Leah Gunn Barrett There has been pushback from Unionists denying Scotland is a de facto colony of England.  The history of Scottish ports illustrates our colonial status. Ports used to be owned by the Burghs (local councils) who owned thousands of hectares of prime waterfront land. Ports once supported the entire economy, creating much of the wealth of the town and sustaining the local population. They raised substantial revenues from local taxes on goods and ships, enabling the Burghs to re-invest in new port infrastructure.  In the 1960s, the UK government transferred port ownership from councils to private trusts which … Continue reading The history of Scottish ports illustrates our colonial status

I’m not going to comment on any of the many issues that readers may have with Alba and the SNP or with any of the ‘colourful’ characters who may be enthusing or annoying them. Let’s just stand back and consider what evidence this reasonably large but unavoidably selective and self-selecting sample of twitterati offers. I’d say there are four obvious signals. First, support for Alba here is considerably larger than it has been in opinions polls and elections recently – 3%? Second, my previous poll had SNP support at 90% without an Alba option (twitter poll limitations) but with an … Continue reading Will Alba benefit most from the SNP’s woes?

I don’t know how many police vehicles were in Fred West’s street but there were at least nine outside the home of the former First Minister and her husband the former CEO of the SNP today. Did the British Army refuse to lend them a tank to park on the lawn? Was there just no room for a tank because of the giant tent? What was the big tent for? Did a disgruntled SNP member say that the outgoing CEO ‘knew where all the bodies are buried’ and PC Westminster didn’t realise that’s just a figure of speech? It’s going … Continue reading This heavy hand and the stench of London will strengthen the SNP

Scotland’s so-called newspapers have followed quickly on from BBC Scotland to froth over a fall of 3.4% in those seen within 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment, at the same time as referrals increased by 2.3%. Not good, I agree, but not, as ever, the full picture from these supposed information providers. They have not reported on the news, on the same day, that the target of 95% was almost met, with 94.1% treated within 31 days, from decision to treat to first cancer treatment. They have not reported the fall in cancelled operations … Continue reading Cancer waiting times – Scots suffer worst journalism on record

Fresh from sharing drugs with us via their county lines gangs, but with that ignored by BBC Reporting Scotland, we do get to hear about Liverpool sharing in other ways. First off: Health officials are warning that units sterilising surgical equipment in Scotland’s hospitals don’t have enough capacity to deal with major breakdowns. Support from a service in Liverpool was recently needed to maintain part (!) of NHS Scotland’s sterilisation service. And NHS Lothian has warned there isn’t enough contingency in the system. Reading the full report on their website, we see it’s only about one health board: Last year, … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Liverpool Lie

A month ago, pollsters Redfield & Winton, with data collected on 2-5 March from 1 050, have: SNP 40% SNP Male 36% SNP Female 44% Labour 29% A gender gap of 8 points between male and female support for the SNP. One month later, as the SNP leadership is settled, Redfield & Winton, with data collected on 31 March – 1 April, from 1 000, have: SNP 38% SNP Male 31% SNP Female 45% Labour 28% A widened gender gap of 14 points between male and female support for the SNP. Redfield & Winton have no earlier polls to compare … Continue reading Polls suggest SNP leadership change is weakening support only among males

Paul Hutcheon is having a great time with the latest Redfield and Winton poll showing the Westminster voting intentions lead for the SNP narrowed to 5%. The same poll has Holyrood data too, above, but that’s getting less attention because its suggests an increased lead for the SNP and a reduced figure for Labour. We’ve seen this in the past. Some SNP supporters might be dissatisfied but there’s no way they’re letting Labour back into to power in Edinburgh. Continue reading Bums not squeaking as latest Holyrood poll has increased lead for SNP

From February 2022 to February 2023, NHS Scotland planned an increase of 13.9% in operations, from 17 539 to 18 069. In February 2023, only 2%, 369, had to be cancelled due to lack of staff or facilities, down from 2.4%, 420, in the previous month. 98% is astonishing. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-january-2023/ Continue reading Despite massive increase, NHS Scotland was ready to perform 98% of operations on time

From Public Health Scotland today: The 31-day standard states that 95% of all patients should wait no more than 31 days from decision to treat to first cancer treatment. 6,757 eligible patients were referred within the 31-day standard, an increase of 4.7% from the previous quarter, and an increase of 5.8% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019. 94.1% of patients started treatment within the 31-day standard, compared with 94.4% in the previous quarter, and 96.5% in the quarter ending 31 December 2019. The 31-day standard was met by 9 of the 15 NHS Boards: NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries … Continue reading Cancer treatment – 94% treated within 31-day target despite increase in referrals