Tag: news

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Before they begin to rejoice that ‘suspected’ drug deaths are up, real drug deaths are plummeting

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‘Suspected’ drug deaths based on police reports from crime scenes, with no blood tests, are up 7% on the previous quarter. Expect a joyous media flutter on this and the SNP to be accused of betrayal. The actual, real, drug deaths figures for 2023 will not be published until August 2024 but the trend is abundantly clear, above. Why are they falling? Westminster is ultimately responsible for Scotland’s drug deaths Drug deaths fall by 21% in only one year as SNP policies begin to reverse long-term effects of decades of Tory/New Labour neglect Evidence emerges that significant drug deaths fall … Continue reading Before they begin to rejoice that ‘suspected’ drug deaths are up, real drug deaths are plummeting

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An exposé of the UK’s failings is all the more compelling when the source is close to Westminster!

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When an independent, London-based, Anglo-centric, establishment-endorsed, centrist think tank concludes the UK state is failing, those in Scotland not yet convinced about ending the Union should take heed! By stewartb – a long read Views I came across recently, expressed in two quite different places, triggered the writing of what follows. The first was an article by Martin Wolf in the FT (10 June) headlined ‘UK election draws a veil of silence over bitter economic truths – Neither major political party wants the debate that the country needs about taxes, spending and structural reform’. Wolf writes (with my emphasis): ‘Things … Continue reading An exposé of the UK’s failings is all the more compelling when the source is close to Westminster!

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Do Scotland’s Labour candidates support their leader’s laughing at child poverty and leaving thousands of them in it?

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Here’s Sir Keir, tin-eared and clearly complacent about poverty, laughing at a wee girl talking about her family’s fuel poverty: What kind of people are the Labour candidates in Scotland, if they can keep going behind this horrible man? And, do the Labour candidates in Scotland accept his views on the two child benefit cap? See this from the Canary, today: The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that the two child benefit cap impacts 1.5 million children, including 1.1 million children in poverty. Abolishing the cap, CPAG states, would lift 250,000 children out of poverty. And it would improve even worse poverty for … Continue reading Do Scotland’s Labour candidates support their leader’s laughing at child poverty and leaving thousands of them in it?

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Will Central Ayrshire Labour candidate condemn his leader’s hypocritical use of a private jets funded by country where abuse of workers and women is rife?

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From the Irvine Times, today: Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds joined his party’s candidate for Central Ayrshire on a visit to Prestwick’s GE Caledonian site at the weekend. Mr Reynolds and candidate Alan Gemmell [OBE] were exploring the potential for future investment and jobs in Prestwick’s aerospace sector. From the Guardian on 31st May:: Keir Starmer has admitted travelling via ‘efficient’ private jet to Scotland ‘in the middle of a very busy general election campaign’, despite Labour having previously criticised Rishi Sunak for using aircraft to get around the country. Starmer was in Glasgow to talk about the party’s Great … Continue reading Will Central Ayrshire Labour candidate condemn his leader’s hypocritical use of a private jets funded by country where abuse of workers and women is rife?

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‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’.

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By stewartb “I think Rishi Sunak’s credibility is completely destroyed ….” – there is a lot of this ‘credibility destroying’ about! From the Institute for Government (6 June 2024): ‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’. This London-based, establishment-endorsed, centrist think tank states (with my emphasis): ‘… the promises on tax (coupled with promises to limit borrowing and debt) imply tight limits on public spending. It is not plausible to think that the next government can address existing major problems in public services without spending more than is currently pencilled in – or announcing cuts to some … Continue reading ‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’.

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Will these Labour candidates in Ayrshire admit that they plan to support £18 billion in cuts to vital public services and to make child poverty even worse?

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Both of the above have been happy recently to accuse the SNP of a failure to eradicate child poverty in Ayrshire, regardless of the unique Child Payment in Scotland and the significantly lower rate of child poverty in Scotland than in England or Wales. In February 2024, The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reported: The Autumn Statement forecasts were predicated on a fresh round of spending cuts. Public sector investment is planned to be frozen in cash terms, whereas maintaining investment (net of depreciation) at its current share of national income in 2028–29 would require an additional £20 billion of spending. … Continue reading Will these Labour candidates in Ayrshire admit that they plan to support £18 billion in cuts to vital public services and to make child poverty even worse?

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Will Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Reform candidate condemn his deputy leader’s liking and sharing of holocaust denial, Hitler admiration and the Royal Family are lizards theory?

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Andrew Russell, Reform candidate for the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency. Today, the Ferret factchecker has revealed: This is not a spoof. Continue reading Will Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Reform candidate condemn his deputy leader’s liking and sharing of holocaust denial, Hitler admiration and the Royal Family are lizards theory?

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Polly Toynbee tries to include Scotland in the UK’s climbing infant deaths as they fall here

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By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian on Friday, that supposedly leftist, denier of Scotland’s right to independence, Polly Toynbee, had: The long-term trend in infant deaths has been downwards, as you would expect. But not recently in the UK. The Nuffield Foundation reported in 2021 that Britain’s rate of infant deaths was 30% above the median across EU countries. According to OECD data, the UK ranks 30th out of 48 countries for infant deaths.  The facts for England: There were 3.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, and 10 child deaths per 100,000 population; higher than in 2021 (3.7 and 8, respectively). The … Continue reading Polly Toynbee tries to include Scotland in the UK’s climbing infant deaths as they fall here

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As social rent homes in England fall by more than quarter of a million in a decade, Scotland builds 6 times as many

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By Professor John Robertson ‘Affordable’ rent can, be at a rate up to 80% of the market rent for the same property and so, in some places, is far from affordable. ‘Social rent’ is linked to local incomes and thus is truly affordable. In the Guardian, today: More than a quarter of a million social rent homes in England have been lost in the last decade, according to analysis of government statistics. Between April 2013 and April 2023, the number of social housing homes owned by local authorities and housing associations in England fell by 260,464 units, according to the … Continue reading As social rent homes in England fall by more than quarter of a million in a decade, Scotland builds 6 times as many

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Bradford drugs gang ‘recruited an 11 year-old to deal’ in Ayrshire town

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The Metro today is reporting a survey of all UK police forces to find out how many under 16’s have been recruited to deal drugs by the County Lines gangs operating out of large cities in England and, in several cases, in small Scottish towns. They also asked about the age of the youngest child being exploited in this way and identified three 10 year-olds and numerous 11 year-olds – Primary School pupils. 1 Police Scotland did not respond to the Metro survey, but from social media comments by locals in Auchinleck and Cumnock (East Ayrshire) last November, it was … Continue reading Bradford drugs gang ‘recruited an 11 year-old to deal’ in Ayrshire town