Tag: politics

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As Ayr remembers the tens of thousands of Scots who died in the Battle of the Somme a reminder that ‘It can be said with certainty that men born in Scotland did suffer disproportionately more deaths during the First War’

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In the Ayr Advertiser today, the above and: From July 1-13, 140 silhouettes are being displayed in Wellington Square to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. 1 From the National Records of Scotland in January 2001: The Battle of the Somme was a mass allied offensive of the First World War by the British and French armies against the Germans. Conceived by General Haig, the prelude to the attack was a week-long bombardment of the German lines. Over 1.5 million shells were fired, in an attempt to destroy the German defences and allow the allied armies … Continue reading As Ayr remembers the tens of thousands of Scots who died in the Battle of the Somme a reminder that ‘It can be said with certainty that men born in Scotland did suffer disproportionately more deaths during the First War’

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‘Independent Scotland as foreign country could get no Royal Navy work’ argument is ‘blown out of the water’ as deadly enemy in two world wars buys UK company essential for Type 26 frigates

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Many thanks to reader rptscott for alerting me to this: From the UK Defence Journal, yesterday, only two years after the one above: German propulsion specialist RENK Group has entered into a binding agreement to acquire David Brown Defence, the Huddersfield-based manufacturer of gearboxes for the Type 26 frigate and other major naval programmes, from private equity firm Stellex Capital Management, the UK Defence Journal understands. The transaction, announced in London on 3 July, gives the Augsburg-headquartered group access to what it describes as high-value naval programmes across the Five Eyes nations. David Brown Defence supplies main propulsion transmission systems … Continue reading ‘Independent Scotland as foreign country could get no Royal Navy work’ argument is ‘blown out of the water’ as deadly enemy in two world wars buys UK company essential for Type 26 frigates

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How have we known for at least a decade that Scotland’s maternity services were not troubled like those in NHS England? More than three times per head, the cost of settling negligence lawsuits in NHS England

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In the Guardian 19 February 2026, the above and: The NHS will have to spend more money settling lawsuits involving negligence during childbirth after a supreme court ruling that lawyers said puts right a “historic injustice”. The court ruled on Wednesday that children in England who suffer catastrophic injuries while they are being born can claim damages for future earnings they would otherwise have had. The ruling on “lost years damages” means that children whose life expectancy is shortened can recover compensation for being unable to work. It comes amid mounting concern at the rising cost of medical negligence to the NHS in England – its liabilities have … Continue reading How have we known for at least a decade that Scotland’s maternity services were not troubled like those in NHS England? More than three times per head, the cost of settling negligence lawsuits in NHS England

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Patient sexually assaulted and killed in her bed, six staff jailed including surgeon for sexually assaulting five colleagues and a culture of systemic bullying and harassment in Blackpool hospital but neither health secretary nor government blamed and BBC ignore it – imagine that had been in Inverness?

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You could be forgiven for thinking that NHS England’s worries were confined to maternity services and to NHS Nottingham with its criminal police investigation labelled perversely ‘Operation Perth.’ After decades of centre-right, cost-cutting, government and unprotected by a centre-left SNP government, protecting public services from the worst of austerity politics, all public services in England are struggling badly and to a greater extent than, as TuS reveals on a daily basis, their equivalents in Scotland. The above claim can be checked by searching here: Just type in ‘NHS’ or ‘waiting’ or ‘crime’ or…………… On 4 December 2025, we reported an … Continue reading Patient sexually assaulted and killed in her bed, six staff jailed including surgeon for sexually assaulting five colleagues and a culture of systemic bullying and harassment in Blackpool hospital but neither health secretary nor government blamed and BBC ignore it – imagine that had been in Inverness?

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Scotland sends exactly £91.4bn to London and gets back a wholly estimated amount based on 25 out 26 figures which are estimates

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A reader emailed to ask – I have seen various figures for the total sum of Tax raised in Scotland varying from £70Billion to £90Billion and remitted directly to Westminster. Is it possible to confirm the exact figure? In 2024-25, total public sector tax revenue attributed to Scotland was £91.4 billion. This is the latest figure from the Scottish Government’s Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2024-25 report, published 13 August 2025. It covers revenue raised in Scotland through both devolved taxes (controlled by the Scottish Parliament) and reserved taxes (collected and mostly retained by the UK Treasury/HMRC).1 This leads … Continue reading Scotland sends exactly £91.4bn to London and gets back a wholly estimated amount based on 25 out 26 figures which are estimates

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The consequences of being a colony – the view from Norway

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Capella writes: I don’t know how or if it’s possible but reporting on the consequences of being a colony would be interesting. We have no power over vital aspects of development and decision making. Something the MSM fails to notice. Jeffrey Sachs pointed out that DR Congo gets criticised for not running the country properly while the long history of imperial exploitation is forgotten. “What’s wrong with your country?” At the world cup a fan stood up dressed as Patrice Lumumba to remind the world that Western intelligence murdered their first democratically elected leader. With power over our resources we … Continue reading The consequences of being a colony – the view from Norway

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What mayors like Burnham would bring to Scotland – acting beyond the law to give away public assets cheap to cronies and for little in return

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Talking-up Scotland follower, Scunnert, Grannies for Independence @Scunnert2 has asked us to investigate: Economic free zones, how they’re used by English mayors to hand public assets to private firms and are basically above the law. ‘Burnham’s neck deep in them.‘ The Herald and other MSM operating in Scotland are running with a report from Enlighten, Lord Jack McConnells ‘think tank’ arguing: Reform Scotland, the independent, non-partisan think tank, today calls on the incoming Scottish Government to endorse the creation of an elected mayoralty in every Scottish local authority. In its new report, ‘Local Heroes: Why Scotland Needs Directly-Elected Mayors’ (Download below), … Continue reading What mayors like Burnham would bring to Scotland – acting beyond the law to give away public assets cheap to cronies and for little in return

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‘Scottish’ Daily Express today desperately tries to link it to Scotland but nothing in Scotland looks anything like the mass child grooming rape gangs in England

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The Daily Express ‘Scottish’ today, above with an English/Pakistani rape gang leader and one of his victims in England on the front page. Below in the UK, where is the story? Why is this unacceptable propaganda? From the First Minister 9 February 2026, responding to calls for a national review: However, in order for any action to be effective, we must appropriately consider the relevance of these recommendations for our specific legislative, statutory service and regulatory landscape, and the scale of this specific form of organised gang-related sexual abuse of children and young people in Scotland. I would firstly like … Continue reading ‘Scottish’ Daily Express today desperately tries to link it to Scotland but nothing in Scotland looks anything like the mass child grooming rape gangs in England

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NHS Scotland’s greater spending, some independence, better staffing and care integration will offset some of the 20 000 avoidable deaths Starmer offers us in his US deal

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In the Guardian today: The NHS will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for new medicines under the terms of the UK-US trade deal agreed last December, leading to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths [229 000] of patients, analysis has found. Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients in England access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied. But they have been accused of caving in to US demands to spend billions of pounds a year extra on drugs supplied to the NHS … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s greater spending, some independence, better staffing and care integration will offset some of the 20 000 avoidable deaths Starmer offers us in his US deal

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NHS Scotland to be hammered for hundreds of millions in US drug deal Scotland had no say in

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In the Guardian today something we, well stewartb, warned was coming. The NHS across the UK will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for the trade ‘deal’ the UK Labour Government has just done with big pharma in the US. Scotland’s share, unavoidably as the deal is done by the UK Government alone, will cost NHS Scotland around 8% of that or £360 million. In April 2026, stewartb, warned this was coming and NHS Scotland would just have to meet the cost from its finite budget unless the UK Government did something. stewartb Seems like another example … Continue reading NHS Scotland to be hammered for hundreds of millions in US drug deal Scotland had no say in