Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election – Labour leaders prefer to go private for their schooling and get the results they feel entitled to
In Labour leader, Anas Sarwar’s City of Glasgow region schools, in 2023, only 28.6% got the A pass in Higher mathematics they would need to get into subjects requiring that, at the higher status universities. That was down from the 29.6% who got an A in the 2019 exams and down from the 36.2% who got an A in the pandemic no exams assessment in 2022. Sarwar and his parents it seems, had a solution to that kind of failure but it wasn’t the kind of solution Labour leaders used to profess – they went private. Sarwar’s old school, Hutchesons’ … Continue reading Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election – Labour leaders prefer to go private for their schooling and get the results they feel entitled to
GP closures – there was a time when the Times questioned teeny trade union surveys
This is a rehash of the Scotsman and the Herald in April platforming uncritically a trade union convenor as useful idiot to attack the SNP in government: According to the Scotsman on April 3: A top medic has warned “no practice is safe” after one of Scotland’s largest GP surgeries folded – warning it is “a tipping point which could spread across the country” and lead to the collapse of NHS Scotland.https://www.scotsman.com/health/gp-practice-closures-could-lead-to-the-collapse-of-nhs-scotland-warns-top-medic-4089414 Let’s deal with the ‘folded’ practice. It hasn’t. From NHS Grampian before the Scotsman piece was published: Alex Pirrie, Partnership Manager for Central Aberdeenshire, said: “Inverurie Medical Practice … Continue reading GP closures – there was a time when the Times questioned teeny trade union surveys
Nurses seeking work overseas barely grows from 0.45% to 0.9% of the more than 65 000
In classic ‘scare the old folk with infantile maths‘ style, the Scotsman detects soaring numbers but S4 statistics pupils chorus ‘Daaad…that is so insignificant….let me sleep.‘ There are more than 65 000 nurses in Scotland. The Scotsman’s 583 applying for jobs overseas last year is 0.89%, less than 1 in a 100. Two years ago they tell us, it was half, say 292, 0.45%. Really, how are we doing relatively speaking, for nurses? From 2021: What’s the UK Labour view? This: Continue reading Nurses seeking work overseas barely grows from 0.45% to 0.9% of the more than 65 000
Stephen Barclay’s advice is ‘just don’t have waiting time targets’ as Scotland beats his cancer waiting times by 30%
From BBC UK yesterday: The health secretary has invited the Welsh and Scottish governments to discuss how best to tackle NHS waiting lists, as millions wait for hospital treatment across the UK. Steve Barclay accused them of having worse delays than England in some cases – but they disputed the figures. Mr Barclay also said he was open to Scottish and Welsh patients being treated in England. The government said under Labour in Wales more than 73,000 people have been waiting at least 77 weeks for treatment, and under the SNP in Scotland more than 21,600 people have been waiting … Continue reading Stephen Barclay’s advice is ‘just don’t have waiting time targets’ as Scotland beats his cancer waiting times by 30%
England’s water NINE times more likely to contain sewage
This requires little effort. England above, Scotland below: The flows and levels in Scotland’s water environment are currently at good or better condition in 90% of rivers, lochs and groundwaters. This is up from 88% when we published the second RBMPs. https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/water/scotland-s-freshwater/#:~:text=The%20flows%20and%20levels%20in,we%20published%20the%20second%20RBMPs. Continue reading England’s water NINE times more likely to contain sewage
A&E deaths – ambulance chasers overtake ambulance on dual carriageway to collide with old folk crossing road
‘Correlation is not causation‘, I’m going to say, among some other things but first from the Herald today: Another piece of bottom-feeding for the Herald’s Health Correspondent, Helen McArdle, fed by the Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary Sandesh Gulhane. McArdle is not entirely devoid of principle, just mostly, and her struggling wee conscience lets this chink of light in: So, A&E waiting times are longer and more folk are dying in A&E but though those two things seem intuitively to be meaningfully connected, no one can say, credibly, that more are dying in A&E because more are waiting longer there. As … Continue reading A&E deaths – ambulance chasers overtake ambulance on dual carriageway to collide with old folk crossing road
Longer waiting times and humiliation – what Labour offers the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West
14.52 times more, per head of population, waiting longer than 18 weeks in England than in Scotland. Evidence below The ultimate humiliation for the Labour Party in the UK as it completely messes up NHS Wales, so bad that an English Tory Health Secretary offers top help them out: The UK government has said it wants to work with the Welsh government to help reduce NHS waiting times. UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay has invited Welsh and Scottish ministers to discuss how to “get patients seen more quickly”. He said he would be “open to requests” for Welsh and Scottish patients who … Continue reading Longer waiting times and humiliation – what Labour offers the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Further evidence of the best health secretary and best leader getting on with the day job to protect the people
In the Telegraph yesterday: Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “You would not accept the kind of deal that your Scottish members are thinking of accepting?”, Mr Laurenson said the union would not. He said: “No, because the governments are very different. So the Scottish Government, there’s a basis to work forwards and have a relationship and a working relationship to negotiate in the future. The Government that we have today are hell bent on using the rigged, independent pay review bodies.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/11/bma-junior-doctors-dr-rob-laurenson-scottish-government/ As Health Secretary and then as First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf has been prepared to … Continue reading Further evidence of the best health secretary and best leader getting on with the day job to protect the people
Should that read – ‘SNP Government protect Glasgow from rip-off rents?’
In the Herald today: Would the Herald rather we saw this in Scotland? More than 20,000 families have been kicked out of their homes since the Tories promised to ban no-fault evictions. Official figures published today reveal 21,332 households have been forced out of their homes by bailiffs since 2019. The Conservative party pledged to scrap Section 21 evictions in its manifesto. But the number of households being kicked out of their homes because of no-fault evictions increased by 41% in the last year in England. Between April and June 2023, 2,228 households were forced out due to the evictions, up from … Continue reading Should that read – ‘SNP Government protect Glasgow from rip-off rents?’
Once more, Scotland’s media won’t tell your gran the trains will be ON here
From the Guardian today: Members of the biggest rail workers’ union are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members from 14 train operators would walk out on 26 August and 2 September, both Saturdays. The 14 train operating companies affected by the new strikes are: Avanti West Coast. Chiltern Railways. Cross Country Trains. c2c. East Midlands Railway. Greater Anglia. Great Western Railway. GTR (including Gatwick Express). LNER. Northern Trains. South Eastern. South Western Railway. TransPennine Express. West Midlands Trains. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/11/rmt-announces-saturday-rail-strikes-in-august-and-september See that? No … Continue reading Once more, Scotland’s media won’t tell your gran the trains will be ON here
