Tory Lord Ashcroft owns the Holyrood mag and the right/Unionist drift in coverage has been notable. Today, see the above. Who is this expert? Prof James Mitchell is a long-time critic of the SNP, deluded New Labour enthusiast, with a clear Unionist agenda making him far from ‘expert’ in the full academic sense of the word. See: Labour’s revival puts SNP on the defensive: https://sceptical.scot/2022/10/labours-revival-puts-snp-on-the-defensive/ Take the issue of independence out of Scotland’s election and the SNP would be struggling: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/03/take-independence-out-scotland-elections-snp-struggling and SNP’s independent Scotland would be a ‘little Britain’ as expert tears into ‘dismal’ second Indyref2 paper: https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snps-independent-scotland-would-little-27509049 Try searching for … Continue reading Academic non-entity wheeled out by Tory rag to peddle sad wishes

The above is from BBC Family& Education but was headlined on the BBC Scotland site without any helpful clarification of actual costs in Scotland: BBC analysis shows the cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two in Great Britain varies greatly. It costs an average of £285 a week, the equivalent of 44% of the average pay for full-time workers. Costs are lower in Scotland. But in inner London, despite people earning more, disproportionately higher nursery fees amount to more than half of the average full-time wage. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64865602 Based on the above percentages then, nursery costs for … Continue reading Average UK nursery costs for under 2’s nearly 25% higher than in Scotland

Today’s poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has No 9% ahead, is the 9th in a row with a No lead, and is worrying Yes supporters but we’ve been here before, actually in much worse places, before. The current leadership debates are being blamed for the dip. They probably are but the scale of the dip and the longer history of such polls tells us not to worry. It will pass. The wikipedia graph above is bit counter-intuitive for Yes supporters with a No lead in the upper half and Yes leads in the lower half. Once you get used … Continue reading Support trends for Yes in last 4 years much stronger than in the previous 4 years

From the Scotsman for your early morning scare: A snap survey of British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland junior doctors revealed nearly half (44 per cent) have actively researched leaving the NHS in the past 12 months due to pay and conditions in Scotland. Only 15 per cent of the 730 respondents said they were sure they would stay in the UK and work in the NHS long term. https://www.scotsman.com/health/nhs-scotland-health-service-facing-mass-exodus-of-doctors-4055339 There are more than 5 800 junior doctors in Scotland. The BMA Scotland press release admits a response of 730 but does not tells what percentage that is. It’s only 12%, 1 in 8. … Continue reading Only 321 out of more than 5 800 junior doctors have looked at leaving NHS Scotland

Critical infrastructure for UK emergency services: “After eight years and almost £2 billion, it is extremely worrying that the Home Office does not now know when the Emergency Services Network will be ready or what it will cost. (Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office,  8 March, 2023) By stewartb Unlike reporting cost overruns on ‘ferries’, and unlike reporting carefully selected extracts from Audit Scotland reports, the corporate media and the BBC seem to shy away from reporting the work of the National Audit Office (NAO). Perhaps this is because the NAO’s work is not concerned with the Scottish … Continue reading Not Scottish Government – not ‘ferries’ –  so not covered by the BBC!

From SNP Media today: Speaking to the Work and Pensions Select Committee this morning, Robert Joyce – Deputy Director and Head of Income, Work and Welfare at the IFS – stated that:  “They [Scottish Government] are making pretty substantial increases. They have just made clearly a distributional choice (…) to channel a lot more money towards low-income families with children in particular and that has a meaningful impact on incomes.” That view was echoed by the Director of ‘The Poverty Alliance’, Peter Kelly, who said: “The principles that are embedded into the social security system in Scotland (…) I think … Continue reading Three leading poverty experts praise SNP Government’s social security system

From BBC Scotland today: Jim Trodden was taken to Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert with a torn artery last June. He died there five months later. Members of the 68-year-old’s large extended family were with him every day. Jim, who was a leading oil industry safety expert, told them about the problems he could see around him. The family took notes on the pressures facing medics. Overcrowding, staff shortages and a relentless demand were just some of the observations. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64841532 It’s not clear how the family came to contact BBC Scotland. That should be made clear. Did they first … Continue reading Why one patient’s fears exploited by BBC Scotland’s ‘ambulance-chasers’ cannot conceal that a Scottish hospital is safe and getting safer

As in my other poll this morning, a self-selecting and small sample from a largely Yes-supporting following of more than 9 000, so no better than those done by the BMA, the RCG and any other RCs, largely accepted as valid on Reporting Scotland. At 250 responses, only 7 or 8 times bigger than one of those Sarah Smith in Buchanan Street vox pops which managed to only find angry Unionists. As in the properly sampled polls it’s clearly still too close to call. On 3rd March, Savanta ComRes had Yousaf 46%, Forbes 37% and Regan 17% whereas earlier, in … Continue reading No clear winner?

I know, a self-selecting and small sample from a largely Yes-supporting following of more than 9 000, so no better than those done by the BMA, the RCG and any other RCs, largely accepted as valid on Reporting Scotland. At 353 responses, only 10 times bigger than one of those Sarah Smith in Buchanan Street vox pops which managed to only find angry Unionists. But, isn’t the result quite a bit different from that which you might expect if you’ve been watching the gleeful mainstream media reports? Forced to choose, though more ‘the same’, I’d have said ‘stronger’ too. I … Continue reading Snap Poll: After the STV leader debate likelihood of voting SNP may actually be stronger

From BBC UK tonight, put in order: In Scotland, the latest quarterly data shows that 75% of those referred started cancer treatment within 62 days – the worst figures since the standard was set in 2012. OMG! Maybe we shouldn’t read on? In England, in December 2022, 61.8% of patients started treatment within 62-days, up slightly from 61% the previous month. While in Wales, performance has deteriorated over the last year, with just over half of all patients now starting their first treatment within two months of cancer first being suspected. In Northern Ireland, just 40% of cancer patients started treatment within the 62 … Continue reading Cancer treatment waiting times – NHS Scotland 21% to 87% faster than non-Scottish parts of UK