Anas clearly cannot count or read – did he mean the forgotten 4.1%?

Pau Hutcheon in the Daily Record tells us: Anas Sarwar says the ‘forgotten 60%’ of young people who do not attend university will be his priority as First Minister. He says Scots should not be defined by their school grades. Forgotten 60%? What is his source? Clearly not this: The number of young people in work, training or further study three months after the end of the school year has reached a record high of 95.9%. The Attainment and Initial Leaver Destination statistics 2022-23 also show that the gap between those from the most and least deprived areas progressing after … Continue reading Anas clearly cannot count or read – did he mean the forgotten 4.1%?

Never mind the police records, when you ask thousands of real folk if they have experienced crime you find it has halved under the SNP and since Labour were last in charge in Scotland – keep that in mind

By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: September 2024 published today: Crime has fallen by 53% since 2008-09. Results from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) show that around 1 in 10 adults were victims of crime in 2021-22 (10.0%) compared to 1 in 5 in 2008-09 (20.4%). The estimated number of crimes fell by 53% over the same period, and by 18% since 2017-18.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-september-2024/pages/3/ Everybody agrees that many folk do not report crimes to the police but: The sample used for the SCJS is designed to be representative of all … Continue reading Never mind the police records, when you ask thousands of real folk if they have experienced crime you find it has halved under the SNP and since Labour were last in charge in Scotland – keep that in mind

Given the British Labour Party’s approach to power seeking in Scotland, whataboutery is legitimate – ‘what about Wales?’

By stewartb The logic of the British Labour Party’s messaging for the 2026 Holyrood election – that the SNP is holding Scotland back – would be open to ridicule amongst voters if it wasn’t for the support – the complicity – of pro-Union news media. The latter’s lack of critical assessment of this and other Labour negativity about Scotland is palpable. Context- and perspective-free reporting has long been a characteristic of the mainstream media that supposedly serves Scotland. Labour’s view of the UK Before and since the UK General Election we’ve been told by the British Labour Party’s leadership just … Continue reading Given the British Labour Party’s approach to power seeking in Scotland, whataboutery is legitimate – ‘what about Wales?’

Scotland’s homeless surge is due to UK Home Office failures and not ‘failed and distracted SNP government’ as it falls among all but very recent immigrants

Thanks to AR for alerting me to this. BBC Scotland’s report, Homeless people living in temporary accommodation hits record high, yesterday, on homelessness increases in Scotland, focusses on one case of a mother and child, the statistics indicating ‘the highest since Scottish government records began in 2002‘ and platforming Miles Briggs, Conservative Housing Spokesperson and Scottish Labour’s Mark Griffin, to say: Scottish Conservative housing spokesman Miles Briggs said the “scandalous figures should be a source of shame for SNP ministers”. He added: “After 17 years of this failed and distracted SNP government, it is clear that they are part of … Continue reading Scotland’s homeless surge is due to UK Home Office failures and not ‘failed and distracted SNP government’ as it falls among all but very recent immigrants

Giftgate – Sarwar and Ross get freebies worth 20 times those of any SNP politician!

Under the headline What expensive gifts have Scotland’s politicians declared? and the above image, BBC Scotland report: In the wake of a row over gifts received by high-ranking members of the Labour party, people are now scrutinising the freebies accepted by politicians in Scotland. These items, sometimes worth thousands of pounds, have to be declared on a public record. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar declared the highest value of gifts, at £10,117.48, closely followed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross’ £10,028.72. Clearly disappointed, BBC Scotland leave this till well down their report: Health Secretary Neil Gray, whose remit also includes … Continue reading Giftgate – Sarwar and Ross get freebies worth 20 times those of any SNP politician!

#ReleaseTheSausages

Anonymous #ReleaseTheSausages Hands up who did not even know that they, the sausages, had been taken. Indeed most of us thought it was Hostages that had been taken and so should be released– but it appears Keir Starmer apparently knows best as he mentioned them (the captured Sausages) in his speech today at the Labour party conference in Liverpool. Next Q is this. Is Keir Starmer Liz Truss in a man’s suit ? (Yes or No). Or is he more similar to Boris Johnson ? (Also Yes or No). Also who in Scotland would now proudly admit that they actually voted Labour in the recent GE in July … Continue reading #ReleaseTheSausages

Hospital where 4 babies were fed contaminated food and one died, had ‘entirely unsafe system’ but Health Secretary not to blame

By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dorothy for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today: An NHS trust that gave four newborn babies contaminated feed has admitted that it was operating “an entirely unsafe system” at the time they became infected. The admission came during evidence by a senior doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust (GSTT), who led its investigation into the outbreak, during an inquest into how one of the very premature babies died. Not in the Guardian report, any mention of the then Conservative Government or the Conservative Health Secretary at the time, or of any comment by … Continue reading Hospital where 4 babies were fed contaminated food and one died, had ‘entirely unsafe system’ but Health Secretary not to blame

SNP Minister’s second letter to Liz Kendall ignored by media

Two days ago, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville wrote again to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall: Dear Liz, I am writing to you to express further concerns, following the publication of the UK Government’s equality analysis on the impact of the introduction of a means-tested Winter Fuel Payments, which shows that across all assessed characteristics those affected by this change in policy will greatly outnumber those unaffected. The Scottish Government continues to support vulnerable households from fuel poverty through a range of actions within our limited devolved powers. This year alone, we are spending £134 … Continue reading SNP Minister’s second letter to Liz Kendall ignored by media

Clear evidence that Labour cannot run a health service as even failed NHS England puts NHS Wales on life support

By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today but not a mention from the ever-loyal BBC Wales: NHS patients in Wales will be allowed to travel to England to receive care for the first time ever under plans to be announced by the Welsh secretary on Monday. Jo Stevens will tell the Labour conference in Liverpool that she is drawing up proposals to allow patients to travel between England and Wales to receive outpatient or elective treatment. Stevens will say that the move will help reduce waiting lists on both sides of the border. But with NHS struggling in Wales even more than in England, experts … Continue reading Clear evidence that Labour cannot run a health service as even failed NHS England puts NHS Wales on life support

Banker murder – Police Scotland can’t have been incompetent 9 years before it was formed to deal with regional incompetence and has now solved every single murder year after year for 12 years

By Professor John Robertson OBA Alistair Wilson was a banker aged 30 living in Nairn, Scotland who was shot to death on his doorstep on 28 November 2004. The ensuing murder inquiry was one of the largest ever carried out in Scotland and the crime remains unsolved. The apparent lack of motive and other unexplained elements of the murder have led to it being described as ‘Scotland’s most mysterious unsolved crime’ and ‘one of the most baffling cases of modern times’, and it has attracted ongoing press coverage.1 Police Scotland was established on 1 April 2013 and is responsible for policing across the whole of Scotland, some … Continue reading Banker murder – Police Scotland can’t have been incompetent 9 years before it was formed to deal with regional incompetence and has now solved every single murder year after year for 12 years