Tag: scotland

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Ferret Factchecked – Levels of recorded crime ARE at 40 and even 50-year lows and victims themselves report a halving of incidences since 2007/2008 – read the proper research, read your own graph

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By Professor John Robertson: Once again, thanks to Dottie for sharing this with me. The often unreliable Ferret, so much less trustworthy than the English Canary factchecker, has this today: John Swinney defended the Scottish Government’s record on justice during first minister’s questions (FMQs) on October 26, claiming crime was at an all-time low. During questioning from Douglas Ross, appearing at his last FMQs as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Swinney said he must “put on the record” that “levels of crime in Scotland are currently at 40-year lows”. Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Mostly False. The Ferret base their … Continue reading Ferret Factchecked – Levels of recorded crime ARE at 40 and even 50-year lows and victims themselves report a halving of incidences since 2007/2008 – read the proper research, read your own graph

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FACTCHECK: ‘Ultra long’ A&E waits far less common in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson: Dr John Paul Loughrey of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Hot Yoga enthusiast (@Jploughrey) has no time to grapple with the the facts as he helps BBC Scotland headline with another emergency services scare story about long waits in A&E and the risk they poses, especially for the more vulnerable. Missing from Dr Loughrey’s assessment of ultra long delays, in this BBC Scotland report, this: First, NHS England: THREE times as many wait more than 12 hours in England’s A&E departments NHS England, Type one A&E, for May 2024, 138 770 waiting more … Continue reading FACTCHECK: ‘Ultra long’ A&E waits far less common in Scotland

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A flood of water complaints in England and Wales but barely a dribble in Scotland

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In the Guardian today: The number of customer complaints that were unable to be resolved by water companies in England and Wales has risen by almost a third to the highest level in nearly a decade. There was a 29% increase in 2023-24 in cases escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) by households that failed to achieve a resolution from their supplier, the watchdog said. The jump has been fuelled by consumer discontent over sewage spills, billing mistakes and problems with water meters, with customers having exhausted their water supplier’s two-stage complaints process by the time they turned to the CCW. Its annual report … Continue reading A flood of water complaints in England and Wales but barely a dribble in Scotland

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Wales and Scotland – Labour’s double-think

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Anonymous Labour exceptionalism Where we the public are expected to believe that only Labour in Wales, and now also Labour as the new UK government, have difficult barriers/obstacles that they alone must overcome because of the failings of others but never ever is it to be regarded as a failing(s) by their own hand. Yet alternatively , Scotland, whose government has the same status as Labour in Wales, as in they too are a devolved government , are somehow , as a Scottish devolved government, those who must accept 100% liability and all blame for any obstacles and barriers that they have been faced with and still are faced with , via decisions made (imposed), by the supposed ‘Big Daddy of all governments within the UK’ as in the … Continue reading Wales and Scotland – Labour’s double-think

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Strictly Good Morning Scotland

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Anonymous MSM Monitor twitter #X’ account tweeted yesterday: “Domestic issues the Radio Scotland phone-in has covered this week. 1. Minimum unit pricing 2. Strictly Come Dancing 3. Early prisoner release It failed to cover the hike in electricity bills or the Labour donations scandal. Two of the biggest news stories this week. Minimum unit pricing has been the subject of the phone-in at least a dozen times going back years. Strictly Come Dancing was covered on the very day electricity bills went up by 10%. The early prisoner release scheme didn’t result in anything significant, but the subject was chosen the day … Continue reading Strictly Good Morning Scotland

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On impact of Westminster on Wales and Scotland, why do views of British Labour Party leaders in Wales differ so greatly from Party bosses in Scotland?

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By stewartb – a long read In December 2023, the British Labour Party’s government for Wales published its ‘Draft Budget 2024-24’. It provides the Party’s explanation for the present state of public services in Wales and the financial constraints on the government in Cardiff in its (less than successful) efforts to date to deliver much needed improvements. (Source: https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2023-12/2024-2025-draft-budget-narrative.pdf ) Candidly, the explanation it provides would be dismissed in a Scotland context by British Labour Party politicians. It’s an explanation that in Scotland would be ignored by BBC Scotland, STV and most of the mainstream news media supposedly ‘serving’ our … Continue reading On impact of Westminster on Wales and Scotland, why do views of British Labour Party leaders in Wales differ so greatly from Party bosses in Scotland?

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BBC Scotland’s ‘lead infection control doctor’ contradicts the research she led but which did not support her scaremongering and unscientific current position on the inquiry

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By Professor John Robertson: I’m grateful to cuckooshoe for alerting me to NHS Scotland Assure Research Q&A Cupriavidus” Dr Theresa Inkster. Research Q&A: Prevalence and concentration of Cupriavidus and other opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) in healthcare water systems across Scotland and England published in In an astonishing reversal of the findings from the above which she led, Inkster, today tells us: A senior doctor has told an inquiry she was “appalled” at the state of child cancer wards when a new £870m hospital opened in Glasgow in 2015. In evidence presented to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, infection control doctor … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s ‘lead infection control doctor’ contradicts the research she led but which did not support her scaremongering and unscientific current position on the inquiry

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Year after year, Scotland builds far more, 370 000 per head, affordable (really) housing than England

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By Professor John Robertson Today, the Scottish Government published Affordable Housing Supply Programme: quarterly updates on approvals, site starts and completions for the year 2023/2024. I thought I’d compare this with the most recent data for England. There are doubts about just how affordable English builds are, but I’ll park that for now. The first two rows are self-explanatory. The third row suggests how many Scotland might have built if it had England’s population, 10 times greater. The fourth gives the surplus Scotland built, per head of population, as many 40 751 more in 2022/2023. Note that the smallest surplus … Continue reading Year after year, Scotland builds far more, 370 000 per head, affordable (really) housing than England

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Children’s Cancer Wards Inquiry – Relying on a doctor who resigned before the supposed ‘spike’, repeating the lie that there was a ‘spike’ in infections and ignoring fact that QEUH’s child cancer wards had the same infection rate as other hospitals

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Today, BBC Scotland tells us: A senior doctor has told an inquiry she was “appalled” at the state of child cancer wards when a new £870m hospital opened in Glasgow in 2015. In evidence presented to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, infection control doctor Teresa Inkster said she felt “something had gone horribly wrong”. Dr Inkster was the lead infection control doctor for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde from April 2016 to September 2019. During that time the children’s cancer wards were forced to close because of a spike in unusual infections. Note the use of the word ‘felt’ … Continue reading Children’s Cancer Wards Inquiry – Relying on a doctor who resigned before the supposed ‘spike’, repeating the lie that there was a ‘spike’ in infections and ignoring fact that QEUH’s child cancer wards had the same infection rate as other hospitals

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Scottish Emergency departments holding steady despite demand increasing by 21% and performing 5% better than NHS England yet seeing 25% more patients per head

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland, today, we see that 65.8% of all admissions to full emergency departments (ED) were treated within 4 hours in August 2024, down roughly 10% on January 2020 but now at the same level since January 2023. In the same period, demand increased from 110 742 to 133 454, up 20.9%. In NHS England: From NHS England, we see that 62.5% of all admissions to full emergency departments (Type 1) were treated within 4 hours in August 2024, similar to January 2020 and at roughly the same level since January then. In the … Continue reading Scottish Emergency departments holding steady despite demand increasing by 21% and performing 5% better than NHS England yet seeing 25% more patients per head