Tag: wales

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300 more police officers in Scotland since last Labour government despite massive fall in crime and far better staffing ratio than in other parts of the UK

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: July 2025 published today, some key points getting no media attention: There were 16,553 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2025. This was 319 (+2.0%) more officers compared to the position on 31 March 2007, and 197 (+1.2%) more than on 31 March 2024. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-july-2025/pages/statistics-on-policing/ How much has crime fallen in Scotland. From a Grok AI question: Since 2007, crime in Scotland has significantly decreased, with various sources indicating a substantial decline in overall recorded crime and specific crime categories. According to the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey … Continue reading 300 more police officers in Scotland since last Labour government despite massive fall in crime and far better staffing ratio than in other parts of the UK

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Labour in Cardiff does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times even after 26 years

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By stewartb On the theme of the British Labour Party’s track record in government with devolved powers. NHS Wales’ performance shows that Labour governing with devolved powers – even after c. 12 months with Labour in power in Westminster and c.26 years in power in Cardiff – does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times. As we approach the election to the Holyrood parliament in 2026, voters in Scotland should take careful note – unless of course the leadership of the British Labour Party in Scotland is keeping a game changing wheeze for the salvation of Scotland EDs … Continue reading Labour in Cardiff does NOT have the solution to long A&E waiting times even after 26 years

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What’s the legacy of the British Labour Party after 27 continuous years governing in Cardiff? Think about it before voting Labour in Scotland in 2026!

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By stewartb – a long read British Labour Party MSPs and MPs are ramping up the negative rhetoric about Scotland in advance of the 2026 Holyrood election. And the mainstream media for the most part are playing their part in communicating Labour’s campaign messages – with little challenge, without context, without perspective, and without cross-UK comparative analysis. Moreover, British Labour Party MPs, elected to represent Scottish constituencies, have been standing up every week at PMQs to put a ‘question’ designed ONLY to denigrate the Scottish Government and Scotland’s (devolved) public services. All to entertain their colleagues from English constituencies and … Continue reading What’s the legacy of the British Labour Party after 27 continuous years governing in Cardiff? Think about it before voting Labour in Scotland in 2026!

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The impact of spending decisions by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh

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By stewartb Cut to funding for nurse training in England – what impact on Westminster’s spend for England on health, or will the ‘saving’ be from the Department of Education’s budget? Is this leading to a reduction in overall departmental spend or more likely, a more limited increase in departmental spend overall than England’s services (and devolved equivalents in NI, Scotland and Wales) need? What impact of this – and the cumulative impact of multiple other – spending decision by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and … Continue reading The impact of spending decisions by the British Labour Party government in Westminster on the so called Block Grants to the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh

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Crime continues to fall in Glasgow but corporate media cannot tell you the truth that it is falling fast and NOT the highest in Scotland or even near the several highest in England and Wales

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS  Glasgow Live yesterday, had: Glasgow named as most dangerous Scottish area with highest crime rate in government report – A new report from the Scottish Government has revealed Glasgow is the most dangerous area in the country, as crime in the city increases by four per cent in 2024.1 The ‘report‘ is actually Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24, where in the attached tables, you can see the data for different parts of Scotland. No one has ‘named‘ Glasgow anything, other than two journalists. As for the above 4% increase, concentrate lads (!), … Continue reading Crime continues to fall in Glasgow but corporate media cannot tell you the truth that it is falling fast and NOT the highest in Scotland or even near the several highest in England and Wales

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‘Scottish’ media try to drag England’s knife crime crisis over the border despite crimes plummeting here to only half the level under Labour and 90 times as many, per head, ‘Zombie’ knives mentioned in crime reports in England & Wales

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA As another tragic death by knife of a child in England, headlines across the media, Scotland’s Herald and the policing magazine 1919, attempt to scare Scots into thinking things are no different here when they clearly are. … Continue reading ‘Scottish’ media try to drag England’s knife crime crisis over the border despite crimes plummeting here to only half the level under Labour and 90 times as many, per head, ‘Zombie’ knives mentioned in crime reports in England & Wales

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The lowest Band D council tax rate in British Labour Wales is higher than the highest in SNP Scotland

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stewartb Worth repeating this from a recent TuS blog post to give another way of setting out Council Tax baselines prior to next financial year’s CT increases across Great Britain. Insights into differences across Great Britain in 2024-25 for the benchmark average Band D tax can be found at https://propertydata.co.uk/council-tax Focusing on Wales where the British Labour Party governs: The contrast between Council Tax Band D rates in Scotland and Wales is quite remarkable! Is this what the British Labour Party would like to see in Scotland after 2026? ‘Levelling-up’ Scotland Labour style? Continue reading The lowest Band D council tax rate in British Labour Wales is higher than the highest in SNP Scotland

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Research – school achievement higher and attainment gaps far smaller in Scotland than in rest of UK

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By Professor John Robertson OBA: From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today: There are differences between the statistics on attainment in schools in the four UK nations which limit comparisons but the size of the gap between the most and least deprived at the ages of 11 and 16 can be usefully compared. First, 11 year-olds, percentage of most deprived and of least deprived achieving literacy and numeracy and size of gap: So, far more of both the least and the most deprived in Scotland achieve target literacy and numeracy levels … Continue reading Research – school achievement higher and attainment gaps far smaller in Scotland than in rest of UK

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Starmer’s pledge of named police officers for every neighbourhood in England & Wales becomes laughable as staffing falls to lowest since 2022 and far below the level in Scotland

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: Police officer numbers in England and Wales at lowest level for two years, figures show The number of police officers in England and Wales has slipped to its lowest level in two years, PA Media reports. PA says: The headcount of officers employed by 43 forces stood at 148,886 at the end of September 2024. This is down 883 from a peak of 149,769 at the end of March and the lowest total since the end of September 2022 (144,346), according to Home Office data published today. Last month, Keir … Continue reading Starmer’s pledge of named police officers for every neighbourhood in England & Wales becomes laughable as staffing falls to lowest since 2022 and far below the level in Scotland

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Cancer waiting times – UK Government figures reveal that NHS Scotland performs significantly better than NHS England and shockingly better than NHS Wales and Northern Ireland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Waiting times for cancer treatment across the UK A summary of the cross-UK comparability of cancer waiting time statistics that are published by each nation published by the ONS on 23 August 2024 for Quarter 1, 2024: The percentage waiting longer than the 31 day [from the “decision-to-treat” a cancer patient to when the patient starts treatment] and 62 day standards [there should be no more than 62 days between a cancer referral being received by a hospital (specialist) to when a patient starts treatment]: *NI Q3 2023 is latest information So, based on the … Continue reading Cancer waiting times – UK Government figures reveal that NHS Scotland performs significantly better than NHS England and shockingly better than NHS Wales and Northern Ireland