You won’t hear this – ‘SNP help families with cost of living’
Nowhere in Scottish media: Over 43,000 automatic payments to help families with cost of living. More than 43,000 payments have been paid automatically to help parents and carers with the cost of living and starting school, latest official figures show. The introduction of automatic payments means that tens of thousands of people getting Scottish Child Payment have been awarded Best Start Grant Early Learning and School Age Payments without the need to apply separately. For each of the two benefits, people are awarded one-off payments of £294.70 per child to help with costs like clothes, toys and school trips. Some … Continue reading You won’t hear this – ‘SNP help families with cost of living’
NHS England told to treat the less sick BEFORE those ‘at death’s door’ to meet Tory ‘political’ targets
This is all-too-familiar to us here. I’ve reported on NHS England re-starting the clock after A&E arrivals have been admitted to a department, to improve published statistics; on NHS Wales reducing targets from 95% for cancer waiting times, to 70%, to make things look less bad; on Public Health England not counting care home deaths to make their Covid death rate seem comparable to those in Scotland; on BBC UK using the ‘All’ A&E waiting time figures to compare with our ‘ED’ only performance to make theirs seem bearable and on English hospitals ‘coping’ with third world hospital-acquired Covid infection … Continue reading NHS England told to treat the less sick BEFORE those ‘at death’s door’ to meet Tory ‘political’ targets
STV stick in thumb and come out with clear bias against SNP
In their own latest poll with Ipsos MORI, the strong SNP lead of 9 points is down from 14 in their November 2023 poll but it’s up significantly from the two 5 point leads in the other two polls in 2024. Similarly, the 6 point lead for Yes in the same poll is down from 8% in November 2023 but it’s up on 5 other polls in between. It’s all about choices and STV is choosing a world. Continue reading STV stick in thumb and come out with clear bias against SNP
Do the folk at Ipsos MORI know something as they regularly predict a Yes vote and SNP success over 9 years?
The Ipsos MORI pollster, in the National today, has Yes on 53% with a 6 point lead. In November they had Yes on 51% and an 8 point lead. These two, plus one for Find Out Now, were a minority in a sea of 11 No leads since October 2023. Overall the picture (above) has been dominated by No leads from several pollsters but there’s a pattern going back to August 2015, when, in a sea of No leads , Ipsos MORI had a 9 point lead for Yes. From there forward to the present, Ipsos MORI have had 14 … Continue reading Do the folk at Ipsos MORI know something as they regularly predict a Yes vote and SNP success over 9 years?
Labour-run NHS Wales cuts cancer waiting times target, still fails to meet it but NHS Scotland bursts it!
From the Welsh Parliament, Health and Social Care Committee, in June 2023: Cancer diagnosis and treatment to be undertaken within 62 days for 70% of people by March 2023 The target used to be 95%. It still is in Scotland. From Public Health Scotland on 19 December 2023 (latest figures): 72.0% of patients started treatment within the 62-day standard. NHS Wales? Only 52.9% according to the BBC in November 2023 but less than 50% according to Plaid Cymru yesterday. NHS England? 64.8% if you believe that given their long history of pockling. Sources: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://business.senedd.wales/documents/s137567/ https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-july-to-30-september-2023 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67488546 https://twitter.com/Plaid_Cymru/status/1755149126335869264?t=iV-d_ROzO6EDYQdeFiUH1g&s=03 https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times Continue reading Labour-run NHS Wales cuts cancer waiting times target, still fails to meet it but NHS Scotland bursts it!
New Zealand’s lifeline Cook Strait ferries still ‘dead in the water’
From the NZ Herald, yesterday: KiwiRail bosses will front a select committee meeting next week where they are expected to face pressing questions about the future of Interislander’s Cook Strait ferries. Plans to replace the existing fleet of three ferries with two new purpose-built mega ferries were thrown into disarray before Christmas. Finance Minister Nicola Willis called time on a string of cost blowouts fearing she would be left with a “completely open chequebook”had she agreed to pour money into the mega ferry project. Willis refused a request for $1.47 billion of additional funding leaving the scheme dead in the water. The 1.2 … Continue reading New Zealand’s lifeline Cook Strait ferries still ‘dead in the water’
Oz Government-owned ferries fiasco – exploding Chinese engines and taking-off in heavy swells
Four Emerald class ferries, owned by the Government of New South Wales, with Chinese engines, serve the Sydney Manly area in Australia. Two are currently laid up. In 2022, the Sydney Morning Herald reported: Captains of the new Manly ferries have been warned not to sail directly into waves near the entrance to Sydney Harbour in heavy swells in case their vessels become airborne, a leaked internal memo has revealed. The advice was to masters of the second generation Emerald-class ferries, which are at the centre of a fierce debate over whether they can handle large swells as well as … Continue reading Oz Government-owned ferries fiasco – exploding Chinese engines and taking-off in heavy swells
Labour ditches reforms designed to placate Scotland and secure the Union
– to win the next General Election in England, Labour is discarding radical House of Lords reform and federalism proposed by its own, Gordon Brown-led Commission. By stewartb – a long read The Labour Party seems to be working a new wheeze to bamboozle the electorate and yes, even political journalists. This is how it works: it announces a new radical, progressive policy to gain media and voter attention. Later – in various ways and at various times – Party spokespersons indicate a softening – a rowing back – on the prior radical policy position. Crucially, and in the weeks … Continue reading Labour ditches reforms designed to placate Scotland and secure the Union
NHS Scotland does 97% of ops on time
From Public Health Scotland, today: In the quarter ending December 2023, there were 20,837 operations planned to take place across NHS Scotland. Only 515 (2.5%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons. From Public Health Scotland a year ago: In the quarter ending December 2022, the total number of planned operations across NHS Scotland during December 2022 was 17,269. This represents a decrease of 19.1% from 21,336 in November 2022 but is 14.6% higher than the number planned in December 2021. 493 (2.9%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons. From these data, … Continue reading NHS Scotland does 97% of ops on time
How Labour’s plan for small business has been at the heart of the SNP legislation for years
Not for the first Labour advisers reveal their ignorance of what is already happening in Scotland as they come up to tell us about their supah new ideas to find we already have the same or better. Here’s what they claim and what they plan, responded to one-by-one. “The Labour Party knows the value of small businesses; you are not just the lifeblood of our communities but essential to our economic success. That is why we have launched an ambitious plan to support small businesses.” “The Scottish Government regrets any delays in payments to suppliers and our performance in paying 98.8% … Continue reading How Labour’s plan for small business has been at the heart of the SNP legislation for years
