Tag: news

21 Comments

Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Neil Mackay on Stephen Flynn

johnrobertson834

In the Herald last week but only noticed by me after a retweet: Stephen Flynn – the SNP’s Macbeth, a man of ambition unfit to lead by Neil Mackay (above), then nailed by John Nicolson MP: Almost comically personal & vindictive in tone. Worse, unbriefed. SNP MPs at Westminster wanted Ian to stand down. There was a vacancy. Then an election which Stephen comfortably won. His leadership media & PMQ performances thereafter were impressive. A year ago, I could write this, below, and it stands: It’s been some time since I’ve read Neil Mackay, ‘Large Writer’ at the Herald. Clearly … Continue reading Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” Neil Mackay on Stephen Flynn

3 Comments

What’s been happening to the performance of A&E waiting times in NHS Wales after decades of Labour?

johnrobertson834

By stewartb November 24, 2024 at 10:18 pm Edit THIS is the British Labour Party – here are more insights into its track record in government and into how low it will stoop nowadays to win power. It seems reasonable before ‘buying’ what the British Labour Party is likely to offer the Scottish electorate in 2026 to ask: ‘what’s been happening to the performance of A&E waiting times in NHS Wales?’ And what’s happening now that the long time British Labour Party government in Cardiff has been joined by colleagues in power in Westminster? The analysis of official statistics by the Royal … Continue reading What’s been happening to the performance of A&E waiting times in NHS Wales after decades of Labour?

2 Comments

Gary Smith and the GMB, Scottish Labour’s biggest supporters exposed again as bullies

johnrobertson834

The head of Sir Keir Starmer’s union is embroiled in allegations of harassing and bullying women. Former senior officials claim the GMB – one of Labour’s biggest backers which boasts the Prime Minister among its 500,000-plus members – is a ‘vipers’ nest’, and workers’ subs are ‘used like confetti’ to fight complaints. General secretary Gary Smith, who endorsed Sir Keir for PM, was allowed to run for the role despite four counts of bullying and harassment against a female union rep being upheld in their entirety by an internal GMB investigation in 2020. This is not new. In April I wrote: In the … Continue reading Gary Smith and the GMB, Scottish Labour’s biggest supporters exposed again as bullies

1 Comment

Labour Government leaves Wales ‘at mercy’ of storm and it seems not to care that much

johnrobertson834

From the Guardian today: Communities ‘left at mercy’ of Storm Bert owing to poor readiness Welsh leaders say warnings and defences were inadequate – but government says it cannot protect ‘every single home and business’ Imagine the Scottish Government said ‘it cannot protect ‘every single home and business?’ Based on the evidence, the Scottish Government has been able to protect almost every home and business after 17 years. Here’s the evidence, apologies to regulars, from even two years ago: Despite 30 flood warnings and 7 severe flood warning on November 19 2022, Scotland’s media had no images or reports of … Continue reading Labour Government leaves Wales ‘at mercy’ of storm and it seems not to care that much

14 Comments

BBC Scotland inadvertently reveal SNP success in new flood defences by not finding any ‘anger’ or ‘despair’ here

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC 1 today is headlining ‘anger’ and ‘despair’ across England and Wales as flood defences in areas long run by the Conservatives and Labour, fail to protect. Readers will remember how enthusiastically Reporting Scotland teams have visited flood victims in the past to get them to blame the Scottish Government for their problems. That sort of thing has really ebbed in recent years and today, BBC Scotland has nothing. They clearly can’t even one local to complain. SEPA has put flood warnings in place but nobody is reporting any bad news. You can be sure BBC Scotland … Continue reading BBC Scotland inadvertently reveal SNP success in new flood defences by not finding any ‘anger’ or ‘despair’ here

9 Comments

Sarwar pulls wee boy huffy face when confronted with uncomfortable facts on housing

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA That face! It’s the one a wee boy pulls when he’s caught out telling a porky. At First Minister’s Questions on 21 November 2024, Anas Sarwar theatrically suggested a crisis in housing and didn’t much like being told the truth. Here it is: Year after year, Scotland builds far more, 370 000 per head, affordable (really) housing than England Today, the Scottish Government published Affordable Housing Supply Programme: quarterly updates on approvals, site starts and completions for the year 2023/2024. I thought I’d compare this with the most recent data for England. There are doubts about just how affordable … Continue reading Sarwar pulls wee boy huffy face when confronted with uncomfortable facts on housing

6 Comments
johnrobertson834

By Anonymous OMG will this never end. It’s a bloody constant with these Muppets. On the 20 October this same ‘Freelance writer’ wrote in the Times “Ferry fiasco is legacy of SNP-run state” so no bias there then from Alf (Garnett ? Ha Ha). You know the constant regurgitation of Ferries #BAD in Scotland as a story by the media does prove one thing. That is that they, the media, do not have a lot of topics to choose from which they can write negatively about in respect to the Scottish government , that is blatantly obvious if they, as a media, have to … Continue reading

4 Comments

West Midlands rapper’s ‘County Lines’ drug gang triggering drug deaths spike with deadly additives

johnrobertson834

From the Ross-shire Journal, yesterday: County Lines drug gangs reach as far north as Alness, police confirm. THE Highlands are grappling with the grim reality of so-called County Lines drug operations, with 10 separate gangs exploiting vulnerable individuals in its capital city. Police Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Division has identified the growing footprint of organised crime over the past 18 months, with devastating consequences for the community. The criminal networks behind County Lines originate in major cities like Liverpool, London, and the West Midlands, and use a combination of coercion, exploitation, and violence to tighten their grip on the drug trade. … Continue reading West Midlands rapper’s ‘County Lines’ drug gang triggering drug deaths spike with deadly additives

9 Comments

Will Audit Scotland ever get real and fully acknowledge the UK context in which Scotland is governed?

johnrobertson834

By stewartb – a long read In recent times leading, broadly centrist, London-based think tanks and others have been arguing that the fiscal practices of Westminster/Whitehall governments have long been dysfunctional. Their damning consensus raises a crucial question: how do ‘dependent’ governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh – constrained to operate within devolved settlements – manage their nations’ public finances and the resourcing of devolved public services in an optimal manner to meet national needs and wants? The relevance of this is brought to mind by the recent Audit Scotland report on the state of Scotland’s public finances in which … Continue reading Will Audit Scotland ever get real and fully acknowledge the UK context in which Scotland is governed?

3 Comments

Why all three 3 Scottish tower block fires have not resulted in ‘towering infernos’ and why in England they seem to be missing the point

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above, and: Far too many high and medium-rise buildings are still unsafe after the Grenfell disaster, with dangerous cladding remaining on at least 2,400 blocks, a housing minister has warned. Wajid Khan, a Labour peer and housing minister, said on Friday that remediation work had not started at approximately 50% of properties being monitored for their unsafe cladding. He told the House of Lords there is a need to “go further, faster” on 2,415 residential buildings over 11 metres in height in England. Figures show that of 4,834 buildings on the register 983 have started remediation, … Continue reading Why all three 3 Scottish tower block fires have not resulted in ‘towering infernos’ and why in England they seem to be missing the point