A very useful letter which Leah Gunn Barret sent to the Herald, Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening Times but which only made it into the latter, deserves much more attention and saving away for future arguments with your favourite Unionist neighbour: Did you know 1921 was the last year the British State published Scotland’s contribution to the UK Exchequer? That year, Scotland contributed £119.7m, of which £33.1m was spent on Scottish services and £86.6m was retained in London for ‘Imperial Services.’ Irish independence was most likely the reason publication ceased. London didn’t want to give the Scots ideas above their station.[1]  … Continue reading The leadership candidates should be shouting this from the rooftops

Posted today on: The SNP’s record in government and the media. by u/Warr10rP03t in Scotland and worthy of a bigger audience, by: lascivious_boasts For me, the key is to look deeper at the source of the news being published and the intention/overall goals of the author, specific source (newspaper, TV channel), the media group and owners. I think there’s a perception that news is news, and that there’s a lot of faith in how news is presented. But, looking critically, everything is editorialised. The choice of what to report, what to focus on specifically, who to ask for opinions, how … Continue reading ‘Our voice is not spoken, and it is not heard’

It’s been tough for them but the Herald with the help of comparisons done by London-based non-transparent on who funds them, thinktank, the IFS, is today delighted to announce: In the NHS recovery drive, is England outperforming Scotland? and: I can’t find published data to enable the above comparison reliably. Who knows, maybe they have found one in a hundred areas where NHS England ‘appears’ to outperform NHS Scotland. Well done! That’ll teach those Nats! Imagine if that was your purpose in life, to do down your own country? However, on operation completions, I can find comparable data that tells … Continue reading Another desperate attempt to do down NHS Scotland fails

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-64760727 A man with a face and voice to turn a funeral up a side street, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has written a turgid piece and made it even worse by speaking it out loud. Do we need another Flying Scotsman poem? Nope. We have this: This isn’t the first time Armitage’s historical ventures have annoyed. Back in 2016, we had this: One more brick in the wall to make Britain great again: BBC’s pet poet, Simon Armitage, helps to deny its Celtic origins Images: vulture.com,alchetron.com, bbc.co.uk ‘Who’s our greatest national hero? Nobby Stiles anyone?’ Watching the strangely flat-for-a-poet delivery of … Continue reading Poet Laureate’s Flagging Scotsman adds to his errors

From Public Health Scotland on 21 February 2023, there were 225 cases of tuberculosis in Scotland in 2021, down 34% on 2015 and twice as good as the WHO target of a 20% cut. In England, in the same period, there were 4 429 cases, per head twice the level in Scotland. NHS Scotland and the Health Secretary have not been praised for this. NHS England and the English health secretary have not been accused of anything. Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/tuberculosis-annual-report-for-scotland/2021-tuberculosis-annual-report-for-scotland/ https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tuberculosis-in-england-national-quarterly-reports/national-quarterly-report-of-tuberculosis-in-england-quarter-3-2022-provisional-data#:~:text=pulmonary%20TB%20were%20seen%20in,higher%20than%20in%20Q2%202021 Continue reading Scotland smashes WHO target to reduce TB

Above the UK National Audit Office home page. Below Audit Scotland: The differences in messaging are sharp. The UK NAO is all progress, support (three times) and recovery. Audit Scotland is all government needs to improve, challenges and risks. Two quite different cultures revealing, in Audit Scotland, an underlying culture of opposition to the SNP in government. Continue reading Why does Audit Scotland tend to accuse when the UK National Audit Office tends to praise?

From: https://www.travellingtabby.com/uk-coronavirus-tracker/ The Covid death rate in Scotland is now significantly lower than in England or Wales. Remember, these per 100K data mean around 20 fewer Covid deaths in Scotland than might have been the case if we had not had SNP control of the NHS and around 200 more Covid deaths in England than if they had had SNP control of their NHS. A similar long-term trend may be underpinning the above death rate as we see far higher levels of Covid patients requiring intensive care in England and Wales, than in Scotland. Given our generally poorer health outcomes … Continue reading Covid death rate in Scotland plummets to lowest in Britain as SNP management of NHS saves 20 lives a week

Aren’t social media great? You can catch out lying bar stewards and hypocrites easily. Continue reading Tory MSP reminded of his strong support for the SNP bottle and can deposit scheme

The response above, today, to my proposal: Hold a referendum on Scotland being ejected from the UK Scotland spends considerably more per head on public services than England does. Critics argue that this is both unfair and a drain on revenue gathered mainly from English taxpayers. The Scottish electorate persists in voting for parties that will spend more on public services and shows no sign of changing. England has done its best and carried these extra costs for decades now. There should be a referendum to decide whether Scotland should be ejected from the UK and told to live with … Continue reading UK Government insists ‘not responsible’ for referendum on Scotland’s future

…about what can realistically be done to overcome the challenges facing the NHS. That’s according to the national spending watchdog. Hah, we all know who needs to be more honest with the public. How about this? YOUR COMPLAINT:  Failure to inform viewers important NHS issues  Since the beginning of December 2022, there have been numerous strikes by nurses, ambulance staff and other key health service workers which the BBC UK broadcasts have carefully reported, early and repeatedly, fulfilling their duty as a public service broadcaster, to alert the public, especially the older and more vulnerable who rely on TV news. … Continue reading BBC Scotland finds something bad to say at last about NHS Scotland after a difficult time for them