Tag: politics

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Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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– ‘this is a major step forward’ –  ‘Despite the now released Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan, England has nothing equivalent’ – ‘England would do well to draw inspiration from its neighbour’. By stewartb A respected think tank focusing on health and care in England, the King’s Fund published (July 14) a blog post with the headline: ‘What can English health policy learn from Scotland? A coherent policy approach to population health.’ Source: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/scotland-coherent-policy-approach-population-health It describes the King’s Fund’s longstanding advocacy of a stronger focus in England on population health through promoting the ‘integration for health, as … Continue reading Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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Scotland’s economy has recently been outperforming the rest of the UK

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By Liz S Labour are failing in what they promoted as being their main mission as the new UK government. Number one focus for them being “Growth” in the UK economy. On July 11th it was reported that: “Chancellor Rachel Reeves has called the economy’s recent performance “disappointing” after figures showed it shrank unexpectedly in May” Also………. “The economy contracted by 0.1%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, after also shrinking in April” Ian Murray, Labour’s so called ‘Scottish’ Secretary, declared in 2024 that Labour’s first budget as the new UK government would herald an era of “Growth” for Scotland. Yet his Labour party are … Continue reading Scotland’s economy has recently been outperforming the rest of the UK

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Hell springs to mind as an apt description of that unwelcome scenario….but I believe the ball is in the court of voters in Scotland

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By Liz S I am hopeful that somehow Reform UK will never emulate the same level of success in Scotland next year that they, as a (pretend) party, seem to have achieved in England. (and also via polls are anticipated as having even more success in the future via some subsequent UK elections). However they will, I am sure , gain some seats next year in the Scottish elections which I think will be both a disgrace and also very much a huge badge of shame for Scotland as a nation. Open Democracy wrote an article in June 2025 which … Continue reading Hell springs to mind as an apt description of that unwelcome scenario….but I believe the ball is in the court of voters in Scotland

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As crime in Glasgow falls far below level in English cities, local media ‘name’ and shame it unfairly

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Glasgow Live, three days ago had the above and: On June 24, the Scottish Government released its annual Recorded Crime in Scotland report, and it was revealed Glasgow had the highest crime rate, with 829 crimes per 10,000 population recorded. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-named-most-dangerous-area-32022028 Who actually ‘named’ Glasgow? What significant person are they quoting? No one. Just those two wee corporate media hacks named in the credits. Comparative data for the rest of the UK is not yet published but we can easily compare with the 2023/2024 figures to reveal Glasgow to be the safest … Continue reading As crime in Glasgow falls far below level in English cities, local media ‘name’ and shame it unfairly

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Shock as some locals tell CNN they see fewer needles and drug paraphernalia on ground around ‘controversial’ SNP safe drug injection centre in Glasgow which has now saved lives after 2 500 supervised injections in only 6 months

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Professor John Robertson OBA From US-based international news agency CNN today, the above and: “We’ve had almost 2,500 injections inside the facility,” Dr. Saket Priyadarshi, the clinical lead of the Thistle, told a CNN team who visited the facility in early June. “That’s 2,500 less injections in the community, in parks, alleyways, car parks.” The Scottish government told CNN that the service has already delivered results in terms of public health. “Through the ability of staff to respond quickly in the event of an overdose, the Thistle service has already saved lives,” Scottish health secretary Neil Gray said. The service, … Continue reading Shock as some locals tell CNN they see fewer needles and drug paraphernalia on ground around ‘controversial’ SNP safe drug injection centre in Glasgow which has now saved lives after 2 500 supervised injections in only 6 months

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A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

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stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine issued a press statement (July 2) entitled: ‘RCEM Response to NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025’. This is part of the much heralded reforms to improve NHS services in England from the British Labour Party government in Westminster. I have little doubt that the same party in the run up to the 2026 Holyrood election, with the help of its mainstream media allies, will be telling us to vote Labour in order to get similar super-duper ‘change’ implemented for NHS Scotland. So what does the RCEM say about Labour’s plan for … Continue reading A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

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“Learner drivers currently having to wait months until they can sit their tests, so can Scotland [sic] fix it’s [sic] driving test system” ?

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Liz S BBC Scotland News tweet: “Learner drivers currently having to wait months until they can sit their tests, so can Scotland fix it’s Driving test System” ? Linked to this tweet was a video. Then there was another tweet from the BBC Scotland News twitter account correcting their original tweet and the linked video to that original tweet. “Correction: This video refers to the Scottish government and it should have said the UK government”. So……. Who identified the error or was it identified via a complaint to the BBC, who then as those called out for this lie then had to correct the misinformation they had communicated in their … Continue reading “Learner drivers currently having to wait months until they can sit their tests, so can Scotland [sic] fix it’s [sic] driving test system” ?

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Michael Shanks – ‘[Scottish] Oil and gas has played a critical role in our energy story for the past 60 years. It will continue to play a critical role for decades to come’

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stewartb The recent session of the Scottish Affairs Committee of the Commons gained quite a few ‘insights’ from oral evidence given by Michael Shanks MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Energy) at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) See transcript of the oral evidence at https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/16235/pdf/ Shanks – ‘Oil and gas has played a critical role in our energy story for the past 60 years. It will continue to play a critical role for decades to come, …’ (my emphasis) Later, Committee Chair (Patricia Ferguson MP, Labour): ‘Do you think it is necessary to reduce North Sea oil and gas … Continue reading Michael Shanks – ‘[Scottish] Oil and gas has played a critical role in our energy story for the past 60 years. It will continue to play a critical role for decades to come’

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Supplying the UK with oil & gas from offshore Scotland or from imports? For the British Labour Party government there is “not a material difference” – apparently!

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By stewartb The head of trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) was moved to write (July 4) in the specialist news website, Energy Voice in order to rebut a Westminster government minister’s evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee of the Commons. The Committee was taking oral evidence from Michael Shanks MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Energy) at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Source: Energy Voice, ’Let’s be clear about the value of the North Sea – Offshore Energies UK boss responds to minister’s claims there’s no difference between oil and gas imports and domestic … Continue reading Supplying the UK with oil & gas from offshore Scotland or from imports? For the British Labour Party government there is “not a material difference” – apparently!

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Is the rot finally setting in on the Tory party ?

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Liz S Just how many current and previous politicians at different levels will the Tory party lose from their party to the Reform UK party. The latest two are a former Tory Welsh Secretary Sir David Jones and now we have Sir Jake Berry also announcing that he too has defected to the Reform UK party. We also had Anne Marie Morris a former Tory MP also defect to Rerform. Then in the recent English local elections we saw ……….. Former Tory MP (and Tory Minister) Andrea Jenkinson elected as the Reform UK Mayor of Lincolnshire. Also the former Tory Councillor Sarah … Continue reading Is the rot finally setting in on the Tory party ?