Tag: travel

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10.1% wait for more than half a day in NHS England’s Type 1 Emergency departments but only 5.4% do in Scotland – thousands saved after years with no strikes

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For some time now, if I offer any criticism of the media activity of Royal College of Emergency Medicine (Scotland) officers, I get long ‘hurt’ comments from Anonymouses. The media keep calling trade union reps, oh, OK ‘royal college’ reps, ‘leading’ doctors. They’re not especially though all of them are more impressive figures than me. It’s misleading and offensive to all the other doctors, some actually leading large teams, some at the ‘leading edge’ of new methods. Second, they insist on a ‘crisis’ when performance is demonstrably better than in NHS England where their colleagues seem less concerned to condemn … Continue reading 10.1% wait for more than half a day in NHS England’s Type 1 Emergency departments but only 5.4% do in Scotland – thousands saved after years with no strikes

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Burns had no connection to the slave trade and wrote the most powerful words against it

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The Times titillates with a headline today designed to cast doubt on the basis for Scots’ love for Robert Burns. There is nothing there. In short, direct or indirect economic benefit from Caribbean slavery was widespread among the artistic, collecting, and intellectual classes of the period. Burns’ case—an abandoned plan in period of despair with no material outcome is nothing of substance by comparison with the documented ownership, inheritance, investment, and patronage links of figures such as Beckford, Turner, Raeburn, and Reynolds. Many of us will look back with sadness, perhaps shame, at episodes in our lives or of those … Continue reading Burns had no connection to the slave trade and wrote the most powerful words against it

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London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations

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In the Guardian today: ‘We’re living in darkness’: six years of scaffolding, still no post-Grenfell cladding’ Building safety regulator delays leave London tower block beset by security and vandalism problems. The block’s residents are among thousands of people across the country bearing the cost of delays by the building safety regulator (BSR) to approve construction works required by post-Grenfell building safety rules. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/19/london-tower-residents-fear-disaster-post-grenfell-scaffolding Ironically, Scottish Labour have ‘blasted the SNP for ‘dragging their heels’ over dangerous cladding programme. https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-blasted-dragging-heels-over-29368512 Here’s why Scotland’s tower blocks do not require new cladding to avoid a Grenfell event. From BBC Scotland, 7 March 2026, … Continue reading London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations

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Daily Record desperately predicts fireworks violence again despite ‘no reports of any injuries to officers or other emergency services personnel’ last year and calls down 37%

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Notably, unlike in October 2025 (below), BBC Scotland is not attempting to scare us with a similar damp squib but the Record is. Here’s why: On 6 November 2025: Police say there was a “notable” reduction in Bonfire Night disorder with the number of calls received down by 37% across Scotland. Between 31 October and 5 November, 833 calls needed a local or specialist response, almost 500 fewer than last year. A major police operation took place at known Bonfire Night trouble-spots across the country in an attempt to avoid a repeat of disorder seen in previous years. Police said … Continue reading Daily Record desperately predicts fireworks violence again despite ‘no reports of any injuries to officers or other emergency services personnel’ last year and calls down 37%

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Scotland’s drug deaths crisis IS a human rights scandal but it is also a fundamental consequence of our subjection still within a dying, dysfunctional but still dominant and brutal empire

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From Third Force yesterday, the above, and: The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) chair has challenged ministers over their response to the continuing drugs’ death toll, insisting the loss of life is neither acceptable nor inevitable. Professor Angela O’Hagan’s intervention follows figures showing 1,133 people died from drugs in Scotland during 2025 – an increase of 116 on the previous year and the sixth-highest annual total on record. The figures expose a devastating divide between Scotland’s richest and poorest communities, with people living in the most deprived areas 15 times more likely to die from drugs than those in the … Continue reading Scotland’s drug deaths crisis IS a human rights scandal but it is also a fundamental consequence of our subjection still within a dying, dysfunctional but still dominant and brutal empire

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As twice as many wait more than 12 hours in NHS England’s A&E, Jackie Baillie rides the Scotsman off its readership cliff again

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Scottish Labour’s unhealthy spokesperson seem to be a columnist at the Unhealthy Scotsman these days. Today, further riding the Scotsman off its readership cliff, she has: The shocking figures that reveal how bad Scotland’s A&E crisis has got under SNP – Jackie Baillie Emergency departments in two flagship hospitals can sometimes be forced to deal with more than double or triple the number of patients they are designed to treat And then this sickly rib-tickler Candour is so important in politics. Voters deserve to hear the truth from those in power and to know they understand their duty to get … Continue reading As twice as many wait more than 12 hours in NHS England’s A&E, Jackie Baillie rides the Scotsman off its readership cliff again

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‘Troubled’, not so ‘ageing’ Arran ferry’s ‘faults’ started when the contract to build it was awarded by Scottish Conservatives to an inexperienced English yard on its last legs in a ‘troubled’ Conservative constituency

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In the Scotsman, two days ago, the above and: A CalMac ferry which returned to service a year ago after 20 months of repairs that cost £11 million is to be retired, the operator has announced. Caledonian Isles, which sails on one of CalMac’s busiest routes, is due to end its 34-year career in February as part of the replacement of three of ageing large ferries with brand new vessels. The 1,000-passenger ship’s departure from the Ardrossan to Brodick in Arran service will follow 31-year-old Barra ferry Isle of Lewis’s retiral in December and that of 42-year-old spare vessel Isle … Continue reading ‘Troubled’, not so ‘ageing’ Arran ferry’s ‘faults’ started when the contract to build it was awarded by Scottish Conservatives to an inexperienced English yard on its last legs in a ‘troubled’ Conservative constituency

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Take Your Brain For A Walk Down Reality Road

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 “Great question from Claire Baker” they said. Really? I think there’s a pretty big hole in Claire’s question or at least in the argument that follows it. Apparently, in Bakernomics, using the pound sterling in an independent Scotland means having “zero control over” our currency. Hold the presses! What control does Scotland, its Parliament, its MSPs or its MPs have over the currency we use TODAY? None. Westminster controls monetary policy. The Bank of England sets interest rates. The UK controls the currency, the exchange rate and the issuing of money. These are reserved matters. … Continue reading Take Your Brain For A Walk Down Reality Road

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With Glasgow Central at 1 458th in the table, the safest railway stations are in Scotland

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The Guardian today has: ‘The violence is off the scale’: staff and passengers at risk as assaults on trains in Great Britain soar to record high – Cases of abuse, spitting, head-butting and sexual harassment, have spiked as transport police numbers have dwindled. I can find no directly comparable figures for rail travel in Scotland but in February 2025, I found this: With Glasgow Central at 1 458th in the table, the safest railway stations are in Scotland. The Daily Record, ever-useless as a reliable information source for its readers, has: A recent analysis of UK-wide data identified the train … Continue reading With Glasgow Central at 1 458th in the table, the safest railway stations are in Scotland

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Next time you’re told the Scottish Government is failing to replace inflammable cladding here’s the evidence, six times for emphasis, why it’s not necessary in Scotland

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In the National today, the above, and a report based entirely on events in England with no mention of the somewhat obvious fact that there have never been towering infernos in Scotland despite 6 tower-block fires in the years since Grenfell. What might they have mentioned? This kind of thing: In the Herald 28 April 2026, Martin Williams has: 10 buildings in Scotland have had emergency safety measures put in place after being judged an “immediate risk to human life” — yet not a single block has been declared fully repaired under the national cladding programme, nearly nine years after … Continue reading Next time you’re told the Scottish Government is failing to replace inflammable cladding here’s the evidence, six times for emphasis, why it’s not necessary in Scotland