Tag: technology

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BMA Scotland and BBC Scotland accused of barely undergraduate level of criticism of GP walk-in clinic scheme before project is fully underway and worthy only of ‘F – do not resubmit’ result and invitation to seek counselling on course change

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BBC Scotland, Aimee Stanton, yesterday claimed, despite revealing the above graph in their own report: GP walk-in clinics see low attendance leading to accusations of failure – A series of walk-in GP clinics which the Scottish government said would end the “8am rush” for appointments have seen low attendance rates, first figures show. and: Dr Iain Morrison, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GPs committee, said doctors had expressed reservations about the walk-in clinics when they were first announced – and it now looked like a case of “I told you so”. He told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast (RSB): “In terms … Continue reading BMA Scotland and BBC Scotland accused of barely undergraduate level of criticism of GP walk-in clinic scheme before project is fully underway and worthy only of ‘F – do not resubmit’ result and invitation to seek counselling on course change

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As another private care home is exposed how we disclosed Anas Sarwar backing a care home cash cow milking the tax-payer

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Today BBC Scotland has this below, reminding us of the above: BBC Scotland, in June 2023 exposed a Care Home owner who seems not to be a Tory or Labour donor. It’s taken them three years to find one. Three years ago, we had this: By stewartb So the care home visited by Anas Sarwar MSP is being used to justify his claim of care homes at ‘breaking point’? If so, this company’s situation must have changed radically since 22 December 2022. This is the date Applecross Nursing Home Limited submitted its Annual Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March … Continue reading As another private care home is exposed how we disclosed Anas Sarwar backing a care home cash cow milking the tax-payer

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One of Andy Burnham’s first acts will be to copy John Swinney on digital ID

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In the Guardian today: Andy Burnham is expected to scrap Keir Starmer’s plans for digital ID cards in a “reset of priorities” when he enters Downing Street on Monday. The new Labour leader plans to redirect the resources earmarked for the scheme towards tackling the cost of living, his team indicated on Saturday.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/burnham-to-scrap-starmers-digital-id-scheme-in-reset-of-priorities 10 months ago: There’s something missing from all the media coverage of Labour’s Digital ID proposal and it’s darker than any worries we might have about Scots ‘declaring ourselves British.‘ From the Canary factchecker 27 September 2025 ago: As Keir Starmer moves to impose ‘digital ID’ on the UK, … Continue reading One of Andy Burnham’s first acts will be to copy John Swinney on digital ID

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SNP buy Prestwick Airport for just £1, make £14 million profit and create 5 000 jobs in only 4 years while its sister airport in Kent goes out of business in only 6 months to become just a lorry park

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From Ian McConnell, the Herald‘s token unbiased, intelligent and ethical journalist but clearly not in control of the headlines, today, has the above and: Source: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26268301.prestwick-airports-flights-success-financial-results-revealed/?ref=ebbn&nid=1388&u=54f15f1382a35160f5f9fbd9de82faff&date=130726 We can add that £3.9m and 200 jobs to the figures I had last November. The Ayrshire Daily New’s Doug Maclean, has a fine piece of journalism serving the information needs of the community. Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Robert Martin for alerting me to this. Both Prestwick airport and its sister airport at Manston in Kent were available for sale in 2013. Both were losing money and the company that owned them were not able or prepared to … Continue reading SNP buy Prestwick Airport for just £1, make £14 million profit and create 5 000 jobs in only 4 years while its sister airport in Kent goes out of business in only 6 months to become just a lorry park

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What mayors like Burnham would bring to Scotland – acting beyond the law to give away public assets cheap to cronies and for little in return

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Talking-up Scotland follower, Scunnert, Grannies for Independence @Scunnert2 has asked us to investigate: Economic free zones, how they’re used by English mayors to hand public assets to private firms and are basically above the law. ‘Burnham’s neck deep in them.‘ The Herald and other MSM operating in Scotland are running with a report from Enlighten, Lord Jack McConnells ‘think tank’ arguing: Reform Scotland, the independent, non-partisan think tank, today calls on the incoming Scottish Government to endorse the creation of an elected mayoralty in every Scottish local authority. In its new report, ‘Local Heroes: Why Scotland Needs Directly-Elected Mayors’ (Download below), … Continue reading What mayors like Burnham would bring to Scotland – acting beyond the law to give away public assets cheap to cronies and for little in return

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Will the Scottish Labour MPs protest the tax breaks for the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS England contracts, meaning you and I pay at least three times the rate and which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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From Open Democracy yesterday: Palantir is benefiting from millions of pounds of tax deductions that allow it to pay very little corporate tax in the United Kingdom despite soaring profits, an investigation by openDemocracy reveals. The controversial tech firm has won at least £670m in UK public contracts in recent years, which have helped to make the country its second-largest market by revenue after the United States, where it is headquartered. Yet despite accounting for 10% of the company’s global revenue last year, its tax payments in the UK amounted to less than 5% of its total global cash tax spend, according … Continue reading Will the Scottish Labour MPs protest the tax breaks for the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS England contracts, meaning you and I pay at least three times the rate and which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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Near-Shore Underwater Data Centres with Waste Heat Recovery – A Distinctly Scottish Opportunity – short and long read

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By Jim Mennie: Short version Scotland’s oil and gas industry still has a future, but that future is heavily constrained. Successive Westminster governments of all parties — Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat — have retained control over energy policy because it remains a reserved matter. As a result, Scotland has had little meaningful say over the pace of development, licensing decisions, or the long-term direction of the sector. This lack of control has left the industry and the communities that depend on it in a state of uncertainty for years.Rather than continuing to battle for greater influence within a system … Continue reading Near-Shore Underwater Data Centres with Waste Heat Recovery – A Distinctly Scottish Opportunity – short and long read

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Why Swinney is correct to reject call for AI data centre pause in Scotland

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I knows this one is divisive. More than a few Talking-up Scotland readers disagree with us on it but here is the case, again, that Scotland is one of the few places with the resources – water and energy – to make a lot of money out of data centres, once independent of course. From the Sunday Mail 28 December 2025, the above back-to-front headline and: Massive new data centres planned in Scotland to power the AI revolution would use up to three quarters of the country’s total electricity demand [sic], a new study has claimed. Research firm Foxglove, which campaigns for fair tech, … Continue reading Why Swinney is correct to reject call for AI data centre pause in Scotland

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Sky News reports on dying during childbirth ‘in the UK’ and other maternity services concerns but it’s not ‘the UK’ it’s just England

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The Sky News special tonight on maternity services, ‘in the UK, is of course only about England. They go on quickly to relate their special to the forthcoming report by Baroness Amos and this along with the only example health trusts which they use, confirms that. Why? Baroness Amos looked only at England. Is the Sky News special likely to be informative on Scotland? No, because: Thousands of babies and mothers avoidably dead in maternity trusts, twelve trusts under investigation and two trusts face police investigations into potential corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter but all are in England From BBC West Yorkshire and across BBC TV News broadcasts, 23 February 2026 : Health … Continue reading Sky News reports on dying during childbirth ‘in the UK’ and other maternity services concerns but it’s not ‘the UK’ it’s just England

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Scotland’s additional stricter regulations mean that none of 18 000 nurses with possible criminal records in England could be registered to work here

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From Nursing Standard, four days ago, the above and: Hundreds of nurses are set to have their registrations reviewed after the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) failed to follow due process for declaring health conditions and criminal convictions for 12 years.  A member of staff raised concerns about an historical failure to consistently refer declarations of health issues and criminal records to an assistant registrar, which led to an initial review of more than 18,000 registrants. That review determined that no further action was required in 17,639 cases. https://rcni.com/nursing-standard/newsroom/news/hundreds-of-nurses-to-have-nmc-registration-info-reassessed-after-astounding-failure-222771?utm_campaign=WEEKLY%20BRIEFING%2001.06.26%20-%20REG&utm_content=ZONE%201%20LINK%201%20NEWS%20Hundreds%20of%20nurses%20to%20have%20NMC%20registration%20info%20reassessed%20after%20%27astounding%20fai&utm_term=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&check_logged_in=1 Might unique NHS Scotland regulations practices and procedures make this less likely even … Continue reading Scotland’s additional stricter regulations mean that none of 18 000 nurses with possible criminal records in England could be registered to work here