Tag: politics

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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

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The Jay Report on the criminal exploitation of children mentions Scotland 106 times but BBC Scotland ignore it and this is why

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In August 2024, BBC South Yorkshire had: Rotherham child abuse: What was the Jay Report? I thought: ‘Yes what was the Jay Report?’ I don’t remember my taxpayer-funded, public service broadcaster, with an official policy to inform and educate me, telling me about it . I tried ‘BBC Scotland Jay Report’ but got only the comedian Jay Lafferty. I found it myself. It begins: The facts of criminal exploitation paint a stark picture: tens of thousands of children and young people across the country are controlled and manipulated by criminal gangs, while countless more are … Continue reading The Jay Report on the criminal exploitation of children mentions Scotland 106 times but BBC Scotland ignore it and this is why

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More than 100 000 Scots pensioners to lose winter fuel allowance and Scottish Labour MPs all knew this BEFORE they voted to end it

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From Factchecker, The Canary, today: The new Labour Party government is stripping winter fuel payments from 1.6 million pensioners living in poverty this winter. This is according to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister – showing that Labour knew this – but are ploughing ahead anyway. DWP minister Emma Reynolds disclosed the information in response to two written questions from MPs. The first was from Labour MP for Lowestoft Jess Asato. She tabled the question on 30 August. Of course, this was a little under two weeks before she voted with the government to strip pensioners of it. https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2024/09/20/winter-fuel-payments-cut-poverty-dwp/?__s=kkn8su7rxte9tzdcocwy With 8% of the population, that means more than … Continue reading More than 100 000 Scots pensioners to lose winter fuel allowance and Scottish Labour MPs all knew this BEFORE they voted to end it

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Scotland’s dramatically better cancer waiting times

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Today, BBC UK’s Nick Triggle has: The cancers with longest treatment waits revealed with the above graph for NHS England data. I’ve added, where possible, equivalent Scottish data. While skin and prostate/kidney waiting times do seem slightly longer in Scotland, in 5 key areas, including breast, lung and liver cancers, NHS Scotland ‘s performance is dramatically better, saving thousands of lives. Triggle only mentions Scotland once: See what he’s done there? Scotland, on that measure alone, seems worse than England because he is careful not to tell us how close the two countries were to the … Continue reading Scotland’s dramatically better cancer waiting times

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BBC Scotland find ONE ‘Scottish’ drug smuggler through Stansted Airport to Gourock but ignore the SIXTY English groups bringing a plague of drug abuse, death, violence and sexual abuse to Scotland

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BBC Scotland today: A man in Scotland has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to import £600,000 of cannabis from Thailand through Stansted Airport. The 33-year-old was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in Gourock, Inverclyde, after an investigation supported by Police Scotland. English County Lines gangs, based on Police Scotland estimates, have for at least five years now, brought a wave of terror into at least 60 Scottish small towns and villages. They bring with them cheap drug supplies, extreme violence, the use of child drug carriers on the rail lines, people trafficking, prostitution, the exploitation (cuckooing) of … Continue reading BBC Scotland find ONE ‘Scottish’ drug smuggler through Stansted Airport to Gourock but ignore the SIXTY English groups bringing a plague of drug abuse, death, violence and sexual abuse to Scotland

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How the SNP’s Child Payment would save more than 100 000 children in England from the extreme poverty caused by the less talked-about ‘absolute’ benefit cap

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, always Anglocentric, there’s this: Statistics released today reveal that 123,000 households in England, Scotland and Wales were affected by the benefit cap in May 2024, a rise of about 46,000 in just three months according to government figures. Introduced by George Osborne in 2013, the cap means the most a family without regular work can claim is £25,323 in London and £22,020 in the rest of the country. and this example: In our research with families affected by the benefit cap, we have spoken to parents such as Lucy, who pays £1,375 a month to rent a mould-ridden, … Continue reading How the SNP’s Child Payment would save more than 100 000 children in England from the extreme poverty caused by the less talked-about ‘absolute’ benefit cap

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56% for Yes with EU membership and they’d welcome us with open arms and fast – this must be the SNP strategy now

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Today’s YouGov poll has 56% of people would vote for independence if it meant EU membership, while just 32% would vote No. https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_IndyRef_240903.pdf While the No majority without that, will get the mainstream headlines, the message for the SNP and the other pro-independence parties is clear. In September 2020: Tory List MSP, Dean Lockhart, helpfully took the time to remind us of the level of support for Scotland’s return to the EU by asking Mike Russell for confirmation of his claim that a former president of the EU had said to his face that Scotland would be able to join … Continue reading 56% for Yes with EU membership and they’d welcome us with open arms and fast – this must be the SNP strategy now