Fifth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead and Reform is eating the Cons and Labour

Today, from Deltapoll, based on data collected from 1 532, on 30th December 2024 to 3rd January, we see: Con – 23% Lab – 30% Lib Dem -12% Reform – 22% Green – 9% The Scottish subset of 133 has: Con 12% Lab – 17% Lib Dem – 14% Reform – 17% Green – 8% SNP – 32% A sub poll of only 133 has clear limitations in terms of reliability but this is the latest of 5 [c800 subjects in total] all telling the same story, of Cons, Lab and Reform all doing less well in Scotland than elsewhere … Continue reading Fifth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead and Reform is eating the Cons and Labour

Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but one of Joseph Goebbels’ many students in Scottish Labour knows how to make it seem the opposite

Yesterday in the Guardian, Anas Sarwar is quoted as: having accused the Scottish government of “weakening every institution in Scotland“, and causing Scotland “to be stuck in a rut where Scots have to wait too long for healthcare, feel insecure both economically and often in their communities, and fear for the future opportunities of their children.” If feel sure you don’t need to be told just how inaccurate all of that rant is. I don’t doubt he too knows it’s not true. None of that matters in his drive for power. He has learned: Make the lie big, make it … Continue reading Every public service in Scotland is performing better than those in other parts of the UK but one of Joseph Goebbels’ many students in Scottish Labour knows how to make it seem the opposite

NHS 18-week treatment target – Starmer aims to still lag behind Scotland nearly two years after coming to power

By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Health today and headlining across TV broadcast news today: The government has unveiled a new pledge to cut the list of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in England by nearly half a million over the next year. A key Labour election pledge, now included in the government’s six main priorities, is for 92% of patients to begin treatment or be given the all-clear within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament. This has been an official NHS target for some time, but has not been met since 2015. Currently, only … Continue reading NHS 18-week treatment target – Starmer aims to still lag behind Scotland nearly two years after coming to power

The pup sellers of North Britain – musings on promises of Union reform.

By stewartb – a long read As 2024 ends, we also leave behind the ‘honeymoon period’ (sic) of the new Westminster Labour government.  A time for casting minds back to past promises and for musing on prospects for ‘change’. In Westminster, the Labour government recently announced appointments to the House of Lords. These were well trailed. From Labour List (June 21, 2023): ‘New peer plan raises questions about Labour’s Lords abolition intentions’ – ‘comments by a source close to the leadership in the Times calling Lords reform “hardly mission critical” to the first three years of a Labour government will … Continue reading The pup sellers of North Britain – musings on promises of Union reform.

“Scotland is now a dysfunctional example of failed devolution funded by English taxpayers”

Anonymous Reform UK party ? Here are some actual snippets from Rupert Lowe’s speech at their 2024 Reform UK party conference , he is one of their new MP’s, from 2024 GE, for the constituency of Great Yarmouth, England. (Currently all 5 of their MP’s are elected in ENGLAND , one being a Tory defector, as in 30p Lee). So one or two snippets that Rupert said in his conference speech: “Defund the monopolistic malign BBC” (That’s the same BBC that Nigel Farage has frequently appeared in , on BBC QT as a member of the BBC QT panel, many many times actually, as has Richard Tice , but Richard Tice has also appeared on BBC ‘Politics Live’ as has … Continue reading “Scotland is now a dysfunctional example of failed devolution funded by English taxpayers”

Fourth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead

Today from Opinium based on data collected from 1 537, on 18-12 December 2024, we see: Con – 23% Lab – 29% Lib Dem -11% Reform – 22% Green – 10% The Scottish subset of 110 has: Con 15% Lab – 19% Lib Dem – 11% Reform – 14% Green – 5% SNP – 35% A sub poll of only 110 has clear limitations in terms of reliability but this is the latest of 4 [c600 subjects in total] all telling the same story, of Cons, Lab and Reform all doing less well in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK … Continue reading Fourth sub-poll, not distorted by sample weighting to match 2014 vote, reinforces notion that SNP is well ahead

Lothian Labour – ‘people who put their own vanity, self-interest and ambitions [first], to be seen as king-makers, in positions of too much power’

By stewartb In what is hardly a newspaper unsympathetic to the Labour Party in the Lothians, the coverage by the Edinburgh Evening News of the goings on amongst Labour councillors in the City of Edinburgh is noteworthy. From the Edinburgh Evening News, December 19, 2024, under the headline ‘Edinburgh council elects Labour’s Jane Meagher ….’ we find this (with my emphasis): (Labour) ‘Cllr Faccenda also abstained rather than vote for Cllr Meagher as council leader. She said there were principles which councillors were supposed to observe, the first of which was selflessness, defined as not allowing political interests to stand in … Continue reading Lothian Labour – ‘people who put their own vanity, self-interest and ambitions [first], to be seen as king-makers, in positions of too much power’

Now there is another one – Labour Midlothian councillor stripped of the whip

Anonymous Now there is another one , Labour Midlothian councillor Bryan Pottinger has been stripped of the Labour whip, on the 11 December , after what is now a second complaint that has been made about his behaviour. This is the second time an allegation has been made about him for two separate incidents and from two separate females. The Standards Commission for Scotland released their findings/conclusion on the first incident in 2023 relating to him. In 2023 a female councillor had alleged Pottinger had “behaved disrespectfully” and “had harassed her” in “making an “inappropriate comment about her underwear during a verbal exchange between them at a local event” It was determined by the Standards Commission for Scotland that “he … Continue reading Now there is another one – Labour Midlothian councillor stripped of the whip

If you are a Labour councillor in Scotland and do not vote with the Tories against the SNP then you will  be suspended but if there are allegations of “sexual harassment” then no worries your job is safe

Anonymous Apparently “Labour in Scotland received Cammy Day complaint ‘almost two years’ before suspension”. The complaint being a “sexual harassment complaint” against the Edinburgh Labour council leader Cammy Day, that is the same Edinburgh Labour council that suspended two of it’s Labour councillors for not voting with the Tories. So if you are a Labour councillor in Scotland and you do not vote with the Tories against the SNP then you will get suspended, however if there are allegations against you of “sexual harassment” as a Labour councillor and leader, then no worries your job and place in Labour is safe, well that is until someone exposes that scandalous news. This is the same Labour party whose so called leader in Scotland … Continue reading If you are a Labour councillor in Scotland and do not vote with the Tories against the SNP then you will  be suspended but if there are allegations of “sexual harassment” then no worries your job is safe

Scottish Labour’s police officers leaving ‘surge’ is both suspicious and actually a ‘dribble’ of less than 1%

By Professor John Robertson OBA As of March 31, 2024, there were 16,356 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland.1 According to the Herald, In 2023, 257 left to take up a new job, education or for personal reasons. That is according to data published in freedom of information requests obtained by Scottish Labour. However, that figure is compared to 173 in 2019 – an increase of 49% in five years.2 Notice, they’re not telling us if there a constant trend upward from 2019? Is that because, annoyingly for Scottish Labour, it was lower in 2023 than it 2022? If there was a … Continue reading Scottish Labour’s police officers leaving ‘surge’ is both suspicious and actually a ‘dribble’ of less than 1%