SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon will today (Wednesday) pledge to raise NHS inpatient, day case and outpatient activity to 10% above the pre-pandemic level as she sets out that the SNP “is the only party with a serious plan for government and for national recovery from COVID.” In a speech today on the NHS, the SNP Leader will thank staff for their efforts during an extraordinary year – and will note that staff numbers are at record levels, that patient satisfaction continues to be high, and that Scotland’s core A&E services have been the best performing in the UK for more … Continue reading SNP LEADER TO OUTLINE RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE NHS

In the Panelbase/Times poll for the 1st April, those respondents born in Scotland were 53 to 47 in favour of independence while those born in England were 70 to 30 against and ‘others’ including EU citizens were 51 to 49 against. Sunday Times Poll 1st April 2021 There are around 350 000 non-British nationals living in Scotland and nearly 500 000 who were born in England In the Survation/DC Thomson poll on the 30th March, BAME groups were 52 to 17 in favour while Whites were 44 to 43 against. In the Hanbury poll on March 1st BAME groups were … Continue reading Persuading the ‘non-Scots’

In the New Statesman Today: The SNP are forecast to win an overwhelming majority of the constituencies. If Scottish parliament elections were exclusively conducted with the FPTP system as it stands in general elections, then the SNP would be winning by a landslide. But they aren’t. The proportional “balancing act” almost excludes the SNP from winning any extra list seats. Why? Because the algorithm determines that they have already won their “fair share” (and then some) of seats through their domination of the constituency ballot. Those SNP list votes are, in effect, wasted. The Alba party are presenting themselves as the antidote to these … Continue reading 74% pro-Indy MSPs? It is tempting

Following in the bilious wake of the Scotsman and Reporting Scotland yesterday, the Holyrood Magazine’s Louise Wilson, formerly BBC Scotland and followed on twitter by Monica Lennon and Lisa Summers, somehow misses these facts: “Mass testing is a scandalous waste of money,” said Allyson Pollock, professor of public health at Newcastle University. “When the prevalence rate of coronavirus falls as low as it is at the moment then an increasing proportion of cases are likely to be false positives meaning that cases and contacts will self isolate unnecessarily.” Prof Pollock said it is likely that mass testing “is going to … Continue reading Holyrood Magazine joins campaign to mislead voters with criminally-biased journalism

…..touching my funny bone. He is irrepressible. To support his thesis that the opinion pollsters don’t know what they’re talking about, the Scottish Lib Dem leader tells us: We’re finding that we’re getting people moving over from the SNP for the first time for years. I wonder is there any evidence for that? Well, the BMG/Herald poll on the 9th March revealed that of the 402 who indicated that they would vote SNP in May 2021, 2 had voted Lib Dem in 2019 and of the 65 who would vote Lib Dem in 2021, 2 had voted SNP in 2019. … Continue reading Lib Dem leader’s faith is touching….

I’m still aching from reading their plans to build affordable homes. What next, a 12.5% pay rise just for Scottish nurses? I know they’ve taken Ross off the campaign leaflets. Will they take the party name off too, like Jackie Baillie did with Labour? Do they think some voters might believe they’re not like the UK Tories? See this from the Guardian and Labour before they became Blairites again: The Conservative party’s record on tackling the climate crisis has been condemned by leading scientists and former government advisers, as the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, warned that the forthcoming election was the … Continue reading Stop it! My ribs hurt!

In the early hours, the Scotsman tells us that there is a demand for mass regular testing in Scotland. Oooh, where is this demand coming from? Is it the people? The source doesn’t make it to the front page so I can’t see who it is. Do I care enough to find out? No. Anas Sarwar? As if by magic, the demand makes its way to headline on Reporting Scotland at 1pm: And, twice weekly coronavirus tests will be offered to people in England – will the same happen here? Oooh, again! They get everything, like that ‘Operation Moonshot‘ mass … Continue reading Reporting Scotland and Scotsman promote testing that fails more than half the time to suggest SNP is failing to follow England’s lead

Reflecting on the current media reports of infighting among the three pro-Indy parties, I thought there might be lessons from the recent past or from elsewhere for the current crop in Scotland. I knew, of course, that on the way to Irish independence, only 100 years ago, that pro-independence groups had fought a bloody civil conflict among themselves, putting the Sturgeon/Salmond spat into a bit of perspective. In Catalonia, there are four pro-independence parties and splits between them have weakened support. Although collectively they won 51% of the vote in the 2021 regional elections, only 53% of the electorate turned … Continue reading 99.95% for Yes (Ja): Lessons from the past for Scotland’s Indy infighters

Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Alistair Campbell and almost every member of the UK Parliament of 2003 are deeply complicit, forever marked, by the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women and children. They ‘did’ that, above. RAF pilots on their orders, did that. David Cameron and Theresa May are likewise guilty of responsibility for mass deaths in Libya and Syria. Alex Salmond, more than any other political leader in the UK, stood against those conflicts. He marched and spoke, in the heart of the Empire. He then attempted to have Tony Blair tried as the war criminal he surely is. … Continue reading Alex Salmond is still a hero

The missing word game. Play it. It’s easy. All you have to do is put the following words in the correct spaces in this BBC Scotland report, below. Leonard former Scottish leader wife Richard of Labour the The GMB union has recommended its NHS and Scottish Ambulance Service members vote to reject the Scottish government’s 4% pay offer. The proposal will affect 154,000 staff including nurses, porters and health care support workers. Unison and Unite have put the offer to members without recommendation, while the RCN is considering its position. Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the proposal recognised the “service and dedication” … Continue reading Put these words in the right order: Leonard former Scottish leader wife Richard of