‘Stocktake’ reveals dire state of England’s public services – must Scotland be caught in Westminster’s “doom loop”?
By stewartb A detailed and wide ranging ‘stocktake’ of UK government funded public services has just been published by the Institute for Government (IfG) with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Termed the ‘Performance Tracker’, this is an annual publication which in 2023 is covering the state of nine services – general medical practice, hospitals, adult social care, children’s social care, neighbourhood services, schools, police, criminal courts and prisons. Source: IfG/CIPFA (30 October 2023) Performance Tracker 2023 – Government is stuck in a public service performance doom loop. (https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/performance-tracker-2023) The report is focused on Westminster government actions … Continue reading ‘Stocktake’ reveals dire state of England’s public services – must Scotland be caught in Westminster’s “doom loop”?
Cymru – Yma o Hyd (English: “Still Here”)
By Alasdair Galloway Before I took ill at the beginning of the year, since as some might remember I have an interest in the independence movement in Wales, I had been reading Will Hayward’s “Independent Nation. Should Wales leave the UK?”. It still seems to me that a good deal of what Hayward writes about is pertinent to Scotland, some not so much but some more so. Change in Wales has been rapid. The referendum to set up the Welsh National Assembly only just got over the line, but by the time Hayward was writing (2022), it was no longer … Continue reading Cymru – Yma o Hyd (English: “Still Here”)
Research – Antisemitic incidents particularly rare in Scotland
Research from CST published yesterday, reports 1 019 antisemitic incidents across the UK in thje last 28 days. Of those , 17 took place in Scotland. The UK population of 67.3 million is 12.3 times greater than that of Scotland at 5.4 million so, all things being equal, the UK figured might have been expected to be around 12.3 times 17 or 210. It was 1 019, nearly 5 times higher. The nature of the incidents is not broken down . There were 47 actual physical assaults across the UK. I can see no reports of any in Scotland. In … Continue reading Research – Antisemitic incidents particularly rare in Scotland
Nearly FIVE times as many wait 24 hours in A&E in England
On 24 hours in A&E – a tale of media not medicine- a case study in BBC Scotland’s approach to ‘informing’ the voting public. By stewartb – a long read This post is prompted by a recent article on the BBC News website authored by two BBC Scotland journalists: ‘Scots NHS doctors: Rise in patients waiting 24 hours in A&E “shocking’’. (See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67242402) That piece was about NHS Scotland: this post is about BBC Scotland and its reporting of NHS Scotland. What follows offers an analysis of content and technique. It assesses the statistical information on which the article is … Continue reading Nearly FIVE times as many wait 24 hours in A&E in England
The letters they won’t publish – SNP WhatsApp messages
Alasdair Galloway Last weekend I replied to the letter immediately below by well-known Unionist Richard Allison of Edinburgh. “SHOULD anyone have a scintilla of doubt left as to how the SNP-led Scottish Government operated furtively and in a clandestine fashion, then surely that is dispelled by the shocking disclosures about WhatsApp messages being deleted on a daily basis during the Covid pandemic (“Scots ministers accused of withholding Covid texts”, The Herald, October 27). It should be noted that the questions of this shameful Government headed at the time by the ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, are not being led by opposition … Continue reading The letters they won’t publish – SNP WhatsApp messages
Hospital discharges into care homes – Scottish Government guidance was stricter and thus it ‘is not exposed to legal liability’
Thanks to Indiman https://twitter.com/merchant47 for alerting me to this from Diarmid of Future Economics, as ambulance-chasing Scottish lawyers circle the Scottish Government in the Covid inquiry: The Scottish Guidance It is of note, as the Court recognised, that the Scottish equivalent guidance of 26th March stated that …[i]f a patient being discharged from hospital is known to have had contact with other COVID- 19 cases and is not displaying symptoms, secondary care staff must inform the receiving facility of the exposure. The receiving facility should ensure the exposed individual is isolated for 14 days following exposure to minimise the risk of … Continue reading Hospital discharges into care homes – Scottish Government guidance was stricter and thus it ‘is not exposed to legal liability’
Research suggests trust in the SNP Government saved thousands of lives
From How covid-19 spreads: narratives, counter narratives, and social dramas, published in the BMJ in 2022: Public masking became a libertarian lightning rod. Libertarianism is a political ideology that favours individual choice, freedom, and a retreat from state and institutional control. Libertarians resist imposed rules and like to do their own research rather than trust scientists or government. Uncertainty and conflict about the value and place of public masking allowed libertarian messages and practices to flourish. https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-069940 FM Nicola Sturgeon despite being caught once by gleeful hacks forgetting to put her mask back on, consistently encouraged their wearing. PM Johnson … Continue reading Research suggests trust in the SNP Government saved thousands of lives
Labour MSP humiliated as SNP’s ‘complicated’ free bus pass scheme for the young is easily understood by up to 93%!
In a January 2023 piece by Labour pal Rachel Watson of the Sun rag, we read the shocking fact that thousands of kids who have not applied for the SNP free bus pass have not received one because, allegedly, they’re too ‘thick’ to complete the application form. Did Neil Bibby MSP have a look at the form and get a headache? Anyhow, Bibby, with great comic phrasing said: Thanks to mismanagement, the scheme was overly complicated. Too many young people are paying the price for the SNP’s incompetence. Bus services are being cut across the country, leading to many young people … Continue reading Labour MSP humiliated as SNP’s ‘complicated’ free bus pass scheme for the young is easily understood by up to 93%!
The excellent MSM Monitor de-activated, Wings and Scot Goes Pop lost in Darkest Albaland, Craig Murray thinking of other things…it’s getting lonely here
Deactivation means all the archives are lost even the more useful exposures of BBC bias in recent times. Why on earth have they done this if they haven’t been hacked or threatened? It’s hard to think of a reason any in the Yes movement could be happy with. I was a big fan of all of the above sites in the headline, until they either went off in a huff with the SNP or, now, they just disappear with no good explanation. I’m staying despite or perhaps because I’m the oldest? MSM had 40 000 plus twitter followers compared to … Continue reading The excellent MSM Monitor de-activated, Wings and Scot Goes Pop lost in Darkest Albaland, Craig Murray thinking of other things…it’s getting lonely here
BBC Scotland’s favourite thinktanks are ALL in the worst group for funding transparency
I’m grateful to Ruth Henderson https://twitter.com/RuthHen05786097 for alerting me to this Open Democracy exposé at https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/who-funds-you/ Our Scottish Future, These Islands and Reform Scotland appear regularly on BBC Scotland with ‘research’ pointing to some inherent weakness in Scotland in its potential be independent. All three feature in the lowest of the 5 categories where annual income, funding and the names of funders are not disclosed. In sharp contrast, the excellent Business for Scotland, rarely if ever seen on BBC Scotland, is in the top category with full transparency. Transparency is, of course, essential so that we detect any suggestion of … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s favourite thinktanks are ALL in the worst group for funding transparency
