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Labour in Cardiff does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times even after 26 years

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By stewartb On the theme of the British Labour Party’s track record in government with devolved powers. NHS Wales’ performance shows that Labour governing with devolved powers – even after c. 12 months with Labour in power in Westminster and c.26 years in power in Cardiff – does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times. As we approach the election to the Holyrood parliament in 2026, voters in Scotland should take careful note – unless of course the leadership of the British Labour Party in Scotland is keeping a game changing wheeze for the salvation of Scotland EDs … Continue reading Labour in Cardiff does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times even after 26 years

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How much will the current doctor strikes and imminent nurse strikes further widen the already massive gap between Scotland’s NHS waiting list and that in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: NHS bosses and the British Medical Association are accusing each other of endangering patients during the ongoing resident doctors’ strike. Their war of words centres on “derogations”, local agreements under which doctors who have joined the strike can cross picket lines to provide clinical care in a hospital. The escalation of the resident doctors’ pay dispute comes as it emerged that nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have voted to reject their 3.6% pay award for this year. Scotland’s media are very quiet on this issue yet with the … Continue reading How much will the current doctor strikes and imminent nurse strikes further widen the already massive gap between Scotland’s NHS waiting list and that in England

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This has nothing to do with the minister – It’s just another case of the demonising of SNP politicians

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald’s headline image and story above is just another in a long toxic trail of misinformation aimed at associating SNP ministers with controversies in which they have little or no influence, in order to undermine her and the SNP. The actual complaint from the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland opens with: The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) has today urged a top UN body to intervene against the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) for breaching our right to public participation in environmental decision-making, which is enshrined in the Aarhus Convention. In October 2021, the governing institutions … Continue reading This has nothing to do with the minister – It’s just another case of the demonising of SNP politicians

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In Day 4 of their Junior Doctor strike an NHS England nurse strike looms – How Scottish Government enabled higher pay deal for already better-paid Scottish nurses to once more prevent the loss of tens of thousands of appointments and to save thousands of lives

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Professor John Robertson OBA Headlining on BBC Breakfast this morning and on their website, the above, and this: Nurses are expected to reject their pay award in England this week, raising the possibility of strikes later in the year, the BBC understands. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been holding a consultative vote on their 3.6% pay rise, previously describing it as “grotesque” to award nurses a lower increase than doctors, teachers, prison officers and the armed forces. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ge4905eq7o The Scottish Government has already agreed a 4.25% deal for this year, for nurses and midwives.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-staff-pay/ Scotland’s media will no doubt portray this … Continue reading In Day 4 of their Junior Doctor strike an NHS England nurse strike looms – How Scottish Government enabled higher pay deal for already better-paid Scottish nurses to once more prevent the loss of tens of thousands of appointments and to save thousands of lives

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Donald – Scotland is not bad at all already and a damn sight safer too

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The homicide rate in Scotland? 0.8 per 100 000. The rate in the USA, 7.2 times higher! Professor John Robertson OBA Suffice to say, by contrast, sometimes stark, with England after decades of Tory/Labour rule, Wales after decades of Labour rule, Scotland has: With time, I could think of more. Ah, drug deaths! Falling but stalling, despite target beating treatment programmes, because of a recent surge of cheap, powerful, new drugs into towns and villages from English County Lines gangs. For those requiring a short cut to the evidence, try: What about the USA? Do I need to? Far higher … Continue reading Donald – Scotland is not bad at all already and a damn sight safer too

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Domestic abuse previous – another factor in Scotland’s lack of riots last summer?

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, this striking information: Two out of every five people arrested after participating in last summer’s riots had been previously reported to the police for domestic abuse, the Guardian can disclose. Police data released under freedom of information (FoI) laws shows that 41% of 899 people arrested for taking part in the violent disorder last July and August had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence. For those arrested by one police force, this figure was as high as 68%. Previous offences include actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, stalking, breach … Continue reading Domestic abuse previous – another factor in Scotland’s lack of riots last summer?

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Trump still the less bad choice than Biden or Clinton for many in the world?

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Professor John Robertson OBA I wrote this about the Biden/Trump contest in 2020 and there’s a link to the earlier one with the dread Hilary Clinton in it. Trump’s complicity in the horror that is Gaza may moderate my position but it seems likely a Democrat president would have been no better. Here it is: If you live in the US, Trump is clearly the more bad choice. Though Biden is no socialist, there is some (little?) hope, under him, for the sick, the poor, women and ethnic minorities and less (little?) joy for the rich and the corporations. But, … Continue reading Trump still the less bad choice than Biden or Clinton for many in the world?

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As resident (junior) doctor strikes begin today in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Professor John Robertson OBA After the last set of Junior Doctor strikes in 2023/2024, there were serious concerns about postponed appointments and excess deaths due to these. Above, the shocking picture of 52 out of the last 365 when doctors were on strike in England. There were no days lost to action in Scotland. According to the Guardian on 10 January 2025, junior doctor strikes caused around 1.3 million appointments to be cancelled. Had there been comparable action in Scotland, around 130 000 appointments would have been lost. According to the Telegraph on 2 January, there were nearly 53 000 … Continue reading As resident (junior) doctor strikes begin today in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Independent Water Commission for England and Wales makes multiple, substantive and favourably framed references to Scotland

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By stewartb The water industry is the news again. On July 21,  the ‘Independent Water Commission Final Report’ (aka the Cunliffe report) was published. Given it dodged the issue of nationalisation – incurring the wrath of some – it’s perhaps no surprise that the water industry in Scotland is also in the news. This is a result of a British Labour Party MP for an Edinburgh constituency plus a Labour minister making statements to the media that talk down Scotland. Their purpose – distraction and to diminish public confidence in Scottish Water and thus public ownership of this essential for … Continue reading Independent Water Commission for England and Wales makes multiple, substantive and favourably framed references to Scotland

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There will be no race riots in Scotland this summer

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Professor John Robertson OBA The UK media, above, are clear in their uncritical acceptance of the PM and the Deputy PM’s worries that riots will spread across the ‘UK’ again this summer. There were none in Scotland last year and the evidence remains to suggest there will be none again this year, no matter how hard the ‘Scottish’ media try to find something similar. What really happened and why did it not happen in Scotland? From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior reporter not yet ‘inducted‘: Police Scotland … Continue reading There will be no race riots in Scotland this summer