Tag: scotland

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Already a better society after 17 years of SNP rule and Scottish universities buck UK trend to attract more not fewer international students

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In the Guardian today, their Education editor daft enough to to use a Glasgow Uni shot, writes: UK universities face financial turmoil as figures from the Home Office show plunging numbers of international students applying for courses starting in the next academic year. Applications for sponsored study visas have fallen by 40%, suggesting the visa restrictions applied by the previous government continue to hamper recruitment. The Home Office received 28,200 applications last month, compared with 38,900 in June 2023. But three days ago, BBC Scotland had: Net migration to Scotland more than doubled in the year between 2021 and 2022 – up to … Continue reading Already a better society after 17 years of SNP rule and Scottish universities buck UK trend to attract more not fewer international students

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Swinney’s evidence that Labour’s new nuclear start-up costs are more than twice as expensive as renewables, confirmed

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From a Freedom of Information response published yesterday: Information requested At FMQs on At FMQs on 20th June 2024, John Swinney said this: Evidence shows that new nuclear is more expensive than renewable alternatives. Bearing this in mind, the information I am seeking is the evidence to which John Swinney was referring at FMQs on 20th June 2024.   Response The below figures are central cost estimates for projects commissioning in 2025 (in real 2021 prices), and can be retrieved from the following Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) publication: Electricity generation costs 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). New nuclear: £109/MWh[1]Offshore Wind: £44/MWhOnshore Wind: £38/MWhLarge-scale … Continue reading Swinney’s evidence that Labour’s new nuclear start-up costs are more than twice as expensive as renewables, confirmed

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The Letby baby deaths and the UK Conservative / Lib Dem Government cuts beginning 5 years earlier to nurse-staffing levels far below those in NHS Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson In June 2024, researchers at The Kings Fund revealed the above collapse in funding for the NHS in England, after the last Labour Government in 2009. Above, from the House of Commons Library in March 2024, revealing the 100% plus increase in the waiting lists in the same period of suppressed funding. Above from the Kings Fund in May 2024, evidence of significant increases in some NHS England staffing but, crucially, not in nurses and those who support them – a 25% increase to deal with doubled waiting lists. In the Guardian‘s Lucy Letby: killer or … Continue reading The Letby baby deaths and the UK Conservative / Lib Dem Government cuts beginning 5 years earlier to nurse-staffing levels far below those in NHS Scotland

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Patient safety – NHS Scotland has ‘top pillar’ safety programme and all of our hospitals are safe unlike in some other places

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By Professor John Robertson The Herald today has a scare story about Glasgow Royal but with, of course, little informative value. First, from the Westminster (UK Parliament) Health Committee, in January 2022: The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), introduced by the SNP Scottish Government in 2007, has been praised by a leading European expert on patient safety. In Westminster’s Health Committee, Dr Pelle Gustafson, CMO at Swedish Patient Insurer, responded with “Scotland”, when he was asked which country he would hold at the very top pillar with regards to patient safety.  Dr Gustfason said: “If you take all preventative work in regard … Continue reading Patient safety – NHS Scotland has ‘top pillar’ safety programme and all of our hospitals are safe unlike in some other places

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Housing incoherence – Scottish Labour branch try to use their UK Labour privatised strategy to suggest the Scottish Government do more with state funds

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In a speech today, UK Labour Chancellor makes it very clear that their housing strategy is based entirely on private investment and, of course, subsequent private sector costs for decades to come. Yet, in the Daily Record today; Labour MSP Mark Griffin said: “Scotland is in the grips of a housing emergency, but the SNP’s response has been woeful. “At a time when we need urgent action to boost housebuilding, the SNP has slashed the affordable housing budget and is gearing up to ditch its flagship affordable housing target. “Rachel Reeves is leading the way with Labour’s transformative plans to … Continue reading Housing incoherence – Scottish Labour branch try to use their UK Labour privatised strategy to suggest the Scottish Government do more with state funds

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England’s gangland bosses breaking Scotland’s prison system

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Neil Mackay in the Herald today has: Scotland’s gangland bosses break the nation’s ‘failed’ prison system. Jails are bursting at the seams, staff are exhausted, and as police arrest more and more organised crime members, Scotland’s prisons are in turmoil. Our Writer at Large reports IT sounds like life for prison officers at the height of Ulster’s Troubles: intimidation, threats to kill, assassination plots, fire-bombings, and looking over your shoulder when you clock off and walk through the jail gates. Given that overall crime is down by 40% since the SNP came to power in 2007, organised crime based on drugs, prostitution, … Continue reading England’s gangland bosses breaking Scotland’s prison system

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NHS Scotland staffed and equipped to do more than 98% of planned operations on time despite steadily increasing demand

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By Professor John Robertson From Public Health Scotland on 2nd July 2024: During May 2024, there were 25,657 operations planned to take place across NHSScotland. This is 6.4% higher than the number planned a year previously in May 2023 (24,125). • The number of planned operations has been steadily increasing since pandemic restrictions first affected provision of services in March 2020. In the 12 months from April 2023 to May 2024, there was an 8% increase in the number of planned operations compared to the previous 12 months. This compares to a 15.3% year-on-year increase when comparing year ending May … Continue reading NHS Scotland staffed and equipped to do more than 98% of planned operations on time despite steadily increasing demand

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Ipsos SUB-POLL today cautiously suggests major swing back to SNP as John settles in

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Many thanks to https://x.com/SNPwindaes for alerting me to this. It’s only a telephone sub-poll of 203 Scots weighted down to 176 but, today on the day, Ipsos, the most trusted pollster because they’re based in Paris and have no dog in this fight, has: All: 90% to 100% certain to vote: I know. Recent polls are up and down but one or two full polls especially the usually unfriendly Savanta, have signs of an SNP recovery, as the the most popular party leader and his Tartan Army loyalist, Toblerone-loving, Westminster leader do well in TV interviews. Source: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/labour-holds-18-point-lead-over-conservatives-final-ipsos-election-poll https://www.thenational.scot/news/24426651.new-general-election-poll-puts-snp-ahead-labour/ Continue reading Ipsos SUB-POLL today cautiously suggests major swing back to SNP as John settles in

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As outsourced cleaning results in deadly infection outbreak via basins and showers in an English hospital how this Scottish Health Secretary kept cleaning in-house 16 years ago to save uncounted lives

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By Professor John Robertson Today in the Health Service Journal: Frimley Health had 94 cases of CPE last year, due to a major outbreak at Wexham Park The trust has ordered a mortality and morbidity review but does not say if it has been completed CPE thought to travel through drains, affecting wash basins and showers. A hospital trust has ordered a review of potential death and harm caused by an outbreak of a serious healthcare-acquired infection, which is resistant to many antibiotics. Frimley Health Foundation Trust has seen outbreaks of carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales at both its Frimley Park and Wexham … Continue reading As outsourced cleaning results in deadly infection outbreak via basins and showers in an English hospital how this Scottish Health Secretary kept cleaning in-house 16 years ago to save uncounted lives

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UK Labour funded by the rich and US corporations have always let our children die on foreign fields from Korea and Malaysia to Iraq and Afghanistan only to test their new weapons. Vote for them again and begin down a new path to your grandchildren dying for nothing in foreign fields

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I hope the headline is message enough but may a song or two will push things further in: And, if you need some numbers: By Professor John Robertson In May 2020, after reading new research on Scotland’s share of UK war dead, I was able to write this: ‘Yet while the war dead of some countries were too numerous to count, we should be mindful that ‘Scotland is small enough to know all her sons by heart’ My headline comes from the conclusions to a thorough examination of the facts published in May 2019. I missed it at the time and, … Continue reading UK Labour funded by the rich and US corporations have always let our children die on foreign fields from Korea and Malaysia to Iraq and Afghanistan only to test their new weapons. Vote for them again and begin down a new path to your grandchildren dying for nothing in foreign fields