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Everyone in Scotland now benefits from the progressive SNP national council tax freeze

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By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Breakfast this morning looked at the increasing cost of living, in particular council tax increases. They didn’t compare costs across the UK. In March 2024: While Labour, Tory and LibDem councils tried to impose big council tax hikes, it was an SNP government which has protected family budgets during this cost-of-living crisis. As well as showing a clear difference between the SNP and the Westminster parties, it also stands as an example to show voters how decisions made in Scotland prove better for the people of Scotland. It was the SNP that delivered a policy to protect people during … Continue reading Everyone in Scotland now benefits from the progressive SNP national council tax freeze

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Statistical uncertainty, sparse data and the absence of up to date evidence – I give you the Institute for Fiscal Studies

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By stewartb Candidly, this is an unworthy report from the IFS, an organisation that should stand or fall based on the rigour of its quantitative analysis and its evidence based policy pronouncements. The piece is replete with references to statistical uncertainty, sparse data and absence of up to date statistical evidence. It also makes reference to an HMRC study which found ‘an increase in net migration to Scotland during the period since tax policy started to diverge, including among the higher-income taxpayers whose taxes have increased in Scotland.’ And also reports: ‘these data do suggest that any migration response to Scotland’s … Continue reading Statistical uncertainty, sparse data and the absence of up to date evidence – I give you the Institute for Fiscal Studies

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Productivity, measured as GVA per hour worked, is lower in Labour-run Wales than in other UK countries and regions in England

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By stewartb In the House of Commons this week (PMQs November 13) the leadership of the British Labour Party was at it again, denigrating Scotland and its government. Hansard records the response of the PM to a question from the SNP’s Brendan O’Hara on the ending of the winter fuel payment. The PM finished his answer with this: ‘I will take no lectures from his party about running the economy; the SNP’s record in Scotland is terrible.’ This rivals the false claim from Labour’s Chancellor recently that Scotland has the worst performing NHS in the UK. How to counter such … Continue reading Productivity, measured as GVA per hour worked, is lower in Labour-run Wales than in other UK countries and regions in England

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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