Tag: scotland

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56% for Yes with EU membership and they’d welcome us with open arms and fast – this must be the SNP strategy now

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Today’s YouGov poll has 56% of people would vote for independence if it meant EU membership, while just 32% would vote No. https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_IndyRef_240903.pdf While the No majority without that, will get the mainstream headlines, the message for the SNP and the other pro-independence parties is clear. In September 2020: Tory List MSP, Dean Lockhart, helpfully took the time to remind us of the level of support for Scotland’s return to the EU by asking Mike Russell for confirmation of his claim that a former president of the EU had said to his face that Scotland would be able to join … Continue reading 56% for Yes with EU membership and they’d welcome us with open arms and fast – this must be the SNP strategy now

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Struggling Canadian ferry service, average vessel age 13 years older than CalMac to replace seven by 2037

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From a September 2022, Ernst and Young LLP survey for the Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland department, CalMac ferries are, on average, newer (22) than those in Norway (26), Australia (24) and British Columbia, Canada (35!). https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-framework-of-options-for-the-chfs-network-project-neptune/benchmarking From the Tyee in October 2023: The Crisis at BC Ferries – Why no reservations frequently means long waits on the main routes. https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/10/23/Crisis-BC-Ferries/ So, time to get on with so new ferry-building eh? From Marine Link, today: Canadian ferry operator BC Ferries announced it is moving forward with a program to build a series of new vessels for its busiest routes. The company said on … Continue reading Struggling Canadian ferry service, average vessel age 13 years older than CalMac to replace seven by 2037

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The Herald’s so-obvious Cartunionist has another lazy dig at the best ferry service in the world

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The Herald’s third-best cartoonist, Steven Camley, like one of those drunk ‘wits’ in a bar, tries to turn the news of whale-spotting made easy by Scotland’s ferries into one of those ‘Aye, aye, very good, I’m sure but my pal in Brodick wiz late for a medical appointment because that Sturgeon messed up the ferries’ moments. It’s his regular, lazy, thick trope. See these: It’s a sad state of affairs that the above pub-level banality passes for political satire at the Herald. To waste more time on his output considered, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=Camley On ferries, here’s why his infantile pokes are not … Continue reading The Herald’s so-obvious Cartunionist has another lazy dig at the best ferry service in the world

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The Titanic – Scotland’s part in its sinking

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Anonymous Here we go again. This may be considered too petty of me by some people but for me it seems a tad suspicious, strange and also knowing how the BBC works in Scotland, in them often misinforming us in Scotland, then this also seems deliberate as an action by them. So what am I referring to? Well I noted this on the BBC website. BBC website has the exact same article on their UK main page, NI main page and Scotland main page but not on the England main page. Headline “Titanic shipyard to go into administration” So why on NI main page ? Well the Titanic was built in Belfast, NI. So why on UK page ? Well NI part of the UK. So why on Scotland main page ? … Continue reading The Titanic – Scotland’s part in its sinking

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8% of the population but 25% of the top universities and all of the safest campuses*

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From the Guardian’s The best UK universities 2025 list – rankings, published today, pro rata, per head, Scotland might be expected to have 2 of the top 20 universities in the UK but has 5. In 2019*, we had: Scotland’s university cities the safest in the UK by a very long way From the Complete University Guide 2019, we can see that the overall fall in crime in Scotland in the last ten, or so, years is reflected in the relative safety of university campuses. Of particular interest is the level of crime (incidents per 1 000 residents) reported in Glasgow, … Continue reading 8% of the population but 25% of the top universities and all of the safest campuses*

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Scottish Labour MP suggests following England’s failed strategies

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In the Scotsman today, above, Dr Zubir Ahmed, Labour, notes the crisis in A&E and and cancer care in England, then suggests Scotland might learn from there. He clearly does not know or does not want to know this: First, on A&E longer waiting times, by stewartb, from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine data: On the longest times spent in A&E i.e. 12 hours or more, the equivalent percentages during January 2024 are: England = 13.2%; Wales = 15.5%; Scotland = 8%. On more than 8 hour waits, the equivalent percentages during January 2024 are: Wales = 24%; Scotland = 16%. (NHS … Continue reading Scottish Labour MP suggests following England’s failed strategies

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Prison population – back-to-front thinking from BBC Scotland to hide Scottish Government competence in maintaining 234 times more spare places

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From BBC Scotland, two days ago: Scotland’s prison population is now higher than it was before hundreds of prisoners were released early in a bid to ease overcrowding. A total of 477 prisoners were let out early in June and July under an emergency scheme introduced by the Scottish government in response to a sharp rise in the number of people in jail. In the week before the programme began in late June, the prison population sat at 8,232. It has now reached 8,241 – raising questions about whether further releases will be needed. See, stupid, that’s why they released … Continue reading Prison population – back-to-front thinking from BBC Scotland to hide Scottish Government competence in maintaining 234 times more spare places

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NHS Scotland’s better performance is preventing around 1 400 ‘unnecessary’ deaths every year

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday: Long NHS delays leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths, inquiry finds – Darzi’s scathing indictment of the Conservatives’ 14-year stewardship of the NHS says that A&E is in “an awful state”. He cites evidence he received from the body representing A&E doctors that “long waits are likely to be causing an additional 14,000 more deaths a year – more than double all British armed forces combat deaths since the health service was founded in 1948”. Improvements in survival from cancer “slowed substantially during the 2010s”. More than 7.6 million people were awaiting … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s better performance is preventing around 1 400 ‘unnecessary’ deaths every year

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Views of a children’s charity whose boss is ‘angry, very angry’ but ‘unleashes fury’ towards just one government. 

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By stewartb – a long read This considers the news and views of a major children’s charity in Scotland gleaned from its website. It offers insights into the charity’s relations with the Scottish Government. But why is this worth writing about it? On September 8, an interview with the charity’s CEO was published in The Herald under the headline: ‘Scottish charity boss unleashes fury over poverty under SNP rule’. Here we learn that the CEO of the “acclaimed” Aberlour Children’s Charity is ‘angry, She’s very angry’. (my emphasis) So something is seriously amiss with this charity’s relations with Scotland’s government … Continue reading Views of a children’s charity whose boss is ‘angry, very angry’ but ‘unleashes fury’ towards just one government. 

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Scotland’s poverty policies – The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence ‘new think tank’

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BBC Scotland today are delighted to be able to headline: No evidence Scotland’s poverty policies are working – report They know that some, perhaps many, will read that to mean these policies are not working at all when all the new think tank was saying is that more data is required to prove they are. Read deeper to see the sneaky nature of the headline confirmed: The Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (Sheru) highlighted a “critical gap” in data on the effectiveness of programmes such as the Scottish Child Payment. The organisation – run by the Fraser of Allander Institute … Continue reading Scotland’s poverty policies – The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence ‘new think tank’