Tag: scotland

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Why is SNP success in averting health strikes raising ‘fears for patient safety’ not worthy of comparison?

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The SNP in Government is often blamed for supposed failures to run the NHS: SNP accused of leaving A&E in a ‘shameful and unacceptable’ condition as 300,000 patients have waited more than four hours to be seen Daily Mail 3 days ago Nicola Sturgeon accused of diverting ‘jaw-dropping’ £17.6bn away from the NHS Daily Express in February 2023 Call for answers over SNP probe and NHS in crisis (not ‘crisis’) BBC Scotland in April 2023 The SNP Government has now averted action by all NHS unions, representing nurses, consultants, junior doctors, radiographers, physiotherapists, ambulance and support staff. The first three … Continue reading Why is SNP success in averting health strikes raising ‘fears for patient safety’ not worthy of comparison?

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Why is reporting of far fewer deaths by stabbing in Scotland not in the public interest when reporting higher drug deaths is?

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The tragic news of another death by stabbing of a 16 year-old in London on New Year’s Eve is not being reported comparatively in the way that drug deaths are. Regardless of falling drug deaths in Scotland, Scottish and UK media and opposition politicians continue to feast greedily on comparisons with the rest of the UK or Europe. In the last few months: Drug-related deaths in Scotland lie squarely at the feet of Nicola Sturgeon Labour List Scotland drug deaths decrease – but rate still higher than rest of Europe Sky News Scottish Labour demands SNP take action on drug … Continue reading Why is reporting of far fewer deaths by stabbing in Scotland not in the public interest when reporting higher drug deaths is?

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‘Growing proportion of England’s flood defences in disrepair, analysis finds’

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From the Guardian today: Ministers have been told they will be “punished” by voters after analysis revealed the decline of vital flood defences across England. The proportion of critical assets in disrepair has almost trebled in the West Midlands and the east of England since 2018, leaving thousands of homes and businesses more vulnerable to storms. Critical assets are defined as those where there is a high risk to life and property if they fail. The east of England, which spans the Conservative heartlands from Suffolk to Bedfordshire and Essex, has one of the highest proportion of rundown flood defences in … Continue reading ‘Growing proportion of England’s flood defences in disrepair, analysis finds’

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Cancer checks, A&E waiting times, hospital Covid infections and drug deaths – Why England’s health statistics are even worse than we were told

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Thanks again to Dottie’s Phone for alerting me to this. All sources below. Yesterday in the Guardian: NHS figures that show more people than ever are being checked for cancer have been criticised as “misleading” by experts. Official data published on Monday reported that almost 3 million people in England were tested for cancer in 2022, a 133% increase in the decade since 2013. The latest monthly figures also show that October 2023 was the highest month on record for cancer checks, with 269,492 urgent referrals. But leading cancer experts dismissed the figures as “misleading” and “smoke and mirrors”, noting that the NHS was … Continue reading Cancer checks, A&E waiting times, hospital Covid infections and drug deaths – Why England’s health statistics are even worse than we were told

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When Wes Streeting puts a kilt on NHS reform

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Leah Gunn Barrett Alex Massie (Times December 31) says that Labour is a national party or it’s nothing. Labour will never be a national party. It’s an English party, headquartered in and concerned only about England. Scotland is an afterthought, and Scots know it. Massie shows his contempt for Scots when he claims a Labour win in England will make it respectable in Scotland, as though we can’t think for ourselves but must take our cues from our southern neighbour.  Massie is right about one thing. Boring and ruthless Keir Starmer has rooted out what remained of Labour’s working-class principles. … Continue reading When Wes Streeting puts a kilt on NHS reform

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Thanks to SNP, Scotland’s ferry fleet is youngest in world but Scottish Tories do ‘balloon’

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In the Express, today: Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP said that under the SNP the average age of Scotland’s ferries had “ballooned” to 24 years, with a third of its fleet believed to be around 30 years old.  In September 2022, Ernst & Young published these comparative data on ferries: Scotland has the youngest ferries in comparable fleets and the Scottish Government pays the largest subsidy to keep ticket prices down for vulnerable communities, despite the presence among them of a few entitled and ungrateful settlers. Add to the above, Washington State Ferries in the affluent Seattle area … Continue reading Thanks to SNP, Scotland’s ferry fleet is youngest in world but Scottish Tories do ‘balloon’

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‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’

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I couldn’t put it better than or as well as, Leah Gunn Barrett: This was published in the December 30th Edinburgh Evening News. I wrote it in response to Ian Murray’s regular Thursday column, which was full of the usual drivel about how an English Labour government will be good for Scotland. Ian Murray promises Labour will go into the 2024 election year with a positive policy platform that will put Scotland’s interests first. When have we heard that one before?  He says, presumably with a straight face, that Keir Starmer has changed Labour into a credible alternative to the … Continue reading ‘My New Year’s Wish is for Scotland to put the failing UK out of its misery’

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NHS Scotland – A wee heresy

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By Alasdair Galloway As regular readers of Talking Up Scotland will be well aware John and Stewartb have long and honourable records of showing how much better the NHS in Scotland perform (ambulance waiting times, A&E waiting) compared to the NHS in other parts of this sceptred isle. As well as this valuable service they regularly call out claims to the contrary – misreports – often from the BBC and the Herald. Let me be quite clear that I have absolutely no problem with this, and in fact agree fully with both. And yet …..and yet …. Can we honestly … Continue reading NHS Scotland – A wee heresy

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Deadly E.coli-contaminated cheese is from Lancashire where unpasteurised milk for cheese production is allowed unlike in Scotland

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BBC Scotland has an extended report on the death in Scotland and does, in the text, tell us the cheese is from Preston in Lancashire. Prof Pennington, above, is on BBC Breakfast to tell us twice that E.coli is more common in Scotland than in England but fails to mention that Scotland, with only 8% of the UK population, has a far higher presence of the bacteria-carrying animals with, for example, almost 30% of the UK herd of breeding cattle and 4% of the massive EU herd. https://www.nfus.org.uk/farming-facts/what-we-produce.aspx We also do not hear from Pennington or any other media, as … Continue reading Deadly E.coli-contaminated cheese is from Lancashire where unpasteurised milk for cheese production is allowed unlike in Scotland

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We can’t end poverty when we’re trapped in the failing UK

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Leah Gunn Barrett This letter was published in The National on December 21st and explains why Scotland, a naturally wealthy nation, suffers from high levels of endemic poverty. The cure is simple – we must end our colonial status and restore our sovereignty. There’s been a chorus of criticism of the Scottish government over its recent budget from unionist politicians and media. But why should anyone be surprised over Scotland’s dismal state? The reason is our status as a de facto English colony.   As a colony, we don’t own our own resources so we can’t provide heat and power for the costs … Continue reading We can’t end poverty when we’re trapped in the failing UK