Tag: wales

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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

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Valuing ‘culture’ and public funding – how Wales with a Labour government in Cardiff fares!

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By stewartb There will be a Scottish Government debate in Holyrood on January 14 on ‘Valuing Culture: Scotland’s Support to the Culture Sector’. Will it generate heat or light? It will be worth observing how British Labour Party politicians in Scotland approach this debate. Will they acknowledge longstanding stresses and strains on Scottish Government finances due to Westminster austerity and inflation? Or will we hear the usual carping? And how will BBC Scotland and the rest of the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland report: devoid of context and perspective as usual? As we assess the various contributions, it will be worth … Continue reading Valuing ‘culture’ and public funding – how Wales with a Labour government in Cardiff fares!

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NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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By stewartb More numbers designed to shock from the British Labour Party’s spokesperson on talking down Scotland’s health and social care services! Any context offered? The numbers on delayed discharge are to be deplored but are they really big by comparison to those incurred by Scotland’s peers? From the BBC News website, Wales section (November 11, 2024): ‘Staff burnout warning over plan to free NHS beds’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5lqn19275o ) ‘At any one time, there are about 1,600 patients, mostly elderly, in hospital beds in Wales who are otherwise fit to be discharged. In some hospitals, this is 20% of all beds. ‘But delays around … Continue reading NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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‘The UK’s worst economic performance in post war economic history.’ Devolved government and economic management: the case of Labour governing Wales

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By stewartb – a long read When the UK economy is in a poor state, can governments in Scotland or Wales with devolved powers counter UK economic performance in a substantive way given that key policy levers are ONLY available to Westminster and the UK’s central bank? Proponents of the Union point to Scotland’s economic performance and allege: (i) it’s failing due to the political party that has governed in Edinburgh since 2007; and (ii) to have a successful economy, Scotland needs ‘change’, it needs to have the Labour Party (or the Tories) become the government in Edinburgh. Of course … Continue reading ‘The UK’s worst economic performance in post war economic history.’ Devolved government and economic management: the case of Labour governing Wales

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In Scotland no actual ambulance crisis as in Wales but still even the possibility of delays has the BBC inviting Scottish Cons and Labour round to finish 2024 off with one more SNP-bad session

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By Professor John Robertson OBA You have to laugh as BBC Wales use the image on the left above for Ambulance chief says ‘drink sensibly’ over New Year after critical incident but BBC Scotland can only find the one parked outside a corner shop in Forfar as the paramedics nip in for bridies, for Ambulance crews put on highest level of emergency. BBC Wales have this staggering report: Welsh ambulance service chiefs have urged the public to “drink sensibly” at New Year to help reduce demand on emergency services that suffered a 340-call backlog on Monday. Jason Killens, chief executive of Welsh … Continue reading In Scotland no actual ambulance crisis as in Wales but still even the possibility of delays has the BBC inviting Scottish Cons and Labour round to finish 2024 off with one more SNP-bad session

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Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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In the Guardian today: Killed women count – 80 women allegedly killed by men in UK in 2024 – Throughout the year, the Guardian aimed to report on every woman whose death has led to a man being charged. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2024/dec/31/killed-women-count-a-project-highlighting-the-toll-and-tragedy-of-violence-against-women-in-the-uk There, then follow 80 tragic accounts. I can’t imagine many would want to read all the way. I started to read and something jumped out at me but before I discuss that, some important facts about women victims of homicide across the ‘UK.’ According to the ONS, there were 174 females victims of homicide in England and Wales, in 2023.1 … Continue reading Women victims of homicide – selective reporting to exaggerate the phenomenon in Scotland and hide it in England & Wales

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Too positive to be newsworthy? Scotland’s train cancellations found to be lowest of any country or region in Great Britain.

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By stewartb ‘Worst major train stations for cancellations named’ is the headline of a BBC News website article today (December 20). Despite being Great Britain wide in scope, the story features in the site’s news for England. The same story featured prominently in Radio 4’s Today programme (also on December 20), both in news bulletins and in interviews, including with a Westminster government minister. Although a Today presenter challenged the Labour minister about the benefit of rail run by the public sector in a part of England given its relatively high level of cancellations, the programme made no mention of … Continue reading Too positive to be newsworthy? Scotland’s train cancellations found to be lowest of any country or region in Great Britain.

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Welsh students punished again by tuition fee hike, to leave them in debt more than twice that in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to AR for alerting me to this: Today from BBC Wales: University fees in Wales are set to rise to £9,535 a year – nearly a £300 increase – from September 2025. The Welsh government announcement brings tuition costs in Wales in line with a hike in fees already announced by the UK government for universities in England. It is the second increase in charges for Welsh courses within a year, after the maximum charge went up from £9000 to £9250 from September 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yw97y9xnwo?s=03 Things were already bad for students in Wales, under Labour: Average student debt … Continue reading Welsh students punished again by tuition fee hike, to leave them in debt more than twice that in Scotland

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They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

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By stewartb Seems they are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too. The BBC News website in its Wales section today (November 26) had this headline about NHS Wales: ‘Ambulance response target may change after failures’. It reports: ‘Ambulance response targets in Wales may change in 2025, after four years of the service failing to meet its key measure.’ ‘A total of 65% of the most life-threatening calls are expected to arrive to a patient within eight minutes, but this has been missed for the past … Continue reading They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too