Tag: politics

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Prison population – back-to-front thinking from BBC Scotland to hide Scottish Government competence in maintaining 234 times more spare places

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From BBC Scotland, two days ago: Scotland’s prison population is now higher than it was before hundreds of prisoners were released early in a bid to ease overcrowding. A total of 477 prisoners were let out early in June and July under an emergency scheme introduced by the Scottish government in response to a sharp rise in the number of people in jail. In the week before the programme began in late June, the prison population sat at 8,232. It has now reached 8,241 – raising questions about whether further releases will be needed. See, stupid, that’s why they released … Continue reading Prison population – back-to-front thinking from BBC Scotland to hide Scottish Government competence in maintaining 234 times more spare places

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England’s national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century

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BBC Business yesterday, reported: UK [sic] national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century due to several pressures, according to the government’s official forecaster. Those pressures include an ageing population, climate change, and rising geopolitical tensions, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said in a report. Remarkably, the report does not mention the most important reason for the UK’s historical debt going back decades now, since the British Empire could no longer force its manufactured goods onto colonies and extract their raw materials free of charge. England does have a surplus of around £130 billion … Continue reading England’s national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century

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Views of a children’s charity whose boss is ‘angry, very angry’ but ‘unleashes fury’ towards just one government. 

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By stewartb – a long read This considers the news and views of a major children’s charity in Scotland gleaned from its website. It offers insights into the charity’s relations with the Scottish Government. But why is this worth writing about it? On September 8, an interview with the charity’s CEO was published in The Herald under the headline: ‘Scottish charity boss unleashes fury over poverty under SNP rule’. Here we learn that the CEO of the “acclaimed” Aberlour Children’s Charity is ‘angry, She’s very angry’. (my emphasis) So something is seriously amiss with this charity’s relations with Scotland’s government … Continue reading Views of a children’s charity whose boss is ‘angry, very angry’ but ‘unleashes fury’ towards just one government. 

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Scotland’s poverty policies – The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence ‘new think tank’

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BBC Scotland today are delighted to be able to headline: No evidence Scotland’s poverty policies are working – report They know that some, perhaps many, will read that to mean these policies are not working at all when all the new think tank was saying is that more data is required to prove they are. Read deeper to see the sneaky nature of the headline confirmed: The Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (Sheru) highlighted a “critical gap” in data on the effectiveness of programmes such as the Scottish Child Payment. The organisation – run by the Fraser of Allander Institute … Continue reading Scotland’s poverty policies – The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence ‘new think tank’

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Party first and constituents second (if at all)

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Anonymous Any Labour MP who thinks that they can just abstain in the vote on cutting the winter fuel payment in the HOC are then, as a constituency MP, making a conscious decision to not support the pensioners in their respective constituencies but instead they have decided to not vote against the party. Party first and constituents second (if at all). They think in not voting with the party but instead in them abstaining that then somehow makes them appear better and so, they may assume, lets them off the hook with the constituents in their areas who are effected by this if it passes in the HOC. It does not. It shows them as spineless , without principles and those who are more driven by a desire to progress their own political careers than … Continue reading Party first and constituents second (if at all)

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Lord Ashcroft – why did he decide to acquire the Holyrood magazine ?

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Anonymous It appears though that Labour in Scotland’s leader (of sorts) Anas Sarwar is the bees knees as in yet another trolling (or comedy) exercise by media (of sorts) who dislike the SNP so much, that we now find out that, Anas Sarwar has been named as the “MSP of the year”, by the Holyrood Magazine (now owned by Tory Lord Ashcroft) in their yearly magazine political (of sorts) awards (of sorts) ceremony. Anas Sarwar tweeted in response to ‘winning’ this award (of sorts): “Thanks @HolyroodDaily for the MSP of the year award”. “Over 3 years, we’ve changed Scottish Labour so we can deliver the change our country needs”. “Economic … Continue reading Lord Ashcroft – why did he decide to acquire the Holyrood magazine ?

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2 000 mental health deaths in Essex not linked to Tory government but 1 in Scotland connects to the SNP government twice and earns the minister an photo

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In May 2024, BBC Scotland connected a single death in a mental health institution to the minister above and included in the report: The Scottish government said the commission’s recommendations would be “fully implemented” at the unit, which was anonymised in the report. (para 4) and at the end: The Scottish government’s Mental Wellbeing minister Maree Todd said she extended her “heartfelt sympathies” to the family of Mrs F. She added: “The relevant health and social care services have been issued with specific recommendations and learning points and we expect these to be fully implemented.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c25rgzl55edo Yesterday BBC Essex had: … Continue reading 2 000 mental health deaths in Essex not linked to Tory government but 1 in Scotland connects to the SNP government twice and earns the minister an photo

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Do you have to identify as British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ?

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By Anonymous  “I think the Scottish are just as racist as the English, same goes for the Northern Irish and Welsh. It’s a British problem“: UK’s first professor of Black studies, Kehinde Andrews (University of Birmingham), on “what’s wrong with the conversation around racist riots”, August 8th 2024: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/far-right-riots-black-history-kehinde-andrews/ So , going by that above statement, do you then have to identify as to being British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ? Sweeping generalisations here by this Professor who I would suggest should perhaps “think” again to make such an observation … Continue reading Do you have to identify as British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ?

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Why Scotland HAS avoided far-right unrest – Sir Prof Curtice fails to understand who Scotland’s Muslims are and even misunderstands his own percentages

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By Professor John Robertson I’ll start with the numbers. In BBC Scotland, Andrew Kerr’s grudging/riot-hopeful – Why Scotland may have avoided far-right unrest, today: Sir John says population plays a part too, with the proportion of people identifying as Muslim in Scotland much smaller than in England. The latest Scottish census shows 7% of the population is from an ethnic minority, compared to 18% overall in the UK. That would only make sense if the ethnic minority/Muslim population was spread evenly across Scotland and rest of the UK. It’s not. Ethnic minorities have clustered for decades in urban areas of … Continue reading Why Scotland HAS avoided far-right unrest – Sir Prof Curtice fails to understand who Scotland’s Muslims are and even misunderstands his own percentages

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Do the national branch offices of campaigning charities not understand devolution

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By stewartb Do third sector organisations with missions that extend across the UK feel unable to make statements that (in terms) state the following truth and if so WHY? ‘The situation in (a UK nation with a government with only limited, devolved powers) may be bad but – based on statistical analysis – not nearly so bad as in England, the nation with a government with EVERY power to have avoided this bad in the first place and with EVERY power now to deliver the necessary solution. ‘It is the government of England in Westminster – the one with ALL … Continue reading Do the national branch offices of campaigning charities not understand devolution