I’ve been drawing attention to this for years now so it’s good to see SNP MP’s on it: From the Westminster SNP: Alan Brown MP has slammed the UK government’s ignorance to decades of Westminster mismanagement on energy grid charges, which sees Scotland subject to the highest grid charges in Europe. In a Westminster debate today (Thursday), the SNP MP called for an overhaul of the grid charging structure – which currently puts Scotland at a competitive disadvantage to counterparts in England – urging the UK government to fix the imbalance and encourage renewable energy generation north of the border. … Continue reading Powerhouse Scotland subject to highest grid charges in Europe.

Only the Daily Mirror and the National show the above image: Notably, the Telegraph had: Special? I suppose that makes the PM more special? No rules apply to him? This was the Telegraph in December 2020: The FM’s lapse portrayed as possibly worthy of police action. BBC Scotland made much of it, all of that day and, often beyond. The others: Everywhere, at length. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s worse. It’s a deeper contempt that directs their actions without thinking as if it were just normal, right to do so. Continue reading Special?

By stewartb This is to supplement – and provide additional perspective for – the TuS blog post entitled ‘Only a 0.77% increase in jobs. Just a conduit for MoD propaganda’. The latter was in response to BBC Scotland ‘bigging up’ the announcement of 100 MOD jobs in Lossiemouth. As the official MOD statistics below reveal, this is no compensation for the reduction in MOD employment – military and civilian – across Scotland since 2012 and it will not reverse the falling proportion of MOD jobs located in Scotland relative to the UK total. MOD staffing levels are published annually (‘MOD … Continue reading MOD employment in Scotland: facts based on the official data – falling in total and falling as a percentage of UK deployment.

SNP Westminster Press Office: The SNP has warned the Tory government against betraying pensioners across the UK by scrapping the triple lock on pensions and breaking yet another manifesto commitment. It comes after the Chancellor Rishi Sunak today refused to rule out scrapping the triple lock, stating that there were “concerns” over going ahead with the planned rise in state pensions. The UK already has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world – both in absolute terms and also by comparison to average earnings. It also spends less on pensions, as a proportion of GDP, than the … Continue reading Tory government betraying pensioners

They’ve climbed onto double-deckers buses with passengers inside, amongst traffic, but for the Mirror, they’re just ‘raucous’ or ‘boisterous’, and for the Mail and the Express, just ‘partying’. In June, the Scots fans, who did nothing like climbing onto buses but merely refused to socially distance, were, for the Express, ‘wreaking havoc’, and for the Mail, causing ‘carnage.’ Revealing. Continue reading England fans merely ‘partying’, ‘boisterous’ or ‘raucous’ but Scots….

From stewartb: For more evidence on why to avoid a ‘four nation’ response to Covid if that means a ‘follow England’ response there is this from Shaun Lintern, Health Correspondent at the Independent yesterday: ‘Cancer patients at one of England’s largest hospital trusts have had their surgeries cancelled after rising numbers of coronavirus patients, which senior medics said was “affecting all our wards everywhere.” ‘Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said it had seen a “marked increase” in Covid admissions and was NOW HAVING TO CANCEL SURGERY FOR URGENT PATIENTS “who’ve already waited too long”.’ (my emphasis) The Leeds hospital message, leaked … Continue reading More evidence on why to avoid a ‘four nation’ response

106 jobs with the MoD at RAF Lossiemouth is being trumpeted across BBC Scotland output. The Minister is hosted and the supposed interview is no more than a fawning chat. The truth of the situation is not explored and yet BBC Scotland quietly reported the facts in on their website in 2016: A new academic study shows the decline in employment by the Ministry of Defence, down by nearly a quarter in the past eight years. The research has been carried out by the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University. In 2008, when the economics institute last reported on … Continue reading Only a 0.77% increase in jobs. Just a conduit for MoD propaganda

Once more, the superannuated Eton schoolboy and the Ayrshire grown-up are revealed in all their contrasts. Who would have thought it? A privileged privately-educated journalist with a 2.1 in Classics and the father of uncounted abandoned weans or a working-class, comprehensively educated solicitor, with a degree in Law and who has suffered the awful pain of miscarriage, makes a better leader. Continue reading Statesmanship? Intelligence? Responsibility? Maturity? Heart? Compassion?

They had most of the play, most of the chances and deserved to win but it took England into extra time, an own goal and a dodgy penalty to beat a country with only a tenth of the population. England has won the World Cup (they have!) 55 years ago and finished 4th twice (1990, 2018). They have never won the Euros. Making the final this year is their best performance. Germany and Italy have won four times. Germany has made 14 finals! Italy has been in 9. With roughly the same population as Denmark, Scotland’s record cannot compare. They … Continue reading Why England and Scotland underperform?

Vince Cable, the UK Business Secretary in 2014, warned that London is “becoming a giant suction machine, draining the life out of the rest of the country”. Huge numbers of young adults move to London from Britain’s other cities and never return home, according to a report revealing the extent to which the capital drains talent from the rest of the country. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-regions-hit-brain-drain-exodus-talent-london-adds-fears-recovery-geographically-skewed-9086637.html Combine this with the presence of government departments, financial institutions and corporate HQs in London and the surrounding area and the massive state investment in capital projects there, and you see Scotland emerge as the most productive … Continue reading Productivity in Scotland higher than all but ‘giant suction machine’ in South