Tag: scotland

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As NHS England staggers into a ‘third world’ crisis, BBC England ignores yet BBC Scotland platforms Labour and Cons to make one up here

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BBC Scotland above and BBC England below: You’d be forgiven for thinking things were difficult in NHS Scotland but hunky dory in England, yet in the Guardian today: NHS chief warns trusts in England are ‘stretched to limit’ amid strikes. Several NHS trusts in England have already declared critical incidents during the walkout, which continues until Tuesday. Some have asked staff to return to work, citing patient safety. It means that Sunak’s key pledge on NHS waiting times risks going into reverse. Official data suggests that since the PM made his pledge a year ago, the waiting list has gone up by … Continue reading As NHS England staggers into a ‘third world’ crisis, BBC England ignores yet BBC Scotland platforms Labour and Cons to make one up here

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Sunday Sun reveals SNP policy spreading to England – Child Payment next?

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This was posted by Gordon Macdonald MSP (SNP) for Edinburgh Pentlands. Here’s the detail: The Sun report grudgingly mentions Scotland, just across the border and prioritises the influence of Finland, over 1 000 miles way and using a language very difficult for Northumbrians to read. 283 00 baby boxes have now been given out in Scotland. No accidental fires have been reported despite the story from that daft academic at the time and Labour MSP Mary McFee pompously demanding the SNP make sure they were safe: They even hand them out now in US fire stations: https://wibc.com/217972/baby-box-installed-for-newborn-safety-at-lawrence-fire-department/ However, there’s an … Continue reading Sunday Sun reveals SNP policy spreading to England – Child Payment next?

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BBC UK reveal that Matheson has been responsible for ambulances responding 4 TIMES faster on average than in England

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Thanks to an inadvertent slip by BBC UK via their How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app today, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance is 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800 Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023: Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes – above the target time of 18 minutes https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67714151 Yes, I know the English figures are only for Category 2 emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes and we can’t see if the … Continue reading BBC UK reveal that Matheson has been responsible for ambulances responding 4 TIMES faster on average than in England

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£30 thousand? Labour received £14 million in secret loans before an election

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Today BBC Scotland, with images of the former SNP Chief Executive and, of course, his wife Nicola Sturgeon, has: The SNP could face another probe into its finances after taking five years to declare thousands of pounds in loans from its former chief executive. The Electoral Commission said the party received two payments totalling £15,000 from Peter Murrell in 2018, but did not notify the watchdog until last year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67896063 Only at the very end, on the other probe, launched 54 months ago, re £600 000 of the SNP’s own money apparently vired from one heading to another, as many … Continue reading £30 thousand? Labour received £14 million in secret loans before an election

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Maybe Scotland’s ferry-user ‘representatives’ would like CalMac to learn from this operator in the richest country in the world as it warns ‘Normal service is not possible. Don’t expect improvements for 5 years!’

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Two days ago, we heard from the Herald: The Scottish Government’s bid to provide a direct public contract to CalMac to run the ageing ferry fleet without going through a competitive tendering process is opposed by its community board. Today, to warn the board to be careful what it wishes for, we can read of how a large, failing but profit-making ferry operator, in the USA, is doing for its users: After several years of trying to predict when normal ferry service might return, Washington State Ferries is now acknowledging what most regular riders likely already suspected: Until new boats … Continue reading Maybe Scotland’s ferry-user ‘representatives’ would like CalMac to learn from this operator in the richest country in the world as it warns ‘Normal service is not possible. Don’t expect improvements for 5 years!’

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Child Homelessness hits an all-time high in the failing UK (England)

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No exploitative images here Leah Gunn Barrett This was published in the January 4th, 2024 Edinburgh Evening News. The last two lines, calling on Scotland to end the failing union, were edited out. Only by restoring Scottish sovereignty can we end homelessness and poverty. Child homelessness has hit an all-time high in the failing UK. 1 in 84 children don’t have a home and many are forced to stay in freezing shipping containers, overcrowded B&Bs and unsecured premises without locks.  Shelter reported that the number of homeless in England rose 14% last year. One in ten of England’s largest councils are nearing bankruptcy … Continue reading Child Homelessness hits an all-time high in the failing UK (England)

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If every ‘failure’ results in hostile media and political scrutiny, we will never encourage creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and risk-taking in how we deliver public services.

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stewartb BBC Scotland doesn’t miss a trick! On the Scotland page of the BBC News website today (4 January) there is this headline: ‘Nicola Sturgeon warns flagship care plan may not be meeting goals’. The article is based on a contribution the former FM gave to a BBC Radio 4 series earlier this week called ‘Fixing Britain’. Given the nature of the programmes (see later), I wonder (!) what prompted BBC Scotland to include this in its daily news/politics coverage? The article quotes a Tory politician in Scotland with a typical ‘SNPbad’ comment so might BBC Scotland have been given … Continue reading If every ‘failure’ results in hostile media and political scrutiny, we will never encourage creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and risk-taking in how we deliver public services.

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Does their Ferries Community Board want to stick islanders with a more expensive and less reliable ferry service?

johnrobertson834

Perhaps they only read the Herald’s Second-class Ferry Correspondent (Scotland only) but the CalMAc Ferries Community Board apparently  “unanimously” do not support a direct award of the next contract. So they want to open up the bid to for-profit operators like Washington State Ferries in the USA, BC Ferries in Canada, Condor in the Channel Islands, Red Funnel in the Isle of Wight or KiwiRail in New Zealand? Regulars here will know that all operate less reliable, older vessels, at far greater cost to the passenger. For confirmation of this and to get a sharp cold water shock, read these: … Continue reading Does their Ferries Community Board want to stick islanders with a more expensive and less reliable ferry service?

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SNP government has saved over 100 000 doctor appointments in 2023

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I’m grateful to Dorothy once more for both alerting me to this and for largely guiding the both the sums and the framing of the narrative. As First Minister and, before that, as Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf has been careful to put in the hours, do his day job, to meet with health service union representatives and avert damaging strikes. In England, the story has been very different. From the Guardian, today: Tens of thousands of patients will have their care cancelled from Wednesday in England amid massive disruption caused by a six-day strike by junior doctors – the longest in the … Continue reading SNP government has saved over 100 000 doctor appointments in 2023

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Better Together BMA Scotland shop steward doesn’t call for GP staffing in Scotland to be lowered to UK average

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In the Guardian today: The leader of Scotland’s doctors has called for rural GPs to get higher pay and special status to cope with a critical shortfall of medics in the Highlands, islands and rural counties. I have no doubt there are shortages in Scotland’s rural areas. I’m guessing there always were, even before the flood of middle-class settlers used to urban-levels of staffing and ambulance waiting times, from Central Scotland too before you accuse me of Anglophobia, arrived to age self-importantly in our glens and on our islands. The Guardian writer does not, of course, wish to put this … Continue reading Better Together BMA Scotland shop steward doesn’t call for GP staffing in Scotland to be lowered to UK average