Tag: history

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Teachers vote goes against strike action – leaders and media disappointed they can’t blame SNP so will waste their member fees by having another vote

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Yesterday BBC Scotland and the teachers union leaders were willing on the vote for a teachers’ strike ,then in the early afternoon today, they saw this: Workload Ballot Falls Foul of Soon-to-be Repealed Thresholds: EIS to Re-Ballot Members for Strike Created on: 16 Jan 2026 The EIS announced that its recent statutory industrial action ballot on teacher workload has become a victim of soon-to-be repealed elements of UK anti-trade union laws, having fallen short of the strict thresholds set in that Tory-era legislation.  Workload Ballot Falls Foul of Soon-to-be Repealed Thresholds? Until 2007, that’d be ‘Teachers vote against strike action.’ Then 14 paragraphs … Continue reading Teachers vote goes against strike action – leaders and media disappointed they can’t blame SNP so will waste their member fees by having another vote

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BBC Scotland desperately keen to headline their hoped for ‘closure of almost every school in Scotland’ and confront the minister but then keep quiet when the teachers clearly can’t be bothered to strike

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BBC Scotland, 15 January 2025 from first thing. This captured at 10am. The following day it remained the headline story in the BBC Scotland inserts in BBC Breakfast. One of the teaching unions, the NAS UWT, had already given up because not enough members had voted but the BBC team still seem hopeful today that they might get some bad news they can connect to the Scottish Government. It’s now an hour or so since the comedic EIS announcement: The EIS announced that its recent statutory industrial action ballot on teacher workload has become a victim of soon-to-be repealed elements of UK … Continue reading BBC Scotland desperately keen to headline their hoped for ‘closure of almost every school in Scotland’ and confront the minister but then keep quiet when the teachers clearly can’t be bothered to strike

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If you’re one of the highest-earning 25% ‘pulled’ into higher tax bands you’re not ‘middle-class’, by definition

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The Herald today on behalf of the people, based on opinion polls, already predisposed to vote Labour, in the hope of cutting their taxes and the benefits of others (classic Labour these days), has: Middle-class Scots pulled into higher tax bands by Budget freeze There’s a long history of people in the UK calling themselves ‘middle-class’ when their economic circumstances are far from the middle in any objective sense. Just because sociologists recognise your cultural preferences to be ‘middle class’ doesn’t mean that entitles you to only pay income tax at the same level of people in the middle income … Continue reading If you’re one of the highest-earning 25% ‘pulled’ into higher tax bands you’re not ‘middle-class’, by definition

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12 000 babies to benefit from increase to £40 per week in SNP child benefit already praised widely across UK and Europe

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From Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027, published today: We will uprate the SCP in line with inflation to £28.20 per week per child. We will also begin the necessary work in 2026‑27 to introduce a new SCP Premium for under ones in 2027‑28. This will result in a total payment of £40 per week in respect of every child in the household under one. The additional payment is estimated to benefit the families of around 12,000 children. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2026-2027/pages/2/ This has been reported widely but in no case, to my knowledge, has it been linked to these numbers. Also, important context into which to set … Continue reading 12 000 babies to benefit from increase to £40 per week in SNP child benefit already praised widely across UK and Europe

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‘Journalism fiasco’ – Islanders have actually been treated far better than the rest of us by this SNP government but the Herald still uses them to support the Labour campaign

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Another ferry ‘fiasco report’ (placing the ‘ there makes it clear that the reporting is a fiasco in journalism) today. The facts hidden every time they write this rancid garbage: There’s a very significant background story never told of just how much this SNP Government has done to transform life on the islands, funded by the rest of us living often in less pleasant places and with never the suggestion of compensation because of limited public transport services. Here it is: The above chart from the Evaluation of Road Equivalent Tariff [RET] on the Clyde and Hebridean Network Prepared for Transport … Continue reading ‘Journalism fiasco’ – Islanders have actually been treated far better than the rest of us by this SNP government but the Herald still uses them to support the Labour campaign

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95% of Scotland’s schools in good condition up from only 62% under Labour yet Herald platform Anas Sarwar to accuse SNP

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The Herald today, above, joining the daily anti-SNP drip from the 95% Unionist media in Scotland, with the above evidence-free reporting and, of course, ignoring the key role of local councils in maintaining school buildings. Here’s the evidence on school buildings: By stewartb This provides statistics for context and perspective. It follows a BBC Scotland article on the corporation’s News website on 12 October headlined: ‘Child safety fears as ‘repaired’ ceiling falls at neglected school’. Now don’t get me wrong, no one should have a piece of wood or plasterboard fall on or near their head, anywhere. And especially no … Continue reading 95% of Scotland’s schools in good condition up from only 62% under Labour yet Herald platform Anas Sarwar to accuse SNP

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Why shops on Scotland’s islands will not have to charge more like those on the Channel Islands – no harbour dues passed on and fares up to 5 times lower thanks to massive Scottish Government subsidies

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From the Jersey Evening Post on 5 January 2025: THE firm that runs M&S stores in Jersey says that its prices on the shelves will have to go up next month when DFDS starts to add harbour dues levied by Ports of Jersey on to its bills. No actual figures are as yet available but imagine that was on a Scottish island served by CalMac. Imagine the media coverage, the opposition partys’ faux fury. Why will this not happen here? Shops on Scottish islands do not specifically have to charge more because of harbour dues or levies charged by port … Continue reading Why shops on Scotland’s islands will not have to charge more like those on the Channel Islands – no harbour dues passed on and fares up to 5 times lower thanks to massive Scottish Government subsidies

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Though domestic abuse far less common, Scottish Government again first in UK to legislate to force abusers to leave social housing

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BBC Scotland has a tasteless, exploitative image, we won’t be using here. From BBC Scotland News today: Social landlords are set to be given powers to remove domestic abusers from tenancy agreements, making it easier for some abuse survivors to stay in their homes. Regulations laid before the Scottish Parliament will bring into force provisions on tenancies that were part of a domestic abuse law passed nearly five years ago. If backed by MSPs, social landlords could apply to the courts to remove people believed to be abusive from tenancy agreements, in effect forcing them to move out. The new … Continue reading Though domestic abuse far less common, Scottish Government again first in UK to legislate to force abusers to leave social housing

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London-born, entirely England-educated, nephrologist with no understanding of Scotland’s 500 years plus history of universal free-education thinks he can tell us what to do

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Sir Peter William Mathieson, above, born in Colchester, educated entirely in England with only a medical science degree, and principal of the university where anti-working class Scots bias is the norm1, is on BBC Scotland today to tell us: Edinburgh University’s principal says Scottish students should be asked to pay towards their tuition, as the sector is in “danger” under the current system. Prof Sir Peter Mathieson said that Scotland – where undergraduate tuition is free for most students – could adopt a “graduate repayment scheme” based upon salary. Mathieson insisted Scotland’s funding model was “not sustainable”, but said he … Continue reading London-born, entirely England-educated, nephrologist with no understanding of Scotland’s 500 years plus history of universal free-education thinks he can tell us what to do

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Private rents 40% higher in England and significantly stronger safety nets through generous Discretionary Housing Payment funding in Scotland

johnrobertson834

With another of their sickly, tasteless images today, the Herald has: Scotland’s housing costs safety net is failing with tens of thousands of families in need locked out of homes as support fails to cover soaring private rents, ministers have been warned. Explosive [sic] new analysis which lays bare the reality for those most in need, shows that just eight per cent of private rental homes are affordable for those relying on state support, deepening a national housing emergency declared by Holyrood nearly two years ago. What’s missing? Cost of rent? Source – https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/privaterentandhousepricesuk/december2025 Support for Housing? In summary, while the baseline … Continue reading Private rents 40% higher in England and significantly stronger safety nets through generous Discretionary Housing Payment funding in Scotland