Tag: politics

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Burnham seems ‘Mad for it’

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By Liz S “The Pennsylvania Department of Health will be distributing free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to those York County residents that live, learn or work within 10 miles of the Peach Bottom power plant“ “Has the UK Government, responsible for nuclear power regulation in Scotland ever shown such concern for Scots living near nuclear facilities in Scotland ?” Nope. Indeed as far as UK governments are concerned, both the Tories & also the Labour party , all they seek to do is to impose more Nuclear power Stations within Scotland. Potential various dire consequences and fallout (pun intended) be damned. However it seems that they, UK … Continue reading Burnham seems ‘Mad for it’

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And Now The News Where You Are

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 I’ve just been listening to the evening news, brought into our homes courtesy of STV Studios. The news anchor introduced a story telling us that the Scottish Government — or “the SNP”, as much of the media seems to prefer calling it these days — is going to miss its 2021 announced target of building 120,000 new affordable homes before 2032 by around 35,000 units. And, naturally, the Scottish Government was wheeled out to take the blame. But then came the interviews. Construction materials, we were told, rose dramatically between 2021 and 2023, largely because … Continue reading And Now The News Where You Are

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One tunnel designer accuses Scotland of falling behind on tunnels while another says they’d never pay for themselves – Who will the Herald quote?

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In the Herald today the above. Who accuses? This guy, a ‘top’ tunnel designer. How strong is the case for replacing Scotland’s west coast ferries with tunnels? UK Treasury Green Book-style present-value calculations (with discounting) often make high-upfront tunnel capital look less favourable than ongoing ferry replacement and operating costs, even when undiscounted lifetime cash costs favour tunnels. Recent Shetland analyses illustrate this divergence. https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/news/could-much-criticised-treasury-guidance-on-public-spending-d-436409/ Low traffic volumes: On sparsely populated islands, pure financial payback via tolls or conventional CBA is difficult. One tunnelling expert [Martin Knights] publicly stated Shetland-style schemes “would never pay for itself” under standard cost-benefit analysis … Continue reading One tunnel designer accuses Scotland of falling behind on tunnels while another says they’d never pay for themselves – Who will the Herald quote?

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What would Scotland’s fiscal position be outside the UK?

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By derekscott1953 Richard Murphy’s argument (above) demonstrates why the independence debate needs two sets of numbers, not one. 1. What is Scotland’s fiscal position inside the UK? GERS addresses that. We may argue about some of the assumptions, and its origins in the 1990s, but Scottish Governments do not disassociate from the analysis. Maybe they should in future in order to move this debate on? 2. What would Scotland’s fiscal position be outside the UK? That’s the estimated calculation Murphy says matters, but his articles and videos never try to provide it. I accept if we were facing another referendum … Continue reading What would Scotland’s fiscal position be outside the UK?

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STV on youth violence – Disgusting, shameful, exploitative, scare mongering and all wrong as murder by minors falls to a quarter of the level

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STV tonight in a desperate attempt to win viewers, completely misrepresent the world you live in, with this report based on anecdotal evidence only, and ignore once more the facts, the facts that matter so much to all of us if we are to live a life based on what we can expect to experience. The facts: Murder by minors – Only a quarter of the level 20 years ago! The trend is clearly and definitively the other way in Scotland. Above, the official data reveal a steady, statistically significant, falling trend in the number of homicides by minors, over … Continue reading STV on youth violence – Disgusting, shameful, exploitative, scare mongering and all wrong as murder by minors falls to a quarter of the level

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UK government withholds files on Israeli firm meddling in Scottish elections

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By Liz S It was reported, three days ago, by The National that “the UK government withholds files on Israeli firm meddling in Scottish elections”. The key here is obviously the fact that is was a “Israeli firm” . Now had it been a Russian firm, well the contents of these files would be released and it would be all over the media (24/7). However if you type “UK government withholds files on Israeli firm meddling in Scottish elections” in your online search engine then you may see what I saw and that was that , as a story , there are … Continue reading UK government withholds files on Israeli firm meddling in Scottish elections

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Naïve SNP dismiss China warnings

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By Liz S So today, surprise surprise (not), the front pages of the decidedly non Scottish editions of The Daily Mail & The Daily Express state this: The Daily mail – “Naïve SNP dismiss China warnings”. The Daily Express – “SNP support for Chinese turbine plant poses profound security risk“. I prefer to “dismiss” anything that the Daily Mail front pages write about either the SNP or Scotland. Also it is clear that The Daily Express “poses a profound risk” to truth and honesty when writing about politics in Scotland , that is due to their (obvious) “support” for ‘any party but the SNP in Scotland due to their (most … Continue reading Naïve SNP dismiss China warnings

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Scotland is deliberately having costs dumped on it by Westminster

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By Liz S Kevin Hague has had a lot to say on the recent released GERS figures via his ‘X account , that is in him discrediting anyone who argues that it is not an honest reflection on the reality of Scotland’s finances as a future independent country. Indeed in respect to Richard Murphy arguing that “”Scotland is deliberately having costs dumped on it by Westminster in a way that is entirely unreasonable” Hague’s response to that was this: “a quick watch and i counted at least 8 massive factual errors and/or idiotic statements – is it worth me writing them up or does … Continue reading Scotland is deliberately having costs dumped on it by Westminster

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Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

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Above, the bigger picture for fire services in the UK, but the Scotsman today is platforming a trade union they used to habitually attack before they became useful for the Union: The Scotsman above pushing the ill-informed scare story about fire service cuts in an evidence vaccuum. Badly mixing my metaphors let me shine some light on that vacuum. From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026, the above and : Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There … Continue reading Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

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They are certainly better together

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By Liz S I also saw on the BBC website today under their ‘Scottish’ page , the front page headlines of the newspapers where it included: The most certainly not ‘Scottish’ Daily Mail front page: “We really are better together” “Being part of the Union worth record “2.7k to every Scot”. “Known as the Union dividend”. First of all this is not a Union that Scotland is a part of. Second of all , the English gutter press constantly promoting that the UK somehow benefits Scots more than other citizens living elsewhere within the UK, is completely and also conveniently ignoring what Scotland contributes to their UK State . For example the … Continue reading They are certainly better together