Tag: news

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New research report – The Politicisation of BBC Reporting in the 100 days before the Scottish Election 2026 – Comparing BBC Wales and BBC Scotland

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On Friday 17th April 2026, only three weeks before the Scottish Parliament election on May 7th, 2026, a research team at Talking-up Scotland completed a 100-day survey of the BBC Wales and BBC Scotland’s inserts in BBC Breakfast, Monday to Friday 6 to 9am. Despite both operating within a dramatic political context with pro-independence parties, Plaid Cymru (PC) and SNP, for the first time likely to win in both countries, the coverage differed markedly in terms of the politicisation of reports and in the overall level of negativity know to influence voter behaviour. A 2023 study published by Talking-up Scotland, … Continue reading New research report – The Politicisation of BBC Reporting in the 100 days before the Scottish Election 2026 – Comparing BBC Wales and BBC Scotland

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Contrary to England, vulnerable children in Scotland must be placed in regulated safe settings

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: Ministers must get to grips with the “national scandal” of England’s shadow child social care system, the children’s commissioner has warned, as a report reveals the number of children in unregulated settings has increased by more than 370% in five years. Some of the most vulnerable children in England are being temporarily placed in unregulated caravans, Airbnbs and holiday camps, which risk the “accumulation of increasing levels of harm for children who have already faced enough distress for several lifetimes”, according to the report. Analysis of Ofsted data has … Continue reading Contrary to England, vulnerable children in Scotland must be placed in regulated safe settings

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Scotland remains a progressive outlier with only half the level of concern about immigration and no chance of Reform UK winning even one constituency – Libby Brookes must improve

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YouGov, no friend of the SNP sees no sign of Reform UK coming first anywhere. Reform UK in Westminster polls – ahead consistently with up to a third of the voters. Reform UK in Scotland – well behind consistently, often third and with less than a fifth of the voters. In the Guardian today, the consistently confused or just too lazy to do research, Libby Brooks, has: How Reform is exposing the reality of Scotland’s views on immigration and identity – Once a progressive outlier, Scotland is facing a political reckoning as Reform benefits from growing social division. But Reform … Continue reading Scotland remains a progressive outlier with only half the level of concern about immigration and no chance of Reform UK winning even one constituency – Libby Brookes must improve

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Health visitors in England are key to Labour’s preventative strategy but they’re plummeting there after two years in government while Scotland after 19 years of the SNP has four times as many per head, twice the essential continuity and twice the visits

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From BBC Breakfast early this morning (06.17 to 06.20am) and repeated with the above shocking figures throughout the show: The number of health visitors in England has fallen by almost half over the last decade – meaning some of those who remain have caseloads of more than a thousand families each. Now the Institute of Health Visiting is calling for caseloads to be limited to 250 families per visitor. Then: Health visitors in England would like to see a safe staffing limit like in Scotland, where they have caseloads of no more than 250 families. Seven minutes later, we hear … Continue reading Health visitors in England are key to Labour’s preventative strategy but they’re plummeting there after two years in government while Scotland after 19 years of the SNP has four times as many per head, twice the essential continuity and twice the visits

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The causes of healthy life expectancy falling – Scotland already has far more, per head of population, GPs, nurses, midwives and other professionals than other parts of the UK so maybe look at this?

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The Herald today has: Scotland already has far more, per head of population, GPs, nurses, midwives and other professionals than other parts of the UK (table above, sources below) so Prof Cameron’s theory seems a little thin, simplistic. Here’s another explanation but one of course which cannot be laid at the door of the SNP Government’s limited devolved powers. The major rise in processed/UPF availability and reliance began decades earlier (1980s–2000s), becoming entrenched by the 2010s. This long-term poor diet quality (cumulative effects on obesity, inflammation, mental health, and chronic conditions) helps explain why health gains from medical advances stalled … Continue reading The causes of healthy life expectancy falling – Scotland already has far more, per head of population, GPs, nurses, midwives and other professionals than other parts of the UK so maybe look at this?

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Measles crisis – why Scotland needs border control

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In the Guardian today, the above and: In 2024, a measles epidemic tore through this community and left one unvaccinated toddler dead. “As long as vaccination rates remain low, it’s a powder keg,” says Csabai. “Once an epidemic starts, it is already too late to vaccinate. We need to act now.” Romania is facing the worst measles crisis in the EU. The country has had four epidemics of the illness since 2005, each separated by only a few years of fragile calm. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/18/romania-eu-measles-cases-vaccination-rates-collapse Around 40 000 people per day fly out of Romania to other parts of Europe, 5 000 … Continue reading Measles crisis – why Scotland needs border control

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The UK government must publish a detailed impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the US-UK medicines partnership

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stewartb Seems like another example of a potentially damaging policy in a critically important area impacting Scotland implemented not only as a result of a Westminster government’s decision but one made through secondary legislation and therefore without recourse to Westminster parliamentary scrutiny. Another example of the quality of Scotland in Union’s democracy! From the British Medical Journal (April 17, 2026) ‘Opinion: The UK government must publish a detailed impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the US-UK medicines partnership‘. ‘On the eve of the Easter bank holiday weekend, the UK government finally published the full text of its deal with … Continue reading The UK government must publish a detailed impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the US-UK medicines partnership

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Have the Scottish Labour MPs joined the campaign against the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS contracts which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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In the Guardian today: MPs have queued up to demand the government scraps its £330m NHS contract with the spy-tech company Palantir, calling it “dreadful” and “shameful” in a debate on Thursday, after which the government said it was “no fan” of the US company’s politics. Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs led the calls for Palantir, which also works for Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and the Israeli military, to be removed as a supplier to the NHS federated data platform (FDP), with one Labour backbencher, Samantha Niblett, questioning whether it could be “trusted as a custodian of the intimate health records of … Continue reading Have the Scottish Labour MPs joined the campaign against the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS contracts which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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How diplomacy by the Scottish Government helped to avert all planned health service strikes in Scotland

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In the Guardian today: Many of us reluctantly supported industrial action at the beginning, with a government that wasn’t listening – wanting to support junior colleagues whose pay had fallen far behind contemporaries. Now we see how divided and conflicted resident doctors are too, and we long for a resolution. We recognise that the strikes are harmful. Communication and diplomacy are skills we pride ourselves on, and politicians have never needed them more than now. Diplomacy is the way to resolve this crisis for our NHS as well.Dr Helen HoltConsultant physician and chair of the medical staff committee, University Hospitals Dorset https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/15/strike-is-harming-the-nhs-and-dividing-doctors To what … Continue reading How diplomacy by the Scottish Government helped to avert all planned health service strikes in Scotland

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Lord Offord’s revelation does seem credible considering Sarwar declared in 2025 that he would be prepared to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis

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By Liz S Anas Sarwar, last night in the CH4 leader’s debate, was exposed by Malcolm Offord of trying to concoct a plan for his Labour party & Offord’s Reform UK to work together “to remove the SNP”. (BTW Paisley Town Hall ,that was where Offord said Sarwar had “bounced up to him saying we need to work together” and was where the BBC’s Debate night did their leaders debate). Now Offord’s revelation does seem credible , especially considering Sarwar once declared in 2025 , that he would be prepared “to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis” . So Sarwar … Continue reading Lord Offord’s revelation does seem credible considering Sarwar declared in 2025 that he would be prepared to work with Reform UK on a case-by-case basis