Tag: politics

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Not one SNP member has called for Swinney to go or to refund the money so ‘pressure not even starting never mind mounting’

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The Herald has today: John Swinney is facing mounting pressure over his leadership, to compensate SNP supporters and to answer “difficult questions” after Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period. Opposition politicians, former SNP figures and campaigners said the guilty plea had raised fresh questions for the First Minister and renewed calls for donors whose money was misused to be refunded. Grok – ‘Has any current member of the SNP been reported calling for John Swinney to resign or for the money referred to in the Murrell case to be refunded?‘ Easy, John, I only thought for 5 seconds: No, … Continue reading Not one SNP member has called for Swinney to go or to refund the money so ‘pressure not even starting never mind mounting’

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Morrell case – BBC Reporting Scotland show contempt for ‘public’ trust

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for the high public trust placed in him. BBC Reporting Scotland today suggesting contempt for ‘public‘ trust. Morrell was not a public official as in someone working for a tax-payer-funded local authority, a health board, the armed forces, the BBC or even a charity funded by government grants, but an employee of a private company funded by its members. He did betray the trust of SNP members but cannot be accurately accused of betraying ‘public’ trust because he did not work for the ‘public.’ We then see an unidentified police officer suggesting the same: but then crucially: Today, we hear … Continue reading Morrell case – BBC Reporting Scotland show contempt for ‘public’ trust

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Swinney and Sinn Fein – The staggering hypocrisy of Murdo Fraser and the media operating in Scotland

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See her smile at the former IRA leader – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18607911 There’s Con List MSP Murdo Fraser outside Holyrood three days ago to groom the relatives of Scottish soldiers killed in the Troubles in Northern Ireland and damn the First Minister for meeting with the Sinn Fein leadership. He writes: It was good to meet a group of our veterans and representatives of bereaved families from the Troubles outside Parliament today, protesting about the comments of Scotland’s First Minister on Sinn Fein. John Swinney’s comments last week that we should “move on” from concerns about him working with Sinn Fein show … Continue reading Swinney and Sinn Fein – The staggering hypocrisy of Murdo Fraser and the media operating in Scotland

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NHS Scotland – only half the diagnostic scans outsourcing and building capability rather than just relying on private sector

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In the Guardian today: The NHS [England] is paying private firms record sums to analyse diagnostic scans because hospitals are too busy and understaffed to do the work themselves, research has revealed. The amount being spent on outsourced the interpretation of CT and MRI scans is “spiralling out of control” and reflects a short-sighted failure to train enough doctors, ministers are being told. Scans are vital for diagnosing diseases such as cancer and for monitoring patients’ responses to treatment, so they need to be done quickly. Many hospitals, however, rely on non-NHS health companies reading some scans to ensure they get the … Continue reading NHS Scotland – only half the diagnostic scans outsourcing and building capability rather than just relying on private sector

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Drug deaths in England being seriously under-counted

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Opioid deaths in England 50% higher than recorded In September 2025 (most recent data for this purpose) , BBC UK reported: More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government’s approach to tackling addiction. Research from King’s College London, shared exclusively with BBC News, found that there were 39,232 opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2022, more than 50% higher than previously known. The error has been blamed on the government’s official statistics body not having access to correct data and it is understood ministers are … Continue reading Drug deaths in England being seriously under-counted

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‘It isn’t tax payers money, it’s the government’s money and the government chooses what is spent’

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By rogercolkett You know that I support your untiring efforts to confront the lies obfuscations and omissions of the mainstream media that seek to show Scotland in as negative a way possible. And I share your annoyance at the waste of resources by the UK Government on projects that provide no benefit to Scotland, it’s part of the reason that I want  Scotland to be an independent country. The main reason, though, is that I would like to live in a Scotland that wasn’t tied to the anti-social and spurious neo-liberal Ideology that dominates the cities of London and Westminster. … Continue reading ‘It isn’t tax payers money, it’s the government’s money and the government chooses what is spent’

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HS2 is a testament to the massive transfer of money from the poor to the professional classes

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By derekscott1953 HS2 is a testament to the massive transfer of money from the poor to the Professional classes – lawyers, land-owners, consultancies, NGOs, layer upon layer of takers, who, given the massive cost rises, late delivery and dubious benefits, are clearly ‘unprofessional’. £102 or 103 billion, up from £35 billion, all to shave minutes off the journey into London. History does not repeat itself but it often rhymes, said Mark Twain, and this rhymes with the banker crisis. Banker even rhymes with another word that has come to define those working in that lower ring of Dante’s inferno. That … Continue reading HS2 is a testament to the massive transfer of money from the poor to the professional classes

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As pothole compensation claims surge in England they plummet in Scotland

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From the Guardian today: Exactly how many holes there are in the country’s roads depends on who’s counting and how they define them, but the RAC reckons there are a million potholes in the UK’s residential, city centre and rural roads, or six every mile. Its data backs up anecdotal evidence that things are getting a lot worse, quickly: compensation claims for pothole damage against UK local authorities rose by 90% in the three years to 2024. More than three times as many drivers cited potholes as the cause of breakdowns in February 2025 than in the same month a year earlier. … Continue reading As pothole compensation claims surge in England they plummet in Scotland

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One Scottish member of an Afghan child sex grooming gang operating only in Norfolk changes nothing in Scotland’s review

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In the Guardian today, the above and: As far as I can see the media operating in Scotland and opposition politicians have not yet spotted that reference to Scotland. That all the offences were committed in Norfolk will not stop them importing child sex grooming gangs into Scotland and calling for an immediate inquiry rather than the SNP Government’s 18-month timetable for a national review that would only then inform a decision on whether a full public inquiry is required. Here’s why a careful approach to a national review is required, reasons which were already in a response to Labour … Continue reading One Scottish member of an Afghan child sex grooming gang operating only in Norfolk changes nothing in Scotland’s review

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Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland

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I understand why the relatives of Scottish soldiers, often just boys at the time, will be upset by links with Sinn Fein but their anger would be better directed at the UK government and senior officers who sent them, ill-prepared, into a brutal civil war, in the first place. The UK has full diplomatic relationships with political parties of government in countries, from Ireland, through Kenya, to Israel and Malaysia, where similar young Scottish soldiers were sent, similarly ill-prepared, to die. Should we ask UK ministers to apologise? This is another media/opposition campaign, exploiting these parents and relatives in an … Continue reading Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland