.” I’m sure the Scottish Government is mightily relieved to have his positive endorsement! But in this are we seeing a split, a difference of opinion between Mr Leonard and that of Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray … Continue reading Grudging praise and the struggle for relevance – Richard Leonard MSP on coronavirus

‘So, if I do all the talking from now on, I feel sure I can be First Minister in a year’s time.‘ From YouGov for 29th – 30th May, with 142 adults (18+) Con 22 (20, 25, 26) Lab 13 (16, 15, 13) LD 2 (3, 4, 4) SNP 54 (54, 51, 44) Greens 5 (4, 2, 7) YouGov, 25-26 May, 18-19 and 5-6 May,is in brackets. On the basis of these, SNP support is strengthening, Carlaw has not been good for the Tories and the Lib Dems are in the gutter. Continue reading In last 4 sub-polls, Pro-Indy parties climbing to 59% and Lib Dems falling to 2%

By stewartb As certain care home owners continue to seek media profile for complaints against government, notably in Scotland but indeed elsewhere in the UK, it seems appropriate for the TuSC to continue to provide information on the nature of this commercial industry. Despite ‘complaint’, the care home market in the UK still seems to be attractive to private sector investors. When looking at the longer term fundamentals of market demand and supply, it is probably not surprising! According to specialist advisor One Touch Investment (OTI) : “the UK has an ageing population; care for the elderly already generates an … Continue reading Are Scotland’s private care homes cash cows?

Jeremy Vine in the Guardian today suggests he has no views. He’s making the classic mistake of thinking that if he thinks he has no views then he has no views. It’s possible for all of us to think we are impartial on some topic but then when our actual behaviour on the topic is analysed, patterns of bias appear. The Jeremy Vine TV show is a fine example. See these from last year: The choice of panellists, the questions asked, the favouring of panellists, the way they are asked, the extent to which shocking untruths are tackled or left, … Continue reading Jeremy Vine: Delusional or hypocritical?

Reader Clydebuilt reminded me this morning that Herald writer Mark Smith once wrote: ‘The Saltire makes me cringe.’ I searched but got Leask instead. I clicked on his link and got this: I searched again but it’s not there. Continue reading Does Mark Smith make the Herald cringe now?

I can’t watch BBC Scotland’s new cub-reporter, David Wallace Lockhart. The caricatured accent and over-elocuted mouth-stretching is just too much for me. I know, I’m being superficial. Luckily he’s writing for their website too so I can give his utterances the respect they deserve. He has clearly learned quickly from Lisa Summers on how to take a single traumatic incident, present it with melodrama, foreground angry relatives, leave key explanatory context out, or till later, and imply it must be part of a wider crisis for which the government of the day must be blamed. He’s written this: Straight-off, I … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s new boy learns how to exploit personal trauma

Smith has a theory about Scotland. As you might expect from a Herald writer, he’s not using Scottish data for evidence: Ooooh, interesting. Would it be worth having a look at Scottish data? I’ll do it for you: So more SNP supporters support the SG’s canny, stay-at-home, message than Tories do. It’s a bit narrower than the UK figures Smith prefers, above. Maybe SNP supporters tend to approve of an SNP government without it telling you that much about their deeper preferences? Wait, what’s this? The figures are exactly the same for Scottish Labour and Conservative voters. Is that a … Continue reading Scottish Tories in love with lockdown too

The Herald ‘owned by Newsquest, one of the UK’s biggest newspaper and website publishers’ is today the media arm of a pre-emptive strike by the private care home industry to try to transfer responsibility for their failures onto the Scottish Government. In this report spokespersons for the industry are able to distort the truth unchallenged by the reporter. First, the ‘damning critique’ in the sub-title, comes from Scottish Care, described quite misleadingly as ‘Scotland’s main care body’ when they are merely, as they put it themselves, ‘the voice of the independent care sector.’ Entirely unchallenged by the reporter, the group attempts to blame the Scottish Government for their own … Continue reading Covid-19 crisis: the faked story: care home industry hits out in panic as ‘chickens come home to roost’

By stewartb It is becoming very clear that we the voters in Scotland need to understand better the nature of the commercial care home industry. Just as most of us have a deep concern for the NHS and its public service ethos, we need to make the future of care for the elderly and the vulnerable in Scotland a key part of the policy debate in our politics. However, we need to be wary – whether it’s in the context of response to the pandemic or more widely on elderly care provision – of political opponents of the Scottish Government … Continue reading Why Scotland’s private care homes were all-too-keen to take hospital discharges