Tag: politics

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£30 thousand? Labour received £14 million in secret loans before an election

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Today BBC Scotland, with images of the former SNP Chief Executive and, of course, his wife Nicola Sturgeon, has: The SNP could face another probe into its finances after taking five years to declare thousands of pounds in loans from its former chief executive. The Electoral Commission said the party received two payments totalling £15,000 from Peter Murrell in 2018, but did not notify the watchdog until last year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67896063 Only at the very end, on the other probe, launched 54 months ago, re £600 000 of the SNP’s own money apparently vired from one heading to another, as many … Continue reading £30 thousand? Labour received £14 million in secret loans before an election

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It’s a no brainer – public assets should be publicly owned

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Leah Gunn Barrett The Horizon-Fujitsu Post Office scandal is rooted in the UK government’s 2015 privatisation of a public service that had been state-owned (in England) for almost 500 years. It’s what happens when essential public services are sold off to private companies because the government is in thrall to an ideology that prizes profit maximisation over people.  The failing UK has zealously pursued this ideology to its natural conclusion – the complete collapse of public services and the immiseration of the people they’re intended to serve.  Essential services – health, water, energy, transport, mail, telecommunications – are more expensive … Continue reading It’s a no brainer – public assets should be publicly owned

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Junior doctors’ strike is becoming Labour’s problem

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Remarkably but not unusually unaware, the Guardian has this today: With a general election now on the horizon, MPs are starting to talk about the prospect of strikes straddling two administrations. Will some calculate that if they hold out a few months longer their pay deals would be done by a Labour government, which might find them politically harder to refuse? By publicly readying for a spring election, no matter how unlikely some think that is in practice, the government has opened up that possibility. Junior doctors’ leaders seem intent on driving change within their institutions and shifting broader attitudes … Continue reading Junior doctors’ strike is becoming Labour’s problem

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If every ‘failure’ results in hostile media and political scrutiny, we will never encourage creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and risk-taking in how we deliver public services.

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stewartb BBC Scotland doesn’t miss a trick! On the Scotland page of the BBC News website today (4 January) there is this headline: ‘Nicola Sturgeon warns flagship care plan may not be meeting goals’. The article is based on a contribution the former FM gave to a BBC Radio 4 series earlier this week called ‘Fixing Britain’. Given the nature of the programmes (see later), I wonder (!) what prompted BBC Scotland to include this in its daily news/politics coverage? The article quotes a Tory politician in Scotland with a typical ‘SNPbad’ comment so might BBC Scotland have been given … Continue reading If every ‘failure’ results in hostile media and political scrutiny, we will never encourage creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and risk-taking in how we deliver public services.

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SNP government has saved over 100 000 doctor appointments in 2023

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I’m grateful to Dorothy once more for both alerting me to this and for largely guiding the both the sums and the framing of the narrative. As First Minister and, before that, as Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf has been careful to put in the hours, do his day job, to meet with health service union representatives and avert damaging strikes. In England, the story has been very different. From the Guardian, today: Tens of thousands of patients will have their care cancelled from Wednesday in England amid massive disruption caused by a six-day strike by junior doctors – the longest in the … Continue reading SNP government has saved over 100 000 doctor appointments in 2023

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Why is SNP success in averting health strikes raising ‘fears for patient safety’ not worthy of comparison?

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The SNP in Government is often blamed for supposed failures to run the NHS: SNP accused of leaving A&E in a ‘shameful and unacceptable’ condition as 300,000 patients have waited more than four hours to be seen Daily Mail 3 days ago Nicola Sturgeon accused of diverting ‘jaw-dropping’ £17.6bn away from the NHS Daily Express in February 2023 Call for answers over SNP probe and NHS in crisis (not ‘crisis’) BBC Scotland in April 2023 The SNP Government has now averted action by all NHS unions, representing nurses, consultants, junior doctors, radiographers, physiotherapists, ambulance and support staff. The first three … Continue reading Why is SNP success in averting health strikes raising ‘fears for patient safety’ not worthy of comparison?

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When Wes Streeting puts a kilt on NHS reform

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Leah Gunn Barrett Alex Massie (Times December 31) says that Labour is a national party or it’s nothing. Labour will never be a national party. It’s an English party, headquartered in and concerned only about England. Scotland is an afterthought, and Scots know it. Massie shows his contempt for Scots when he claims a Labour win in England will make it respectable in Scotland, as though we can’t think for ourselves but must take our cues from our southern neighbour.  Massie is right about one thing. Boring and ruthless Keir Starmer has rooted out what remained of Labour’s working-class principles. … Continue reading When Wes Streeting puts a kilt on NHS reform

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The Scottish Health Service won’t be safe under an English Labour government

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First of three pieces from Leah Gunn Barrett This was published in the December 19th edition of the Edinburgh Evening News. An English Labour government is the last thing Scotland needs. English Labour’s shadow health spokesperson, Wes Streeting, said spending more on health comes at the expense of “other worthy causes” and that “under Labour you can have a well-funded NHS or you can lift kids out of poverty, but you can’t have both.”[1] That’s a false choice. It implies that governments are limited in what they can spend to help their people. Taxpayers don’t fund the NHS, the government … Continue reading The Scottish Health Service won’t be safe under an English Labour government

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Why is BBC England or UK press not reporting ‘Longest-ever NHS strike will sink Sunak’s waiting list pledge, say health chiefs’

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In the Observer today: One of Rishi Sunak’s key targets for the NHS – to eliminate waits of longer than 65 weeks for operations and other procedures by March – is likely to be missed because of strike action, health bosses warned this weekend. The health service faces the longest national strike in its history when junior doctors walk out for six days from 7am on Wednesday. One NHS trust leader said he expected about a third of operations to be cancelled at his trust. Strike action by consultants, junior doctors and nurses over the last year has hampered the work to … Continue reading Why is BBC England or UK press not reporting ‘Longest-ever NHS strike will sink Sunak’s waiting list pledge, say health chiefs’

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‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’

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I couldn’t put it better than or as well as, Leah Gunn Barrett: This was published in the December 30th Edinburgh Evening News. I wrote it in response to Ian Murray’s regular Thursday column, which was full of the usual drivel about how an English Labour government will be good for Scotland. Ian Murray promises Labour will go into the 2024 election year with a positive policy platform that will put Scotland’s interests first. When have we heard that one before?  He says, presumably with a straight face, that Keir Starmer has changed Labour into a credible alternative to the … Continue reading ‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’