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Scotland’s infant mortality rate falls to well below rising UK rate after 14 years of Tory austerity and as Labour go on to attack the poor

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today: Infant mortality has risen for the third year in a row in England, with the risk of death for babies born in deprived areas almost three times higher than those from wealthier postcodes, figures show. The rate of deaths for children under one year old increased from 3.8 to 3.9 per 1,000 births last year, although the overall number of infant deaths decreased by 2% because of a lower birthrate. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/infant-mortality-rises-for-third-year-in-a-row-with-risk-tripling-in-deprived-areas From the National Records of Scotland in March 2024: The infant death rate was 3.4 per 1,000 live births. This is lower than … Continue reading Scotland’s infant mortality rate falls to well below rising UK rate after 14 years of Tory austerity and as Labour go on to attack the poor

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Scotland’s progressive taxes – as ‘taxpayers choose Scotland’, today’s IFS ‘warning’ comes with another warning but BBC Scotland don’t want you to know about that one

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already have reduced revenue from those affected, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It’s analysis of the Scottish budget over recent years comes with a warning for for this year’s budget against further divergence from income tax rates in the rest of the UK. By Professor John Robertson OBA There’s something missing. This: The increases in Scotland’s top rate of income tax may have reduced revenues – although significant uncertainty remains. Scotland’s income tax rises have likely increased tax avoidance and migration – but the size of the effects is uncertain. https://ifs.org.uk/articles/increases-scotlands-top-rate-income-tax-may-have-reduced-revenues-although-significant You don’t have to be an economist to see … Continue reading Scotland’s progressive taxes – as ‘taxpayers choose Scotland’, today’s IFS ‘warning’ comes with another warning but BBC Scotland don’t want you to know about that one

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‘Gangland violence spilling over to Scotland from south of the Border’, ‘More than 100 children charged with supplying drugs’ and ‘Gangs flooding Scots city with ‘foot-soldiers’ – Why middle-class professionals are being shielded from the truth and are easily duped

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This month alone, the tabloids, with readers predominantly from less well-off communities, the Scottish Daily Express, the Scottish Daily Mail and the Scottish Sun, have headlined the plague of extreme violence, drug abuse, drug deaths, child abuse, the ‘cuckooing’ of the vulnerable, people trafficking and prostitution, surging across small-town and rural Scotland, as County Lines drug gangs from English Cities have spread into every corner. Despite their open, often rabid, hostility toward the SNP, these newspapers have been unable to resist the morbid and scary appeal of these stories for their readers, risking, to my mind, support for the Union. … Continue reading ‘Gangland violence spilling over to Scotland from south of the Border’, ‘More than 100 children charged with supplying drugs’ and ‘Gangs flooding Scots city with ‘foot-soldiers’ – Why middle-class professionals are being shielded from the truth and are easily duped

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Despite more crime, bizarre duties, already fewer officers and lower starting salaries, England’s police forces face ‘eye watering cuts’ under Labour according to Chief

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By Professor John Robertson OBA in The Guardian today: Police service in London faces ‘eye-watering cuts’, says Met chief Mark Rowley Surely this is not possible in a country already stricken by high levels of crime with inadequate staffing levels and poor starting pay levels which inhibit recruitment. The details, you won’t see in Scottish media: The true facts are, from open, transparent, official, checkable statistics, in Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 30 September 2024, published today is: Police officer numbers increased by 220 FTE officers (+1.4%) in the last quarter from 30 June 2024 This is an increase of 193 FTE police officers (+1.2%) from the … Continue reading Despite more crime, bizarre duties, already fewer officers and lower starting salaries, England’s police forces face ‘eye watering cuts’ under Labour according to Chief

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SNP aim to make Labour Lords bill what it should be if Sir Keir hadn’t sabotaged it

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The National, two days ago, had this strange headline: SNP plot to sabotage Labour’s House of Lords bill It’s as if the writer imagines them muttering darkly in the bowels of Westminster, like G Fawkes and his team in 1605. When you read on, you do see: SNP deputy leader Pete Wishart will lodge an amendment to see the Lords abolished entirely, but he will also lodge a further amendment to force peers to pay income tax on their parliamentary pay. The tax-free pay — currently worth up to £361 per day — is payable to members of the House of Lords for … Continue reading SNP aim to make Labour Lords bill what it should be if Sir Keir hadn’t sabotaged it

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Staggering contrast in average mental wellbeing scores after 17 years of SNP rule in Scotland and 14 of Tory rule in England

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA From The Scottish Health Survey 2023 – volume 1: main report, published today, the above graph reveals a steady maintenance of levels of self-reported well-being in Scotland, despite 14 years of Tory austerity policies only partly moderated by the limited powers of the SNP in government but including, crucially for this measure, free prescriptions, bus passes, more GPs, nurses, beds and no NHS strikes.1 In can find no earlier comparable data for Labour-run Scotland before 2008 but we were drinking far more then. I can also not find directly comparable data for England for 2022 or 2023. They … Continue reading Staggering contrast in average mental wellbeing scores after 17 years of SNP rule in Scotland and 14 of Tory rule in England

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Massive fall in children’s exposure to deadly second-hand smoke in their own home since 2012 as a range of SNP policies begin to bite

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA From The Scottish Health Survey 2023 – volume 1: main report, published today, the above graph reveals a marked fall in the percentage of children exposed to second-hand smoke in their own homes.1 In 2016,  the SNP Government, made it illegal to smoke in a vehicle carrying anyone under 18.2 In 2022, the SNP Government made it an offence to smoke with in 15 meters of an NHS hospital building.3 In 2022, only 15% of Scots smoked compare to 28% in 2003.4 The above and other initiatives over the last 17 years will have contributed to this … Continue reading Massive fall in children’s exposure to deadly second-hand smoke in their own home since 2012 as a range of SNP policies begin to bite

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As the Guardian highlights long ambulance wait deaths, how Scotland’s ambulances were FOUR times faster in early 2024 before BBC pulled the site where I got the facts

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA In the Guardian today, the above, and: A lot of people, like Dave, have had to wait for an ambulance. One patient in Wales waited 46 hours and 46 minutes after a fall. Ambulance response times vary across the UK. In England they rose sharply in September, and emergency care performance is also down, as the NHS heads into a difficult winter. A Guardian investigation found that, in 2022, the year Dave Strachan spent nine hours and 52 minutes waiting for an ambulance, more than 500 patients in England died after a delayed ambulance response. This included people who had been in accidents, … Continue reading As the Guardian highlights long ambulance wait deaths, how Scotland’s ambulances were FOUR times faster in early 2024 before BBC pulled the site where I got the facts

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NHS hospitals, staffing and strike avoidance lead to 1 600 fewer deaths, last year

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA From Public Health Scotland today: Unadjusted hospital mortality remained relatively stable at between 2.6% and 3.3% over the majority of the five-year period from July 2019 to June 2024. The relatively small variation shows clear seasonal patterns with increases in mortality during the winter months. However, larger increases occurred during the COVID-19 epidemic in Scotland, with unadjusted hospital mortality reaching 5.4% during the first wave, 4.4% during the second wave. Since the quarter April to June 2021, the crude mortality rate has been between 3.2% to 4.0%, showing seasonal variation.1 NHS England chooses not to publish … Continue reading NHS hospitals, staffing and strike avoidance lead to 1 600 fewer deaths, last year

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Despite surrounding poverty, drug abuse and years of UK Government austerity policies, Glasgow’s biggest hospital is one of the safest in Scotland and more so than the vast majority in England

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Public Health Scotland, today, released the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios data. Of particular interest is the ratio of observed to predicted deaths within 30 days. The ratio should be 1. If it’s much more than 1, then that may indicate a problem in staffing, operating theatre availability, ward cleanliness and, of course, many other factors. Lower than 1 is good news. For QEUH, it was 0.92. Only 4 of the 32 hospitals in Scotland had a more reassuring ratio. QEUH also had a lower than average Crude Mortality rate of 3.7% below the national average of … Continue reading Despite surrounding poverty, drug abuse and years of UK Government austerity policies, Glasgow’s biggest hospital is one of the safest in Scotland and more so than the vast majority in England