Tag: news

3 Comments

Will Anas Sarwar follow Sir Keir Starmer on this too – radioactive emissions through your windows and now floodwaters on your doorstep?

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie, again, for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: More than 100,000 new homes will be built on the highest-risk flood zones in England in the next five years as part of the government’s push for 1.5m extra properties by the end of this parliament, Guardian analysis suggests. Building on areas with the highest risk of serious flooding is supposed to be discouraged. Experts say development should be avoided unless absolutely necessary because there is a significant chance of regular deluges, which will flood the properties, cause hundreds of millions of pounds of economic … Continue reading Will Anas Sarwar follow Sir Keir Starmer on this too – radioactive emissions through your windows and now floodwaters on your doorstep?

3 Comments

Glasgow Council to maintain one of best pupil/teacher ratios in UK as pupil numbers fall.

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today is making much of teacher strikes planned for Glasgow this month. There is no context offered. Here is some. The first reliable school statistics, avoiding double-counting,1 were published in December 2013. There were, … Continue reading Glasgow Council to maintain one of best pupil/teacher ratios in UK as pupil numbers fall.

7 Comments

NHS staffing and bed-blocking – Sandesh Gulhane allowed to lie twice on STV News with no checking to see that both are improving and way ahead of NHS England

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA On STV News at 6pm tonight, Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary, Sandesh Gulhane was allowed, unchecked and uncontested, to claim that less (sic) people are coming into ‘our’ health service and that delayed discharges need to come down. First, NHS Scotland staffing – 160 840 FTE, up 1.6% on last year and 17.7% up on ten years ago.1 So, more not fewer (Sandy!) people are coming into my NHS. Sandy’s from south of the border. How is staffing there? 1.3 million FTE.2 Now, with one tenth of the population, Scotland must only need around 130 000 yet … Continue reading NHS staffing and bed-blocking – Sandesh Gulhane allowed to lie twice on STV News with no checking to see that both are improving and way ahead of NHS England

Leave a comment

After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

johnrobertson834

stewartb It’s worth adding the performance stats on long waits from TIME OF ARRIVAL in order to compare with NHS Scotland. NHS England statistics on waits in A&E departments over 12 hours from time of arrival are published monthly. However, the data have also been compiled for ease of reference in something called ‘Supplementary ECDS Analysis Time Series February 2023 Onwards (XLS, 41.9KB)’. Using this source it is possible to compare and contrast the number and percentage of A&E attendances spending 12 hours or more from time of arrival to admission, discharge or transfer. Set out below are snapshots of … Continue reading After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

4 Comments

Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA In December 2024, 54 207 people waited more than 12 hours [after triage and decision to admit] in NHS England A&E departments, up from 36 806 in July when Labour won the General Election promising change but … Continue reading Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

14 Comments

People of Scotland call on Sarwar to drop brainless support for ‘small’ nuclear power – more costly, less efficient, more polluting, more cancers-triggering and terrorism vulnerable

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA From STV News / PA Media today: Anas Sarwar has called on John Swinney to drop his “ideological” opposition to nuclear power in Scotland. The Scottish Labour leader told the First Minister his refusal to allow new … Continue reading People of Scotland call on Sarwar to drop brainless support for ‘small’ nuclear power – more costly, less efficient, more polluting, more cancers-triggering and terrorism vulnerable

2 Comments

How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Skwawkbox, today, the above video (link below) and this: Alex Karp, the chief executive of software company Palantir – which supplies military software and services to the Israeli occupation that has murdered and maimed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and also has a huge contract from the UK government to manage NHS data – has told shareholders he’s sure they’re having as much fun as he is and approves of the company ‘scar[ing] enemies and on occasion kill[ing] them’. Palantir has also been linked, in a parliamentary enquiry and … Continue reading How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

8 Comments

Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

johnrobertson834

In the Herald, February 2025: Second homes tax is ‘Scotland’s most ill-conceived & damaging policy’ – What does Scotland’s tax system for purchases of second properties mean for taxpayers, landlords, tenants and the economy? That is one of the key questions the independent think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined in the first in a series of briefings from its third annual Scottish Budget Report published today. Should I check out the report by the IFS, that London-based, right-of-centre thinktank and do them the honour of responding to them point-by-point? I’m not. On the Second Homes Tax, I know, based on … Continue reading Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

5 Comments

Labour to ‘push past nimbyism’ to build small modular reactors less likely to melt down but as Stanford University research shows more leaky, causing more cancer, and producing 9 times more radioactive waste

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Keir Starmer will unveil plans for a historic expansion in nuclear power across England and Wales, pledging to use Labour’s large majority to make new sites across the country available for new power … Continue reading Labour to ‘push past nimbyism’ to build small modular reactors less likely to melt down but as Stanford University research shows more leaky, causing more cancer, and producing 9 times more radioactive waste

1 Comment

Scotsman and STV fail to understand as cardiac deaths align with aging population and as England’s waiting list climbs to nearly twice as long as Scotland’s

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA The Scotsman, the Morning Star and STV all have misleading reports of cardiac deaths and waiting lists today along the lines of: Waits for heart appointments in Scotland soar to a record high and suggest that reductions … Continue reading Scotsman and STV fail to understand as cardiac deaths align with aging population and as England’s waiting list climbs to nearly twice as long as Scotland’s