At a time when the PM wants us all to be doing quadratic equations (no, no idea what they might be) into retirement, the Herald’s anon (nae wonder), fuelled by the Scottish Liberally Dumb Party, trumpets the above headline then this: There are more than 54 000 teachers in Scotland, 2 000 more than in 2019. 636 vacancies had to be advertised 1 or more times. So? Continue reading Rishi alerted as Herald and Lib Dumbs win worst maths in headline award

Regulars will be all-too-familiar with BBC Scotland’s long love affair with Scotland’s drug deaths tally: In 2019: Scotland has highest drug death rate in EU In 2021: Drug deaths in Scotland reach new record level In July 2022, as they begin to fall: However, Scotland continues to have by far the highest drug death rate recorded by any country in Europe. Often, these data would be used by opposition parties to accuse the SNP of betrayal and be platformed prominently in the BBC Scotland reports. Sky News today tells us: Northern Ireland has the joint highest female homicide rate in … Continue reading BBC Northern Ireland hides level of violence against women

With so few full Scottish polls, a sequence of sub-polls by the same pollster is our only way of reasonably assessing the notion of Labour recovery in Scotland, of the kind much hoped-for in the MSM here and in England. YouGov has done 4 polls since early December 2022 – 7th, 14th, 20th December 2022 and 4th January 2023 – and they tell a remarkably consistent story suggesting they know how to sample and that things are pretty much as they seem in their data: UK Con: 24, 23, 24, 25 UK Labour: 48, 48, 48, 46 UK Lib Dem: … Continue reading 4 YouGov polls in a row confirm Scottish Labour getting nowhere and SNP vote resilient

stewartb With Local Government and their services across the UK devolved, and with devolved governments having limited tax raising and severely limited borrowing powers, what happens in England is highly relevant to the financing of local government and of social care services in NI, Scotland and Wales. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies: ‘In England, councils are RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANISING AND FUNDING THE VAST MAJORITY OF SOCIAL CARE SERVICES. Since 2010, these councils have experienced LARGE CUTS TO THEIR BUDGETS, and have MADE SUBSTANTIAL CUTS TO THEIR SPENDING ON SOCIAL CARE SERVICES IN RESPONSE. ‘Between 2009−10 and 2017−18, MEAN … Continue reading In England the burden of Local Government financing has been shifted towards Council Tax payers

stewartb So setting up the National Care Service ‘would be unjustifiably costly and disruptive during a time of financial crisis’. Anyone recall what conditions were like when the NHS was established? From the Nuffield Trust – ‘1948–1957: Establishing the National Health Service’: Sir Wilson Jameson, Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health at the time, described the situation in 1947, the year before the NHS began: ‘The eighth year of austerity, 1947, was a testing year. Its first three months formed a winter of exceptional severity, which had to be endured by a people who in addition to rationing … Continue reading Would COSLA have halted the NHS as ‘unjustifiably costly and disruptive’ too?

I’m a bit late getting to this but, it’s worth drawing attention to I think. Published on 6 September, research by University of Glasgow staff, revealed the appalling costs of a decade of Conservative Government austerity policies. Much was made of the figure of the figure of 335 000 excess deaths across the UK, reported in The Conversation of 6 October: Cuts to public services and living standards across Britain from 2010 contributed to 335,000 excess deaths – twice as many as previously thought, according to new research. These austerity measures were introduced by the coalition government elected into office … Continue reading SNP Government policies helped to prevent TWICE as many excess deaths due to Tory austerity

Howzat for a headline? It comes in the last paragraph of this: Scotland’s desire to become Europe’s leading space sector nation was bolstered on 2nd January 2023. A new crack squad consisting of some of the most pre-eminent minds in the industry, who are already part of the Scottish Government’s GlobalScot programme, is being created under the title of The Scotland International Space Advisory Committee (SISAC). https://orbitaltoday.com/2023/01/05/sisac-to-boost-scotlands-plans-in-space/ A ‘crack squad?’ Just what we need. SISAC? A great powerful-sounding acronym to rival any. Onwards and upwards, I say. Continue reading Scotland presents a short trajectory directly into Low Earth Orbit and could help meet the unquenchable thirst for space data throughout the world

Only the Guardian seems to be on this today: Scottish council leaders have called for Nicola Sturgeon’s government to suspend its plans for a new national care service, in a growing battle over funding. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), the umbrella body for the country’s 32 councils, said setting up the service would be unjustifiably costly and disruptive during a time of financial crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/04/scotland-national-care-service-councils-urge-nicola-sturgeon-to-suspend-plans This is not about care for the elderly and vulnerable but a struggle to retain power and control by the same local authorities which were unable to prevent the tide of Covid deaths … Continue reading Ignore COSLA: National Care Service must go ahead because they failed to stem tide of Covid deaths

In the Herald today: Jim McColl rejects blame over ferry fiasco A Scottish Government shipbuilding expert said a failure to agree on designs before controversial ferry contracts were signed played a major part in the fiasco which has led to costs soaring and delays of at least five years. Evidence provided by Commadore Luke van Beek has been put forward by Jim McColl the tycoon who headed Ferguson Marine as he hit back at claims that past issues caused by his shipyard firm were a prime cause of the problems. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23231911.jim-mccoll-rejects-blame-ferry-fiasco/ van Beek was the subject of a Freedom of … Continue reading Hell hath no ferry again: Ferguson Marine’s blame confirmed as ‘expert’ is exposed as ‘onside’

Today, from SNP Media, for immediate release: SCOTLAND OUTPERFORMS UK IN BUILDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING 113,000 HOUSES BUILT SINCE 2007 Scotland continues the trend of outperforming the rest of the UK in delivering affordable housing. In the last financial year 9,757 homes have been built for social rent, mid-market rent, and affordable ownership. Scotland continues to outperform the rest of the UK by building 13.9 homes per 10,000 population, compared with 8.0 in Wales, 9.7 in England and 13.0 per 10,000 in Northern Ireland. So, 43% more than England and 73.75% more than Wales. This news is, of course, getting no … Continue reading SNP Government builds massive 74% more affordable homes than Labour Wales