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Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. The backlog The Times claims that the backlog in England was only 290 326 and 72 793 in Scotland, at the end of June. Also, they claim that the backlog has been falling in England, while in Scotland it continues to climb and that this … Continue reading Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. A&E waiting times The Times claims that in September 2024 65.9% were seen within 4 hours in Scotland and 72.4% were seen in that time in NHS England. They’re confused or dishonest. Looking at the published data, from Public Health Scotland, … Continue reading Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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Even with the predicted council tax increase Scots will still pay far less than in other parts of UK as they have done for the last 17 years

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In July 2024, from the Scottish Government: Council Tax rates are regularly quoted as being lower in Scotland than in England. However, does a simple numerical comparison tell you everything you need to know? At face value, the official statistics show that the average Council Tax bill per dwelling in Scotland is over £350 per year lower. 1 The full report does go on to explain why direct comparisons are problematic but you can be sure that were this the other way round, MSM would not hesitate to shout: SNP Council Tax bills £350 higher! In November 2023, from Policy Mogul, … Continue reading Even with the predicted council tax increase Scots will still pay far less than in other parts of UK as they have done for the last 17 years

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Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

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By Professor John Robertson OBA David Bol of the Scotsman today has this astonishing headline: SNP dealt blow as NHS recovery in Scotland lagging behind England This claim is based on the supposed evidence that performance in NHS Scotland is worsening while in NHS England it’s improving. Yes, but, but, David, what if performance in Scotland is worsening and is improving in England but the English performance is still worse than the Scottish performance, isn’t it England that’s lagging, until, at least it overtakes Scotland? Get me? Objectively, which NHS is lagging? The facts once more: First, THREE times as many wait … Continue reading Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

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They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

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By stewartb Seems they are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too. The BBC News website in its Wales section today (November 26) had this headline about NHS Wales: ‘Ambulance response target may change after failures’. It reports: ‘Ambulance response targets in Wales may change in 2025, after four years of the service failing to meet its key measure.’ ‘A total of 65% of the most life-threatening calls are expected to arrive to a patient within eight minutes, but this has been missed for the past … Continue reading They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

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The Alison Pearson case proves how corrupt much of the MSM really really are, so much so, that can we in Scotland ever really trust anything they report?

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Anonymous Here is a classic example of all things wrong with the corrupt and tainted UK media. Peter Osborne , now an apparent enlightened member of the media, and so determined to do the job as per his job description as one who considers himself to be a real and honest journalist , has written an article for the Middle East Eye. This article exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of the UK media , many of whom are compromised by their allegiance to respective UK political parties, and so as such are complicit in obscuring those things that these political parties … Continue reading The Alison Pearson case proves how corrupt much of the MSM really really are, so much so, that can we in Scotland ever really trust anything they report?

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Labour should rethink this one, and give money directly to the devolved Scottish Government for them to allocate to Scottish councils

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Anonymous The National (England) Audit Office stated yesterday that “Just one in 10 local authorities submitted reliable formal accounts of their spending in 2022-23. Of the remaining 90%, half failed to submit any financial data at all and half submitted accounts that had not been audited“ Remember Labour’s big plan for Scotland is to bypass the Scottish government and allow Ian Murray, as Labour’s new SOS for Scotland ,to allocate funds directly to Scottish councils so hopefully they, the Scottish councils, are more diligent and careful with their accounting. This BTW is a carbon copy of what the Tories were going to do … Continue reading Labour should rethink this one, and give money directly to the devolved Scottish Government for them to allocate to Scottish councils

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Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

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Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Richard Murphy, today: The national debt has just fallen by £1.5 trillion There is a very strange feature that, as far as I can see, has not had much attention paid to it so far within the Whole of Government Accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 that were published yesterday. Ignoring the fact that, as I noted yesterday, these accounts were subject to qualification by the National Audit Office because about 90% of the data from local authorities required for their preparation was either unavailable or had not itself been audited, some … Continue reading Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

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90% of English councils failed to delivery audited accounts for 2022-23 making the GERS data even more just GUFF

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Civil Service World yesterday: The National Audit Office has refused to give an opinion on the latest Whole of Government Accounts for the first time ever because of major backlogs in local-authority audits. Out of 426 local authorities across England, just 43 – around 10% – submitted reliable data to the WGA [Whole of government Accounts]. Just over half of those remaining submitted information that had not been audited, while 187 councils – 44% of the total – did not submit any data at all. https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/whole-government-accounts-nao-disclaimed-opinion-local-authorities-missing-data This is shocking. Imagine it … Continue reading 90% of English councils failed to delivery audited accounts for 2022-23 making the GERS data even more just GUFF

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SHOCK as FIVE TIMES as many, per head, wait for home care in England than in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland, today: The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment to enable them to live independently at home or in the community was 6,027 on 4 November 2024. The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was 3,281 on 4 November 2024. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/people-requiring-a-social-care-assessment-and-care-at-home-services/people-requiring-a-social-care-assessment-and-care-at-home-services-26-november-2024/ So, that’s around 9 300 in total waiting for assessment and/or waiting for a care at home package. So, in England that should be around 93 000? It’s not. It’s nowhere near as few. It’s between 400 000 and 500 … Continue reading SHOCK as FIVE TIMES as many, per head, wait for home care in England than in Scotland