Tag: politics

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Another Scottish Labour leader believes in accuracy in the media unless you’re talking about Scotland

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Elon Musk circulates information which is untrue and tries to distort what is going on. Ayesha Yousef Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika MBA ‘Scottish broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former political adviser to senior Labour Party politicians’, features in Can … Continue reading Another Scottish Labour leader believes in accuracy in the media unless you’re talking about Scotland

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Don’t these dentists know there’s a crisis in dentistry? Scottish Labour MPs are telling England there is one to make them feel better and able to keep looking down on us

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Look at that from Newmilns in East Ayrshire! No need to queue round the block for an appointment and then wait forever for it, as we hear is the case across NHS England. I wonder is the … Continue reading Don’t these dentists know there’s a crisis in dentistry? Scottish Labour MPs are telling England there is one to make them feel better and able to keep looking down on us

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Will Anas Sarwar follow Sir Keir Starmer on this too – radioactive emissions through your windows and now floodwaters on your doorstep?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie, again, for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: More than 100,000 new homes will be built on the highest-risk flood zones in England in the next five years as part of the government’s push for 1.5m extra properties by the end of this parliament, Guardian analysis suggests. Building on areas with the highest risk of serious flooding is supposed to be discouraged. Experts say development should be avoided unless absolutely necessary because there is a significant chance of regular deluges, which will flood the properties, cause hundreds of millions of pounds of economic … Continue reading Will Anas Sarwar follow Sir Keir Starmer on this too – radioactive emissions through your windows and now floodwaters on your doorstep?

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NHS staffing and bed-blocking – Sandesh Gulhane allowed to lie twice on STV News with no checking to see that both are improving and way ahead of NHS England

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By Professor John Robertson OBA On STV News at 6pm tonight, Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary, Sandesh Gulhane was allowed, unchecked and uncontested, to claim that less (sic) people are coming into ‘our’ health service and that delayed discharges need to come down. First, NHS Scotland staffing – 160 840 FTE, up 1.6% on last year and 17.7% up on ten years ago.1 So, more not fewer (Sandy!) people are coming into my NHS. Sandy’s from south of the border. How is staffing there? 1.3 million FTE.2 Now, with one tenth of the population, Scotland must only need around 130 000 yet … Continue reading NHS staffing and bed-blocking – Sandesh Gulhane allowed to lie twice on STV News with no checking to see that both are improving and way ahead of NHS England

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After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

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stewartb It’s worth adding the performance stats on long waits from TIME OF ARRIVAL in order to compare with NHS Scotland. NHS England statistics on waits in A&E departments over 12 hours from time of arrival are published monthly. However, the data have also been compiled for ease of reference in something called ‘Supplementary ECDS Analysis Time Series February 2023 Onwards (XLS, 41.9KB)’. Using this source it is possible to compare and contrast the number and percentage of A&E attendances spending 12 hours or more from time of arrival to admission, discharge or transfer. Set out below are snapshots of … Continue reading After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

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A year later after they had queued round the block for a dentist, Labour has no plan but the SNP has managed 95% registered with an NHS dentist

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Today lawyer Peter Stefanovic re-posted the above video to makes these points: The Labour Party went into the 2024 election promising to reform the discredited NHS contract fuelling the current crisis. According to @TheBDA there has … Continue reading A year later after they had queued round the block for a dentist, Labour has no plan but the SNP has managed 95% registered with an NHS dentist

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Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA In December 2024, 54 207 people waited more than 12 hours [after triage and decision to admit] in NHS England A&E departments, up from 36 806 in July when Labour won the General Election promising change but … Continue reading Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

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How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Skwawkbox, today, the above video (link below) and this: Alex Karp, the chief executive of software company Palantir – which supplies military software and services to the Israeli occupation that has murdered and maimed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and also has a huge contract from the UK government to manage NHS data – has told shareholders he’s sure they’re having as much fun as he is and approves of the company ‘scar[ing] enemies and on occasion kill[ing] them’. Palantir has also been linked, in a parliamentary enquiry and … Continue reading How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

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Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today: Second homes tax is ‘Scotland’s most ill-conceived & damaging policy’ – What does Scotland’s tax system for purchases of second properties mean for taxpayers, landlords, tenants and the economy? That is one of the … Continue reading Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

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UK Government’s maintenance backlog for England’s devolved public service facilities reaches £30.5 billion – what impact of this neglect on Scotland?

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By stewartb The eye-watering scale of the maintenance backlog associated with UK government  property is exposed in a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO). A figure of £30.5 billion is identified as the scale of the backlog associated just with properties used in the delivery of devolved public services in England (some in Wales). Source: NAO (January 22, 2025) Maintaining public service facilities. Cross-Government Report, HC 544 (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maintaining-public-service-facilities.pdf ). When decisions by Westminster/Whitehall to neglect basic property maintenance in England result in budget numbers on this scale, the possible negative consequences for Scotland’s own public finances should merit … Continue reading UK Government’s maintenance backlog for England’s devolved public service facilities reaches £30.5 billion – what impact of this neglect on Scotland?