By stewartb Sometimes even the Labour Party is still able to ‘surprise’ when it comes to attitudes towards Scotland’s elected representatives. Sometimes behaviour is so egregious that it needs to be called out. If you had any doubts that the Bain Principle – enunciated in 2012 by Willie Bain (above), the former Labour MP for Glasgow North East which states that Labour will oppose whatever the SNP proposes no matter what the circumstances – is alive and well in Starmer’s Labour, this should dispel them. This instance is so noteworthy because of the particular circumstances, a vote in the House … Continue reading The Bain Principle holds EVEN in humanitarian crisis – the egregious case of the Labour shadow minister.

While Scotland’s media drool over possibility that Michael Matheson was watching something ‘naughty’ in his Netflix account, BBC UK have some heavy stuff, including the appalling news England’s maternity units. That’s a sackable offence for a Health Secretary surely? Only in Scotland? This news seems to be a reworking of a BBC Health report on 20 October, this year, which drew this response from me: Thanks once more to Dorothy for alerting me to this: Note the wee print under the photo – 85 dangerously substandard maternity units in NHS England. The ‘Scottish’ media are quiet. If they had something, they’d be all … Continue reading Scotland’s maternity care is safe and ‘equitable’

Above, THE NEWS, a seismic revolt in the ranks of UK Labour as 56 out of 198, 28%, vote with the SNP, supporting their amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This tells us several things no doubt but, for me, it reminds that quite a few Labour MPs are far from fussy about the leadership strategy to protect Scottish Labour from further damage caused by the SNP outflanking them of the left with progressive policies on, especially, benefits and taxation. BBC Scotland too has a different agenda from its UK mothership, which in the above report, has no … Continue reading Protecting Scottish Labour from the SNP support at Westminster

Commenting on a letter from the Scottish Labour Party’s two MPs, Ian Murray and Michael Shanks, U-turning on the Scottish Labour Party’s support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, SNP Westminster Deputy Leader Mhairi Black MP said: “The SNP will be standing up for our values and voting for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel. That is the only way to stop the deaths of innocent children, end the collective punishment of civilians and uphold international law. “It’s the position backed by the UN, the international community and the SNP government – and until today it was the position … Continue reading Civil War as Scottish Labour MPs defy Scottish Labour Leader

In the Herald today we read: Scottish Labour’s MPs will not back calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, despite Anas Sarwar’s claim that this is the “only way we can see a safe, secure and free Palestine and a safe, secure and free Israel.” In a letter to Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, Ian Murray and Michael Shanks said they would start “with what is possible” and back their party’s call for a “full, comprehensive and immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting across the whole of Gaza now.” https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23925391.scottish-labour-mps-will-not-vote-ceasefire-gaza/ And in the Telegraph: Starmer ready to sack Labour … Continue reading Labour MP and former Modern Studies teacher betrays the aims he once tried to achieve with children

Regulars reading recently here of real ferry crises in Washington State USA, British Columbia Canada, New Zealand and, this morning, Ontario Canada, might be wondering if the Mull councillor groomed by the Scottish Tories to say that CalMac is the ‘worst in the world‘ might be way off beam in his assessment. We haven’t even looked at the ferry services in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines with their tragic losses of boats and lives. Today, we return to New Zealand, GDP 25% greater than Scotland, to read of: 2 ferries hit wharves and are holed 1 drifts after losing power … Continue reading Two ferries crash and one loses power and drifts toward rocks with hundreds on board…in New Zealand

Amherst and Wolfe Islands (population 2 000) are dependent on two ferries to the nearby city of Kingston, Ontario in Canada. Two replacement ferries (above), built quickly in Romania, are still not operational, two years after delivery. It’s a service a bit like the Largs-Millport one operated by CalMac. Locals have contacted the provincial government about this ferry crisis, but were shocked to hear: “the ministry does not have any documents that outline an implementation plan or implementation date.” Locals are now saying the old ferries are a better option than the new ones and have called for the Auditor … Continue reading Government has ‘no plans’ to deal with unreliable new Romanian ferries two years after delivery…in Canada

From Kiro News Radio today: The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) confirmed to KIRO Newsradio Monday that 38% of the vessels in the Washington State Ferries (WSF) fleet are out of service for various reasons. WSF Communications Consultant Brian Vail explained to KIRO Newsradio Monday that the Yakima ferry, which services Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, has been out of service since Saturday with electrical issues. The vessel maintenance staff and contractors are continuing to work on it, Vail added. Vail told KIRO Newsradio that with the Yakima out of service until its work is completed, eight ships — or nearly 40% … Continue reading 2 in every 5 ferries out of service in affluent Washington State – now that’s a ‘ferry fiasco’

As the Labour Party and their media chums pile onto Glasgow’s super-hospital exploiting cynically a small number of deaths perhaps, maybe, linked to or just after a water-born infection which might have maybe possible contributed to those deaths it’s important to put this enormous institution and its performance into a meaningful context. The funnel plot below, and previous examples reported here, comparing predicted deaths with actual deaths, shows two things in particular: The funnel plot below shows two things in particular. Continue reading More than 50 English hospitals have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow

From stewartb I see that BBC Scotland has made another of its major contributions to the BBC News website, this time courtesy of the Unionist patriots at These Islands. Appearing on the main Scotland page of the website and with top billing on the Scotland Politics page (viewed at 1500hrs, 13 November), there is the headline: ‘Ministers downgrade Scottish offshore energy projection’. It seems that BBC Scotland rated this story highly for potential damage to the Scottish Government: this must be the justification for running with it so prominently as the substantive content is not new. Other indications of status … Continue reading Wind power – How BBC Scotland helped Unionist thinktank blow their own trumpets