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Does Michael Marra still think Andy Burnham should ‘shut up?’

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By Liz S Daily Record 28 September 2025. “A senior Labour MSP has told wannabe party leader Andy Burnham to “shut up” amid speculation he plans to launch a bid to topple Keir Starmer” Guess who the ‘senior’ Labour MSP was? None other than one of the contenders for the Labour Branch office manager’s post i.e. Michael Marra. Embarrassing now is it not . That is , it would be embarrassing for any decent politician . However for a Labour politician , who now stands in the (supposed) ‘leadership’ contest for Labour in Scotland, it will be be no more than yet another self … Continue reading Does Michael Marra still think Andy Burnham should ‘shut up?’

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NHS England plans further cuts to mental health care for children to further widen the gap with ‘substantially’ better NHS Scotland but no media report it

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From the Guardian today, the above, and: Millions of adults and children in England face being forced to wait longer for mental health care, with more than two-thirds of NHS providers planning to cut services and half expected to axe jobs, the Guardian can reveal. With mental health services already under extraordinary pressure amid soaring demand for support, experts warned the proposed cuts – drawn up by trusts to plug holes in their finances – would also have “significant” consequences for the wider NHS, the economy and public services. Key services such as child and adolescent mental health care, talking therapies, addiction support, … Continue reading NHS England plans further cuts to mental health care for children to further widen the gap with ‘substantially’ better NHS Scotland but no media report it

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‘Destroyer Disaster’ as Royal Navy destroyer still not in service after 23 years, takes three times as long as as Scotland’s ‘Fiasco Ferries’

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HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer’s mission was to replace the aging Type 42 destroyers after lessons learned during the Falklands War. She was laid down in the BAE Systems yard on the Clyde , 28 March 2003, launched in 2006, commissioned in 2009 and entered active service in 2010 – 7 years later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Daring_(D32) Leaving aside the 21-year delay between the Falklands war ‘lessons’ of 1982 and the laying down in 2003, those 7 years did not lead to a ship that could do what she was designed to do because, take a breath, her engines failed in warmer … Continue reading ‘Destroyer Disaster’ as Royal Navy destroyer still not in service after 23 years, takes three times as long as as Scotland’s ‘Fiasco Ferries’

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Just as Burnham would never come to Dunsinane – In 2024, the Bishop, the thinktank Chief Exec, the editor and Gordon Brown all avoided looking north for help with child poverty

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You won’t be surprised to hear how in May 2024, campaigning for Labour, there was not a word, from Gordon Brown, this Labour Party elder, of Scotland’s far lower child poverty nor of how the SNP’s child payment is leading to its disappearance in Scotland, nor of Labour’s refusal to end the cruel two-child benefit cap, if elected. Maybe the Archbishop would mention poverty in Scotland and the Child Benefit? Not a word. It turns out the Bishop of Leicester too had a piece in the Guardian. He doesn’t know about Scotland either, it seems, but does mention Labour, if … Continue reading Just as Burnham would never come to Dunsinane – In 2024, the Bishop, the thinktank Chief Exec, the editor and Gordon Brown all avoided looking north for help with child poverty

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English newspaper looked 10 000 miles south to report opioid crisis in Australia but fails to notice a solution launched THIRTEEN years ago just 400 miles to the north

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The Guardian in September 2024 had: Australian demand for overdose drug naloxone more than doubles after spike in synthetic opioid deaths but no mention of Scotland in the report. Why might it have? This: Scotland was the first country in the world [2011] to introduce a national naloxone programme, empowering individuals, families, friends and communities to reverse an opiate overdose. https://www.gov.scot/policies/alcohol-and-drugs/naloxone-provision/#:~:text=Scotland%20was%20the%20first%20country,years%20from%202011%20to%202016. From Public Health Scotland in August 2021: Since the establishment of the National Naloxone Programme in 2011/12:• 74,629 THN kits have been issued by services based in the community.• 8,793 THN kits have been issued by prisons in Scotland.• 10,388 THN kits … Continue reading English newspaper looked 10 000 miles south to report opioid crisis in Australia but fails to notice a solution launched THIRTEEN years ago just 400 miles to the north

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‘What can Dublin teach us?’ The SNP’s competence in government endlessly revealed by Labour’s fear of looking north for answers to England’s woes

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This last 12 years, I’ve regularly read UK politicians and even academics talk of looking elsewhere for ideas on how to resolve one of England’s many worries, from knife murders, to protecting women, to hospital safety, to fire safety in tower blocks and to social housing demands. I’ve even written to the academics to then be told how they love Scotland and to be politely thanked for my help, too late of course. Here we go again. In the Guardian today: Alan Milburn is guiding a metal loop along the serpentine wire of an electrical buzzer game as he explains … Continue reading ‘What can Dublin teach us?’ The SNP’s competence in government endlessly revealed by Labour’s fear of looking north for answers to England’s woes

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Explaining how the ‘SNP’s £22m tax blunder’ is just a 0.05% ’rounding error’ but PM Andy Burnham’s massive £48bn tax avoidance loss is not

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The Telegraph today repeating the already discredited claim above from ‘tax expert’ Dan Neidle. I’ll leave you to read the detailed, complex for me, but very persuasive, rebuttal by Laurie Macfarlane at: https://www.futureeconomy.scot/posts/587-has-scotland-s-48-tax-rate-really-reduced-public-revenue or watch his excellent explanation at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GfSEQfKPNsA There’s a simpler, easier to get, point made here by rptscott – the £22m is just a ’rounding error.‘ In practical terms, a £22 million figure is effectively a rounding error relative to the scale of Scotland’s public finances. Here is the context that makes this clear: Even the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s original static estimate for the 1p top-rate rise … Continue reading Explaining how the ‘SNP’s £22m tax blunder’ is just a 0.05% ’rounding error’ but PM Andy Burnham’s massive £48bn tax avoidance loss is not

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Scottish Government’s reluctance to support and caution on e-bike/scooter trials will have massively reduced traumatic brain injuries

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In the Guardian today, the above, and: Electric scooter riders are three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries than motorcyclists, according to an analysis of accidents in England and Wales – which found women were particularly at risk of serious harm. Brain injuries accounted for more than a third of adult injuries on e-scooters, but riders also sustained more internal organ and blood vessel damage than did motorcyclists or pedal cyclists, the study found. The government has backed trials of rental e-scooters in England since 2020, but an additional 1m or so e-scooters are privately owned in the UK. These … Continue reading Scottish Government’s reluctance to support and caution on e-bike/scooter trials will have massively reduced traumatic brain injuries