Pieces fall into place
This month we’ve been noting a sudden avalanche of factually-questionable articles in the media attacking the SNP’s record in government. At the weekend and yesterday we also picked apart a highly misleading and disingenuous claim by Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Sunday Politics that there had been no cuts to the Scottish Government budget since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
And today we can see why.
Pretty much every paper and broadcaster reports, as they should, on the publication of Audit Scotland’s annual NHS performance study. But the details of the coverage are interesting. The Guardian for example, leads with the claim that:
The bit about “day-to-day services and new hospital buildings” immediately set our spider-senses tingling. There seems no immediately obvious reason to bundle those two things together, and it isn’t one of the “key facts” listed by the report:
It’s not until two-thirds of the way down the Guardian article that we’re eventually told of the reason for the fractional decrease:
“Shona Robison, the Scottish health secretary, said that based on 2015-16 prices and latest Treasury data, spending on providing day-to-day NHS services had grown by 5.8% over the last five years. Capital spending had fallen because building work on the £842m Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow had ended.“
Robison’s claim is backed up in the report:
Nevertheless, it’s true that whatever the reason, the report finds NHS spending in Scotland is now 0.7% lower in real terms than it was in 2008-09. Except that that’s hardly surprising when we know from the exact same body – Audit Scotland – that the Scottish Government’s budget has been cut by well over ten times that much in the years following the banking crash and the election of the Tories.
That makes the Guardian’s phrasing (“despite ministers’ claims that funding had been protected“) rather strange. If Holyrood’s total budget has fallen 10%, logically NHS spending would have dropped by the same amount, unless it HAD been “protected”.
That the decrease is in fact so small, and largely attributable to the completion of the new Glasgow super-hospital, inescapably proves that NHS spending has indeed been protected. (The health service is entirely funded from the “DEL” part of the Scottish budget, which even Andrew Neil accepts has been slashed.)
Health services across the entire world are under great strain as populations age and grow and technology advances. Scotland is in no way immune from those problems, and also has to cope with its budget being cut for purely-ideological reasons by the UK government. There are clearly some serious current and future problems facing healthcare systems everywhere. NHS England, for example, just recorded its highest waiting-times figures in seven years.
But the report clearly demonstrates that under exceptionally tough circumstances the Scottish Government has worked miracles in defending the NHS. Audit Scotland notes that “the number of people working in the NHS is at its highest level”, despite all the financial constraints and constant assertions to the contrary from Labour.
There’s no room for complacency or congratulations. Waiting times, while still vastly improved from those of the previous Labour/Lib Dem administrations (who benefitted from their budgets increasing every year, not going down), are moving in the wrong direction. Staff are put under increasing stress trying to keep up with growing pressure from higher demand and stretched resources, which in turn hampers recruitment.
But unless the media and opposition are aware of the location of a magic money tree, or have any actual constructive ideas other than “something must be done!”, the quest for doom-and-gloom headlines painting everything in the most apocalyptic light possible – and dishonestly distorting and misrepresenting the figures in order to do so – can only make things worse.
The desperation to use the NHS as a stick to beat the SNP only works because the NHS in England has secured funding, is meeting all its targets and has happy, motivated staff.
Oh wai…
Its just more unsubtle “Project Fear” unionist media attrition against devolved issues; health, education, police etc. The aim is to “evidence” we are crap at governing ourselves in order to demonstrate we are “too wee, too stupit, too poor” for real self-government.
Q: Well, what are the Unionists solutions to any funding problems or structural problems in NHS Scotland?
A: They don’t have any answers or solutions. Their interest in the subject only extends as far as attacking the SNP.
We should be under no illusion here (not that many of us on here are). The British state, all of its tentacles (that includes very many ‘public bodies’ in Scotland), and its corporate media are engaged in a process to effectively overthrow the democratically elected Scottish Government.
Quite how they intend to achieve this via the ballot box remains unclear, given the huge leads enjoyed by the SNP in polls. But if the British state can prevent a SNP majority in Holyrood 2016 it will be job done. And if they can’t stop it democratically…
It seems the unionist media wants the NHS in Scotland to have problems. No prizes for guessing what questions will be heard at today’s FMQ’s from Dugdale, Davidson and the other one. They will follow the unionist media line.
There’s no FMQs today.
In the new Chinese controlled England the NHS workers are all on the verge of strike action
Things are really great under the new Conservative and Chinese party
I think I’ll just tweet Eleanor Bradford a link to this before she gets going with her SNPBaaaad shite.
it’s been particularly noticeable how keen politicians and the press have been in trying to push the “don’t blame westminster” line recently. clear now why.
Just heard Kay Adams on Radio Scotlandshire on about the Health “crisis” in Scotlandshire with the usual selected weaponised phone in anti Nats. Do they never listen to the real crises in Engerland the on polis, skules and health services?
The knuckle draggers on the Hootsmon forum are still full of bile and ignorance on that and all matters.
Radio Scotland BBC news really going massive on their Scottish NHS fails. Its just like their run up to Sept 18 last year, which did work on balance.
Well said Rev.
The Scottish government are actually performing miracles in spite of the constraints.I know,I used to work in Health.
And how long were liebour in charge of our NHS?
Against the odds which are stacked against, the Scottish government are doing an ace job regards the Scottish NHS.
My brother, in England, suffered untold misery and illhealth, due to not being able to afford all the meds he needed for a chronic illness. That was purely due to England’s prescription charges.
I hate that, ‘on your watch’ saying, it does not seem to be used for rainbow tory stories.
And once again we get the real news from WoS the Rev Stu!
My granny used to have the phrase “a stuck gramophone record”, which seems to fit the output form the corporate and broadcast media in regard to the Scottish Government and the SNP. They could take any story, any report, any set of data, and twist it into the same old SNPBaaad chant.
Returning to the stuck record. Two solutions. Give it a kick so it will move on, or just learn to ignore the repetitive background noise.
When I seen the banner headlines in the Newsagents this morning,that was my first thought.
It just proves how the whole operation of propaganda is orchestrated.
Let’s not forget that the new hospital was under budget. Of course that would result in a drop in spending.
And has JaBa forgotten that time when McConnell said that a SLab parliament would have spent the money in the same way?
EVEL kicking off on parliament channel – heating up already
They really are so obvious with the co-ordinated attacks/lies against Scotlands democratically elected Government! Unionist MSM and Politicians are the boy who cried wolf….The more they do it the more people dont buy it.
I accidentally heard Kay-e just after 9am this morning reading out a long list of the “failures” of our NHS. Pure propaganda, to the extent that it was actually embarrassing to listen to. Does she really believe the tripe she spouts on a daily basis?
Regarding NHS staff retention. Rev Stu touched on the changes to pensions made by the UK Government being the main driver in Police Scotland staff looking to leave. From personal experience I would say that is also a major issue in recruiting and retention of NHS staff.
It would also be intersting to see what the impact of these changes have on the NHS budget and overall Scottish Government budget.
Sadly the professional British nationalists in Scotland will be all to aware of what is happening in the NHS in England, with all the privatisation and resulting chaos that it is causing. But they owe their positions and careers to the British state, and Scotland cannot be allowed to have significant policy differences with England. Therefore, the NHS in Scotland has to be portrayed as being in perpetual crisis, and the eventual remedy will have to be privatisation. That is why they have targeted the NHS in Scotland. It has become far too different from its counterpart in England for the comfort of British nationalists in Scotland.
Here is a link to a recent Telegraph article about 11 NHS acute trusts in Englsnd ( that’s hospitals grouped into geographical trusts to you and I but hospital trusts to the Torygraph), which were put into special measures by Jeremy ‘c’ Hunt. You’ll see if you click on their embedded link this is referred back to another Torygraph article earlier where 14 acute NHS trusts in England were found to be failing in 2013. You’ll also note few improvements have been achieved as of March 2015, and indeed continued serious, fatal failings as of now in one trust in particular.
link to archive.is
By not highlighting such comparative issues in the NHS England while discussing NHS Scotland the media imply by omission everything is fab there. By not making clear distinctions they also allow commentators to blur criticism of NHS England into general criticism of the NHS in both countries, and indeed Wales and N.I.
The one saving grace of all this bitter, propaganda is that it won’t work. A country of 5 million people is sufficiently well connected to each other that they will know their experiences of Scottish devolved services do not match what is claimed. They will not believe the shite, they will question more, and they will continue to support a government led by parties which put forward policies to improve the lot of Scotland, rather than corporations and rich elites.
The question which needs to be asked is why is there such a shortage of key professional staff?
That could not be anything to do with the Tory Policy in the 1980’s of shutting medical, dental and nursing undergraduate places down ….
At one point on Morning Call, after Kaye had made it clear many of the calls were positive calls, Eleanor Bradford said something like “of course you will always get people phoning in with positive stories…”, there’s her agenda laid bare right there. Damn those pesky folk with positive experiences of our NHS, that’s not why I’m here.
“But the report clearly demonstrates that under exceptionally tough circumstances the Scottish Government has worked miracles in defending the NHS.”
This is irony, isn’t it? Or are you on double-strength,rose-tinted spectacles?
What ever the problems are with the NHS, cuts to income is not among them. In real terms, the decrease in real terms in less than 1%. Indeed, in the early years of SNP government, the Labour government at Westminster provided year-on-year increases to the Scottish budget.
So, if not money, the likeliest cause for the state of the NHS is the Scottish Government’s management of the service. On would have hoped that, having been in charge of the NHS since 2007, the SG would have progressed beyond the stage of “launching a new national conversation … to inform plans to change how services will be provided”. Eight years in, one would expect an administration to be building on its record in office.
Labour raised £600Billion in taxes borrowed and spent £120Billion more.
Tories are raising £466Billion in taxes and borrowing and spending £90Billion. Scotland raises £54Billion and gets £50Billion? back.
Personal care and prescriptions should be included in health care accounts. .
The Tories are trying to cut £20Billion from Health care spending. Completely mad. They are trying to bring in private health insurance. Give £20 tax back and charge £30 for health insurance.
The junior doctors in England are considering strike action.
[…] Pieces fall into place […]
And this also accounts for the sustained, anti Wings/Stu. mostly by usual suspects from Labour aided by their chums the Tories.
While it’s true that people’s experience of SNHS is pretty good, how do you think this plays out to the staff working and doing their damnedest, to be constantly criticised?
Because make no mistake, that’s what these attacks will feel like.
In other news:
UK Gov announces successful test of the Reality Distortion Matrix
The MOD has been working with the BBC and willing pretendy impartial media outlets on a replacement for the Continually At Sea Deterrent. The RDM is designed to create the external impression that the UK is still a world power, united within its 64 million people, under the benevolent guardianship of the Conservative Government, and is impregnable against any form of democratic attack.
The prototype has been operating at 25% power for nearly 4 years, targetting Scotland as a country, and the Labour party in the whole UK who were led to believe they were Tories. Some resistance has been encountered in Scotland, and data from this has been fed into the design process to create improvements.
The full scale working model has now been switched on and will be run up to 100% over the next few weeks. Scotland will once again be its main target, and this will enable data to be fed into the RDM to trigger improvements. The target date for full deployment is March 2016 in time for the Scottish Hollywood Elections. It is expected that the SNP, known as Nats, will be wiped out for a successful test, and then the RDM will operate continually through a network of worldwide relays, operated under licence by the BBC.
Resisitance is futile, you will be assimilated.
We going to increasing get these negative stories about the Scottish Government over particularly the police and NHS.
While the Scottish Government has protected the NHS budget that doesn’t mean the NHS is immune from increased demand and rising costs.
I suspect the unionists are hoping that they can instil the fear of god into people who are going into hospital or are worried about crime.
Of course some people will fall for it, though whether such tactics makes a significant difference to the outcome of next years Holyrood elections, that remains to be seen
Eight years in, one would expect an administration to be building on its record in office.
Future Lord Tomkins certainly agrees with you PhilRobertson, when he’s not yawning at SNP MP’s that is
link to twitter.com
Its looking like its pay and conditions putting people off NHS careers, listening to relentless attack propaganda from all the unionist gits at Pacific Quay etc.
You can triple your pay with less hours and better conditions if you emigrate to Australia and America, if you’re a nurse or a doctor, well any NHS medic really Phil.
As we say in the BBC, youre all fcuked under SNP Scots.gov, vote NO or Emigrate.
Painful though it is to listen again, the first 13 mins of this FMQ session with Alex Salmond answering Johann Lamont in May 2014, covers all this ground. Does Eleanor Bradford think we are all Alzheimers patients at large, unable to remember anything?
link to bbc.co.uk
I really think that Nicola has to ask Westminster why every UK Media outlet has twisted and distorted the NHS
Scotland Stats to claim that the service is crumbling.
It is the undeniable truth that with recent Westminster Budget Cuts of 10%, with more to follow, The Scottish Government has managed to protect the service throughout.
NHS Scotland have seen a less than a 1% cut over all,while employing more people that ever before, treating more people with a greater variety of illnesses than ever before.
We have English Based Party MPs supposedly representing the wellbeing of Scots, who are doing their best to reduce moral In the NHS and who are using their own distorted
Stats to hoodwink the general public into thinking that SNP are not doing a better job than the Red or Blue Tories ever did.
To my mind, a worthwhile person, let alone an MP would congratulate the success of the SNP government for supporting ever growing demand with ever decreasing funds.
Please do recognise that the Welsh NHS, run by Labour, is the worst performing service in the UK.
Now recognise that we are doing better than the English NHS run by the Tories who continue sell off their NHS the private sector.
Scotland has a very poor health record with bad diet, too much drinking and smoking and we have more rural health needs that the rest of the UK.
The reality is that we are damned lucky to be where we are today, and to have MPs who are not just in the job
for their own benefit.
Seems it’s not only Hosie and Robertson that are struggling a bit but also who ever controls the NHS in parliament. Someone needs to kick a few a**es. Usually a company who is failing, does so because of poor management. Personally, I would just blame the Tories again.
Caroline Corfield says:
A country of 5 million people is sufficiently well connected to each other that they will know their experiences of Scottish devolved services do not match what is claimed.
Ruby replies:
That is absolutely spot on Caroline. Even in big cities in Scotland people talk to one another.
yesindyref2 says:
22 October, 2015 at 12:54 pm
In other news:
UK Gov announces successful test of the Reality Distortion Matrix
Have you changed your mind about bold headlines in posts disrupting the flow?
After listening to Call Kunte today talking about the NHS, I’m led to believe “real terms” means something like ‘fuck you and your facts…”
Oh and don’t forget the “disconnect” between what Scottish patients of the NHS experience and what the experts see and think.
So, we are all deluded basically, that’s what. “disconnect” means. And if the Scottish NHS wasn’t experiencing these ‘real terms’ cuts we would presumably be able to get treatment for our delusions.
Beautiful symmetry in their arguments or what?
They seem to hate the fact that the SNP switched off the PFI scams — I’d be willing to bet many SLAB pigs had shares in some of those scams.
Effijy: “NHS Scotland have seen a less than a 1% cut”
Not even as simple as that. Cash to front line services has increased. The SNP have stopped using PFI to fund build and maintenance which is saving money; the new Southern General being an example. This has freed up cash that would otherwise go to private companies, allowing the SNP to spend more on the services offered whilst cutting the budget as a whole.
Thus, in real terms, I.e. the terms that matter, service and treatment in reality as opposed to on paper has had increased funding.
Incidentally, this was explained on Call Kaye today by an expert/reporter who didn’t full understand her role on the show (SNP bad) but they didn’t go into much detail and were quick to move on…
Stuart,
Thankyou for another excellent forensic article. Thankyou also for going through the excrement and durge that masses for MainstreamMudlinginMedia in Scotland – The National and part of the Sunday Herald being the honourable exception.
If it is of any help, I was speaking to a friend who was undecided on 18th September 2015 and voted neither yes or no.
However she was saying that as a result of the incessant lies that appear in the Daily Record – her (former) paper of choice – and the factual analysis that appears on websites such as Wings Over Scotland two things have happened…
Firstly she no longer buys, let alone reads the newspapers.
Secondly she is now firmly in the yes voting lobby for IndyRef2.
Whatever else the MSM are doing, they are FAILING at frightening so many people. I reckon all we need is 7.5% of voters to switch from no to yes and that swing totals the magic 15% increase on top of the 45% yes voters getting us to the received wisdom target of 60% yes voters for IndyRef2 to go ahead.
I know it may not be much, but my aim is to persuade 12 of my no voting friends and colleagues to chnage their view and vote to yes. If we all set ourselves a similar personal persuasion target then I believe in my head as well as heart that Independence WILL come.
One of the most powerful tools in the box of persuasion that we all have is the work that Stuart Campbell does on WoS and the vast range of positive contributions by website visitors.
Keep up the good work Stu., and thanks again.
Lies, damn lies and statistics. We are all (the Scottish government, the UK government for Scotland (whatever the hell that is), the media, politicians of all parties), tying ourselves up in knots over spurious statistical arguments and, horror of horrors, discussions about targets.
Targets are one of the most destructive concepts in the management of any public service or business. Having a target for waiting times, for example, is ridiculous. If a person is treated within the target waiting time, that is regarded as a success. But if the treatment they are given is poor, inappropriate or even non-existent (i.e. they are discharged) that could be catastrophic for their well-being. The target will still have been met and the statistics will show a success. Death is just bad luck but breaching the target is unacceptable.
There is an anecdote (I cannot verify the story but I believe it to be true) of a hospital in England which was struggling to meet its 4 hour target for discharge or admission to a bed of A&E patients. Patients were often found to be left on trolleys beyond the 4 hour period. So the staff imaginatively came up with a solution – take the wheels off the trolley and that makes it a bed. This improved their performance as measured by the target, but caused some other issues (shortage of trolleys, wasted effort putting wheels on and off trolleys etc.) Healthcare was not improved.
Similarly, if we spend more money on healthcare, that does not mean that we get better health outcomes. PFI hospitals will, over time, guarantee that we spend more on hospitals but we will not get better healthcare because of it. Somebody mentioned above that the new Glasgow hospital came in under budget so we spent less. Is that a bad thing?
If we want to know whether we are well served by our health services (I believe we are) we need to look at health outcomes. What are we trying to achieve with each service? (Hint: it’s not the achievement of targets). Answer that question and concentrate on delivering it. Don’t waste money, but don’t measure your success by whether you meet your budget. Employ enough people to get the job done – not to meet a target.
Targets are nothing more than an attempt by managers and politicians to meddle in the work of healthcare professionals. I would rather make sure the health workers are clear about what they are trying to achieve and then trust them to deliver that.
The people at the coalface know the truth, so I would think that’s 137,600 votes the SNP can rely on come May 2016.
The establishment through the BBC,Eleanor Bradford,Jackie Baillie and various hacks at the MSM are trying to talk down and destroy the Scottish National Health Service so it can be sold off to the Private Health Sector.
This is what happened to the other state owned concerns like steel,coal,railway,post office,even the civil service was sold off and is now run by private companies.
All sold to either line the pockets of friends of the establishment or to reinvest in massive projects in London.
The NHS is a complicated beast and although the article above is excellent and factual, we would be wrong to assume the SNP are perfect. For what it’s worth I found Nicola Sturgeon to be the most engaging health minister. We can blame part of this on the Tory cuts, but actually the seeds were sown about 10 years ago. We have no staff crisis, despite what the media says….but one is coming. Of course it was decisions made during the true “one party state” years when every level of government was Labour controlled that caused this.
It’s a neat Labour trick, actually, and one they have used plenty. Engineer a crisis in 10 years when the opposition are likely to be in charge, then bleat on about it. Unfortunately for them the public perception in Scotland is that they are hopeless.
Politics is fascinating because we face a GP and consultant crisis. Labour will claim that after. 8 years in power the SNP can’t blame them, but of course from school leaving it takes at least 11 years to become a GP and about 15 to become a consultant. A pliant media will keep that bit quiet, because it perpetuates the SNP bad party line. Mg advice- question everything. If someone doesn’t like your question they’re hiding something.
SO the Scottish NHS is in crisis again. Funny that.
I lived in North west England for 21 years and it was almost impossible to get a doctor’s appointment. Half an hour on the phone got you (if you were lucky) a chance to sit in the waiting room for an hour before seeing the doctor. The prescription you were given cost over £8.00 at the chemist.
I moved back to Scotland in 2009. As a pensioner I use medical services more than I used to so I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on at the grassroots. I can just walk in to the daily drop in surgery at the local health centre and my prescriptions (of which I’ve a few) cost me nothing. A couple of days ago I was told by the doctor that I needed a non urgent X-Ray and she gave me a list of local X-Ray units and said that I could just drop in to any of them and be seen in a short time. I had another X-ray earlier this year and I can confirm that I dropped in to the hospital in Haddington and was seen within ten minutes.
Believe me the Scottish NHS is streets ahead of its English counterpart.
For your work this week, Stu, you deserve the highest praise and recognition. You are a truly amazing guy – and a superb journalist. Where would the Independence movement be without you.
Just watched oor Eleanor Braford explain SNP fail 7/9 targets. Oddly enough though, she is following the usual Britnat media attack SNP printed style with monstering SNP Scots.gov first then some actual detail end. Very weird/normal.
If you have some spare dosh, Bradford lets out her enormous second home up in Speyside for a grand or two a week, so recuperation after seeing her live BBC attack propaganda blasts would be lovely at this time of year.
My youngest daughter had need for some NHS Ops recently.
We waited much longer than was expected.As a worried parent,I politely expressed some concern to the Nursing staff.
In fairness however the surgeon came to the ward and apologised profusely as a patient had arrived in A&E with a hand that had been mangled in a lawnmower. Poor bugger I thought!
These are the situations that can throw all these targets up in the air.
The NHS staff all seamed to be doing their best.
Faced with this situation what advice do our 2 B’s (Bailie & Bradford) suggest?
Exactly they have no constructive input.
I was pleased to hear on GMS circa 8.40am a slightly more robust tone from Shona Robinson.
We need the SNP to be even stronger and a bit more robust in the Media,IMHO.
Its gonna be a long winter at this rate.
@heedtracker,
Could we crowdfund for several homeless to enjoy the comforts of Ms Bradfords home for a week or two ?
All these blue-satire-sky thinkers, all ignoring a simple and hard fact.
The original source is Audit Scotland. It is a fair, balanced, objective report, which clearly most commenters here have not bothered to address:
“NHS in Scotland 2015, published today by Audit Scotland, reports on the annual performance of the NHS and its future plans. It says that tightening budgets, rising costs, higher demand for services, demanding targets and standards, and increasing staff vacancies are placing significant pressure on the service. The report states that as pressures continue, the NHS will not be able to provide services in the way it currently does and that it needs to increase the pace of change if it is to achieve its longer-term ambitions.
The report found that health boards spent £11.4 billion in 2014/15 and ended the year with an underspend of just £10 million. This is commendable given the financial challenges faced. However many health boards are experiencing real pressures and needed one-off savings or extra financial support from the Scottish Government to break even. All area boards found it difficult to meet national performance targets within their budgets. At March 2015 only two of nine key waiting time targets and standards were met, reflecting a general decline in performance in recent years.”
Audit Scotland is no sneering ignoramus based in Bath, England: it is an agency of the Scottish Government. It can be found at 110 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4LH. Catch yersel’s oan.
BBC Radio Westminster, aka Scotland pushing the Audit Scotland story, then asking Jackie Baille of all people what she thinks.
Baille of course slates the SNP.
The comparison of Health Spending per person by UK government looks a useful source of information. It shows that Scotland spends more per person on Health than England.
HM Treasury: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2015
link to gov.uk
Table 10: Total Health spending per person 2009-10 to 2013-14
ENGLAND (each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14 – from Table 10.5, item 7)
£1,841
£1,868
£1,879
£1,916
£1,994
SCOTLAND (each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14 – from Table 10.6, item 7)
£2,029
£2,067
£2,086
£2,124
£2,151
Could we crowdfund for several homeless to enjoy the comforts of Ms Bradfords home for a week or two ?
We sure could but they’d need to be the right sort of homeless though, UKOK homeless, not vile sepratist homeless.
Also if oor Eleanoar doesn’t fancy vile sepratist homeless, there’s always UKOK vote NO for teamGB greatness Tom Morton’s holiday let empire up in Shetland. Oor Tom has built up quite a large portfolio of holiday homes on various Shetland beauty spots.
Tom Morton’s interesting as he works for home in Shetland, as deadly dull BBC vote NO Scotland Dj and it’s noteworthy because value for money obsessives at BBC Scotland have spent near on half a billion quid for a new office and studio block in Glasgow, but bettertogether Tom doesn’t want it work in it. And why would he, it’s only fackin money.
That s ukok showbiz probably and That’s my teamGB mystery of the day.
The Rev, Main Article
Based upon your analysis of Sunday’s Andrew Neil interview, I was of the opinion that Angus Robertson was, indeed, “done over” unfairly (similarly to many other MPs representing other parties have been, I should add).
Again, your analysis in this article suggests that figures and statistics have been used, or manipulated, misrepresented, etc, to make some point (heaven forbid that that should happen to any government!).
There were a couple of very odd things I noted about your article though. Firstly:
“Health services across the entire world are under great strain as populations age and grow and technology advances. Scotland is in no way immune from those problems, and also has to cope with its budget being cut for purely-ideological reasons by the UK government.”
You start with a worldy view of acceptance of the problems Health Services but then go on to say “cut for purely ideological reasons”? No – cut to try and reduce the deficit because we don’t make enough money.
If I cant afford to go to the pub in the last week before I get paid at the end of the month – am I curtailing spending on drink for “ideological reasons”?
Then, secondly, with a few changes of a few words, the final 3 or 4 paragraphs read like something George Osborne might have said!
@Malcolm Redfellow,
The Auditor General is appointed by The Crown ,not by Scottish Government.
That may hold no significance for you,but it does for many others who know the workings of the Establishment.
Even if she had condemned the Scottish NHS as being bad, I can assure you the NHS in the rest of the UK is much worse.
It is a matter of perception.
This might be me being really thick, but doesn’t the money that’s ringfenced for the NHS through consequentials come from a seperate budget from the block grant for the parliament?
If that’s the case then surely it means money that is meant to be used specifically on the NHS is being used for other areas?
“This might be me being really thick, but doesn’t the money that’s ringfenced”
No money is ringfenced.
No – cut to try and reduce the deficit because we don’t make enough money.
Some teamGBists makes loadsamoney sensibledave. The City spivs that caused/dumped austerity teamGB on the worst off, make bonuses in the billions and they take it all from the near trillion quid bankster bailouts that saps like me have to work and pay taxes for.
Shall we have a wee google bankster City bonus blast sensibledave
link to independent.co.uk
“They’re in the money, they’re in the money. they’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along.”
Come on sensibledave, lets have a wee UKOK austerity for the poor, socialism for the rich toryboy singalong?
On the NHS in Scotland. Am I alone in thinking that Audit Scotland has overstepped its mark in making what are “politically” motivated statements?
This is not the first time it has overstepped its remit as far as I am concerned. In other words Audit Scotland is but a political stooge for the Brit Establishment.
The timing of this is also suspect when the whore house in Westminster is supposedly debating EVEL.
What a coincidence that this report and its trumpeting from the rooftops by BBC, Bradford, KayE and our wonderful MSM is pefectly timed to give ammunition to be fired off at the impending North British Branch Office Conference.
Of course we are supposed to be ignorant of the daily reports of horrendous crises both financial and re treatment in the NHS in England.
Re money spent on health is it not a fact that we could as regards health demands probably spend the whole of our GDP on The NHS and there would still be unfulfilled demands.
Brilliant analysis again, Rev. Bravo!
If you have any spare cash slushing around (after the WoS opinion poll has been carried out), what about taking on a journalist/sleuthe for a few months to investigate the activities of unionist MPs / MSPs / Councillors? Perhaps even some of the better known, in our face, journos from print and TV?
If they wanna play dirty, let’s get down and dirty with them. I’m sure a couple of wee skeletons from their unionist closets could be splashed all over the inet much, I’m sure, to their collective consternation and chagrin.
Fight fire with fire.
No – cut to try and reduce the deficit because we don’t make enough money.
This is nice sensible
link to theguardian.com
To beat the cap! Maybe its all about what “we” actually means in teamGb sensible.
Here in Aberdeen, neo fascist Voice of The North Press and Journal likes to chase newly convicted benefit fraudsters down Union Street, as they emerge shattered from our Sheriff Courts.
Its great sensible, a red and blue toryboy dream, frightened exhausted convicts plastered all over a far right rag and yet no one has ever been convicted for the great UKOK City fraud crash of 2008 was it sensible?
BBC Scotland currently have a n other Rab C Nesbit comedy all about Scottish poverty, its going to make teamGB really laugh and laugh.
Political ‘weaponising’ of public services has become a boom business for establishment parties and their dog whistle media.
Basically a sickening practice seeking to undermine not just trust of the government, but of the service itself and all in pursuit of personal and political agenda.
Kinda why the opposition parties are unfit to govern and why the media must never, EVER be trusted.
It would be nice if the SNP wonks and spads were doing spadework on this stuff spiking these stories beforethey get legs.
Maybe they’re very busy making sure people only use nice words when interacting with high profile folk on teh interwebs 😉
Malcolm Redfellow says: Catch yersel’s oan.
The posters are aware the NHS in Scotland is struggling, but given the pressures its under its doing quite well, and better in many ways than the NHS elsewhere in the UK.
So I fail to see your point, other than the insults you tacked on.
Worth noting – as told to me by Phillipa Whitford last week. The A&E stats for Scotland and England are measuring different things. The MSM use the Scottish stats which include walk-ins against the English ones that do not. If you compare like for like guess what ? Yep the Scottish NHS stats outperform those of NHS England. Now we wouldn’t want to pollute the witch hunt with facts would we !!!
Eleanor Bradford has been the BBC’s health correspondent since 2001. In those fourteen years, she has devoted her working life to criticising the NHS in Scotland on behalf of the BBC. This has intensified since the SNP came to power in 2007. It is safe to say that Eleanor Bradford has become almost obsessed with attacking the Scottish NHS and the SNP while an employee of the BBC in Scotland.
Contrast with her statement on the Adoption UK website as an adopting parent and as a Trustee of Adoption UK.
link to adoptionuk.org
As a BBC correspondent, Eleanor Bradford is 100% negative to the SNP and the Scottish NHS.
As a Trustee of Adoption UK, she is 100% positive about adoption.
You would think that such a combination of extremes would be unlikely and that there would be some transfer across of both the positive and the negative.
But not apparently in Eleanor Bradford’s case.
I wonder why that is.
@Malcolm Redfellow 1:59pm
We all note your insults. But about your interest in Audit Scotland I will quote the Rev:
“…we know from the exact same body – Audit Scotland – that the Scottish Government’s budget has been cut by well over ten times that much in the years following the banking crash and the election of the Tories.”
Fundimentals. What is it these resident-in-Scotland Unionist agitators and muck spreaders actually want?
They talk down anything Scottish. They seem to want to suck out everything positive and replace it with venom and bile. Their mission is to spread to too small, too poor, too stupid messsage.
Don’t they feel part of this society? Is this not where they live, work, bring up kids? Is there no affinity with neighbours and community?
Do they really want to live in a colony where are the important decisions are all made by unelected Tories in London?
I understand the motivation behind the Establishment and Imperialists in London – power, prestige, status, influence, entitlement.
I cannot get my head round why Scots in the media sell out fellow Scots like we see day after day.
OK, I also understand there could be another fairer democratic reformed UK. There are some Unionists, particularly on the Left, who believe the UK can still be sorted out. Let’s face it, though, this isn’t what is motivating most.
I feel slightly better after the rant 🙂
I have to say that the idea that the Scottish opposition parties have to put forward policies or alternatives is somewhat naive.
Once this brief flirtation with the SNP is over and the status quo is restored everything will be rosy.
I remember a couple of years ago seeing a Scottish MSP, Nicola something or other (don’t know what she is up to now) defending the SNP targets from criticism by a representative of the legitimate ruling party of Scotland acknowledging that they were making a rod for their own back but they had no intention of reducing the targets just to make it easy on themselves.
Any sensible political party would reduce the targets so as to make them attainable, any PPE graduate could tell you that.
you can always tell when the Rev hits a sore point with his hammer out come all the wee silly onion trolls lol
Its a typical Britnat smear trying to pin the blame on the SNP for something they and i will say that again THEY are creating.
The SNP as managers who have been asked to do the best they can with dwindling resources have not only kept the SNHS afloat they have improved it,makes you wonder what they could do if they had all the levers of power in an independent Scotland and a budget that was not being used as a political ball and chain.
heedtracker 2:31 pm
Good to see you are dealing with the subject in hand as usual Heedy!
You are the opposite of the unlimited amount of monkeys being given unlimited amount of typewriters and, eventually, they reproduce a Shakespeare play.
With you, you have unlimited amount of keystrokes, to say anything – on any subject – but the same thing always comes out!
Angra Mainyu says:
22 October, 2015 at 1:29 pm
“.. The SNP have stopped using PFI to fund build and maintenance which is saving money; the new Southern General being an example. This has freed up cash that would otherwise go to private companies, allowing the SNP to spend more on the services offered whilst cutting the budget as a whole ..
Good point about PFI and the Southern General being fully funded.
Taxpayers now are paying the price for some of the ridiculous deals the previous Labour administration did to bump costs into the future.
link to newsnet.scot
link to fifetoday.co.uk
The fact remains to be anwered, to who is Audit Scotland responsible to. The people of Scotland or Westminster?
If it acts as a Westminster dept, then it appears we have a right to query their motives. Are reports subject to Westminster scrutiny? prior to release in Scotland?
Surley not only I can see the irony in slagging of the SNHS with SNPbad stories, is going to backfire.
Given that the demographic that most use is services, are the same demographic that most voted No.
Therefore they can see with their own eyes, how well the service is holding up.
As Kay had to acknowledge most people were phoning in to praise the Scottish NHS.
Let me tell everybody on this site that the morale of staff in NHS Scotland is far better than you could imagine.
I will not give details,but it has been and is still being measured by the Scottish Government,
I am proud of the commitment shown by all of them each and every day.We all should be.
They do not report their experiences or identify with them as portrayed by the Media at all.
@sensibledave
um….fuck off Frodo
@Malcolm Redfellow “Audit Scotland is no sneering ignoramus based in Bath, England: it is an agency of the Scottish Government.”
No it isn’t. From audit-scotland.gov.uk:
“The post of Auditor General for Scotland was created under the Scotland Act 1998, prior to devolution in 2000. The appointment is made by the Crown.
Audit Scotland was created to support both the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission in carrying out their work. Some audits are also undertaken by private firms. “
You then say: “Catch yersel’s oan.”. Mmmm, likewise.
O/T
saw a display Christmas tree today, lighted up in a shop, in London, in October
#merrychristmas
@Simon,
Sorry friend ,but I cannot agree with sweeping things under the carpet to gain political points.
I cannot begin to tell you how long that was going on in the NHS in the old days.
At least the SNP have the courage to face up to scrutiny,and are very proactive in dealing with these long standing issues.
I am sure people will fully understand in the not too distant future just how proactive the SNP have been.
URL for the Audit Scotland about I quoted:
link to audit-scotland.gov.uk
As far as I’m concerned, by the way, Audit Scotland provides a sound service auditing the accounts of various bodies including the ScotGov and its departments. GERS, while improving year to year and not perfect, is a testament to that.
completely off topic
But one of the bottles of wine at the Chinese State banquet a 1989 Chateau Haut-Brion, retails at £1,024.00 not including tax, Lost for words!
1989 in case anyone forgot is also the year of the Tiananmen square massacre!
Onwards says:
22 October, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Angra Mainyu says:
22 October, 2015 at 1:29 pm
“.. The SNP have stopped using PFI to fund build and maintenance which is saving money; the new Southern General being an example. This has freed up cash that would otherwise go to private companies, allowing the SNP to spend more on the services offered whilst cutting the budget as a whole ..
Good point about PFI and the Southern General being fully funded.
Taxpayers now are paying the price for some of the ridiculous deals the previous Labour administration did to bump costs into the future.”
I cant find the report that had Audit Scotland reporting as far back as 2002 that it saw some actual benefits to public projects being financed by PFI. Audit Scotland is clearly not an impartial body and nor is it answerable to the Scots Electorate but then nor is the BBC.
And in that vein of Audit Scotland doing a good job, from that report about the NHS:
“Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said:
“We all depend on the NHS and its staff who provide high-quality care. But it will not be able to provide services as it does at present due to the number of pressures it faces within the current challenging financial environment.
“We have highlighted concerns around targets and staffing in previous reports. These have intensified over the past year as has the urgency for fundamental changes such as introducing new ways to deliver healthcare and developing a national approach to workforce planning. It is important that the Scottish Government and health boards work closely together to help alleviate these pressures and also increase the pace of change necessary to meet its longer-term ambitions.”
“… and also increase the pace of change necessary to meet its longer-term ambitions”
In other words the ScotGov and NHS Scotland are already making changes, they just need to increase the pace of those changes. Kind of a “doing well, but need to do better”. I also note that Audit Scotland are impressed by the £10 million underspend, which is very low considering contingency, and shows that the NHS budget is carefully controlled and watched over during the year – ScotGv has only very limited abilities to borrow currently, unlike the UK Gov which can just add a few billion to the national debt.
Sensibledave it’s monkeys typing War and Peace, you silly old Britnat.
It was the best of times, it was the blerst of times…
Maybe you’d right sensible. Problems for vile sepratists like me, trying to shake off red and blue Toryboys like you, is that you can merely parrot what you pick up from BBC attack propaganda.
eg.
“No – cut to try and reduce the deficit because we don’t make enough money.”
That’s not true and even if it was, it’s no solution and Toryboy world’s solution is make the worst off pay, when those at the top of this third most unequal western econmy, get richer and richer. And all defenderised by a horrific Tory boy media, les by the BBC in Scotand and Englandahire too name doot.
Scotland knows it’s been robbed and it’s knows who by. The real question is sensible, can teamGB. media really overthrow Scotland’s democratically elected government by next May?
And if they can sensible, what are the assorted UKOK nutters and zealots in BBC Scotland going to do with the power they bestow on their SLabour henchman?
Malcolm Redfellow says:
All these blue-satire-sky thinkers, all ignoring a simple and hard fact.
Audit Scotland is no sneering ignoramus based in Bath, England: it is an agency of the Scottish Government. It can be found at 110 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4LH. Catch yersel’s oan.
Ruby replies:
Strange that it’s web address ends in .gov.uk
This sounds more like a branch of ‘UK Gov for Scotland’
What’s the issue with living in Bath? Is it an anti-England thing?
What is a blue-satire-sky thinker?
Is it someone who thinks up dirty satirical jokes?
The Scottish NHS must be made to fail , this will justify the completely different course set out for England and Wales , god forbid that a successful alternative can be pointed to , and only next door too.
Make way for the privatisers , there’s money to be made!
I need to refocus!
Am I correct in thinking that the issue is not with Audio Scotland but what the MSM have chosen to cherry pick/spin from the Audio Scotland report to try to smear the SNP Gov?
Speaking of sneering ignoramuses , where do Osborne , Cameron , Corbyn , Watson ,Blair , Miliband live?
And what is their vast experience of Scotland?
NIL.
But one of the bottles of wine at the Chinese State banquet a 1989 Chateau Haut-Brion, retails at £1,024.00 not including tax, Lost for words!
Aye, and it’s us, the taxpayers, picking up the bill, but they’ll have saved us money by buying caseloads in bulk . 🙂
@sensibledave “Then, secondly, with a few changes of a few words, the final 3 or 4 paragraphs read like something George Osborne might have said!”
Caroline Gardner (Auditor General for Scotland):
“But it will not be able to provide services as it does at present due to the number of pressures it faces within the current challenging financial environment.”
which is amazingly similar to what @Rev said in his last 2 paragraphs. Perhaps he actually read the report and summary?
@Ruby “Am I correct in thinking that the issue is not with Audio Scotland but what the MSM have chosen to cherry pick/spin from the Audio Scotland report to try to smear the SNP Gov?”
In a word, yes. They do the same every time with all reports from independent or so-called independent bodies. They spin the lot.
The power elite have a catalogue of potential attack targets, NHS is top of the list, followed by pensions, and soon, because the elderly are greatly increasing in number, we can expect walking sticks. You can see the Daily Express headline:
“SNP Remove Support For Elderly”.
Let us also remember the dramatic falls in hospital acquired infections since the SNP came to power. Nicola Sturgeon was health minister for much of that time and then Alex Neil.
In 2012:
“She (Nicola Sturgeon)added: “Today’s reports highlight just how far we have come – the overall level of infections has reduced by one third since 2006 and cases of some types of infection which cause particular concern, such as C.diff and MRSA blood stream infections, have fallen by over 75%.”
link to bbc.co.uk
In 2013:
“Investment in tackling HAIs, bringing cleaning back into the public sector and establishing the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate are all key steps taken by the SNP to cut C.diff rates across Scotland.”
link to news.stv.tv
All of us who experienced the severe illness and death of relatives pre 2007 after contracting MRSA and C.diff are very grateful for the effort to clean up hospitals during Labour’s tenure.
Correction “after Labour’s tenure”
I’m Sharing!
We can probably all agree that the NHS (anywhere in the UK) is a public service that should not be part of political knock-about – it is too important for that. We can also agree that the NHS has, to all intents and purposes, unlimited demand – whilst working to a fixed budget. It is therefore impossible to provide a “perfect” service.
Two topical subjects highlight the way debate is handled publicly – without any regard to the “real” issues that lay behind the headlines.
Firstly, with regards to A & E Waiting Times, almost every hospital in the NHS, throughout the UK, provides very high standards of response times and care for real “emergency” cases. Ambulances cases are almost always dealt with immediately. In addition, most hospitals have implemented a triage system where nurses working at A & E reception will quickly identify any serious “A & E” cases that come through the doors – by means other than an ambulance – and they will also be dealt with quickly.
Almost all of the “waiting time” issues surround the cases that fall outside those two categories. Some, should go and see their doctor (and shouldn’t be in the A & E at all) and some will just have to wait their turn to be seen. The four hour targets, in reality, relate almost entirely to, and affect, these latter two groups.
In reality, and you will just have to take my word for this, the four hour waiting time is actually part of “triage” to try and prevent “non-accident & emergency” cases turning up at A &E. If a hospital was to ever announce that it had cut its waiting times to an hour or two, then within hours, they would be inundated – and be back to struggling to meet the four hour targets – so you will never see a hospital reporting reduced waiting times (to any degree that is relevant).
Secondly, “Bed Blocking”. This issue has been around for many years now. It is part of the system as no one has come up with a way of resolving it fully. But I do know that most hospitals now run on the basis that there will be a percentage of beds “blocked”. Patients in those beds require, and receive, less medical care from doctors and nurses (they are ready to leave hospital) than patients elsewhere in the hospital.
If the “blocked” beds were emptied then, in reality, the hospital wouldn’t have enough staff, or budget, to have those beds full with “ill people” requiring urgent care!
Please note there is not one “political” position taken by me in the above – its for information purposes only and I have lots more if anyone is interested.
The purpose of the BBC/STV and the CorpMedia in Scotland is to prevent the 2 million No voters from coming to their senses.
A No voter is someone who has all his money stolen but won’t press charges ‘cos he mistakenly thinks the thief supports the same ‘team’ as he does.
Isn’t it funny how the Loyalists never ask the Royals and the Tories which school they went to and which Church they attend. I suppose it would be too big a shock.
yesindyref2 3:50 pm
… I think we are agreeing!
.
Sorry O/T
Here is the best place to live in the UK.
link to lovemoney.com
Preparing for an influx of English immigrants?
Ruby says
“What’s the issue with living in Bath? Is it an anti-England thing?”
Suppose so. It’s difficult for us to get inside the BritNat xenophobic mindset, though.
Same stable as all the “we don’t want our families across the Border to become foreigners” pish spouted at IndyRef. “Foreigner!” Like it’s the worst insult possible. BT el al didn’t see the irony of this pathetic argument.
‘Earlier this week, a leading tribune of the nationalist movement advised J K Rowling and Muriel Gray to ‘fuck off’ over the border. Rowling is a familiar target of such abuse, but dear Muriel – what has she ever done to incur the wrath of the one-party state?’ Kenneth Roy Scottish Review
I was very confused by the above. I do wish journalist would name names. I haven’t a clue who is meant by a leading tribune of the nationalist movement.
My ICD is telling me that an awful lot of what is written in the press is all just one big con, a load of bloody lies.
I’m not quite sure why they have embarked on Project Smear do they really think this will help Labour get more votes?
According to Labour Research
SCOTTISH Labour faces a bleak future
Leaked reports from focus groups held in Glasgow and Edinburgh show that most voters see Scottish Labour as “indistinguishable” from the Tories.
What is worse for party leader Kezia Dugdale is that some voters even saw Labour as “an incompetent version” of the Tories.
On a positive note for Labour, voters north of the Border no longer feel angry about the party “taking Scotland for granted”. But this is only because they think the party is “simply an irrelevance”.
O/T
Rancid nasty tory creature Heather Wheeler today in the evel debate.
link to politics.co.uk
Along with Redwood’s chatter these two would make anyone want to split the union.
@ Simon
The higher the target/goals, the better the performance even if you do not attain the actual target.
Its something to strive for, to better ourselves/the country. Nothing was ever achieved being easy.
The media and London based opposition don’t get that we know the snp are not perfect. We don’t agree with everything that they do, but they are trying to improve things for the people in this country and that is something that WM based parties don’t do, never have done and by the looks of it will never try to.
Tommy Sheppard speech in evel debate.
link to parliamentlive.tv
link to snp.org
Here is the best place to live in the UK.
link to lovemoney.com
Preparing for an influx of English immigrants?
Edinburgh is the best place to live in the UK?
That can’t be true, Les. Just the other day the BritNat media was telling us Edinburgh has Scotland’s highest crime rate. They wouldn’t lie, would they?
Speaking as someone who lives in England-yes our NHS is struggling to cope but most of this is down to Labour’s & latterly Tories liking for building facilities that won’t appear on the governments books as debt. PFI is the scourge of our age & this one sytem plus incessant govt meddling from successive govts all with a single aim- privatising the English NHS.
My local hospital is surviving so far & I get excellent treatment from it but where I work in London (in health & social care) our NHS trust has been in Special Measures for more than two years thanks to a brand spanking new PFI hospital.
Prior to the building of it, the trust was always in surplus & had to pay millions each year into a kitty to bail out other London hospital trusts. Not a voluntary payment mind, they had no choice.
The Scottish NHS is streets ahead because it is not part of the NHS so it can make decisions according to need rather than dictates from WM govt. Make no mistake though it is on their radar.
The Health Secretary-Jeremy Hunt (you may have heard of him-often referred to as *unt 🙂 ) has even managed to remove the WM legal duty to provide health services to residents of England-whit? I kid you not.
Health is failing by design in England & Wales & that is why I often end posts by saying ‘Look after your NHS & treasure it otherwise you will end up like us in the rest of the UK.’
Your service is magnificent in comparison & that’s what you need to keep saying to the naesayers using it to target Scotgov.
You might also not know that SNHS has higher A & E targets to aim for than England & Wales NHS-considerably higher!
Love & defend your NHS from LibLabTory conmen & their lackeys, (the MSM) they are only interested in lining their own pockets & definitely not protecting my interests or yours if they get their sticky hands on it.
[…] This month we’ve been noting a sudden avalanche of factually-questionable articles in the media attacking the SNP’s record in government. At the weekend and yesterday we also picked apart a highly misleading and disingenuous claim by Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Sunday Politics that there had been no cuts to the Scottish Government budget since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. […]
Nana Smith :
Thanks for the link. I like Peter A Bell’s post. I hope he doesn’t mind me copying it here
Peter A Bell
One minute they’re insisting that Scotland remain part of the British state. The next they’re telling our democratically elected representatives to get out of “their” parliament. These British nationalists are a very confused lot.
Heather Wheeler seems more confused than most. Maybe she could explain why she is incensed about Scottish or Welsh MPs voting on “matters that only affect South Derbyshire” but she has no objection to other non-South Derbyshire MPs having a vote.’
@ Les Wilson
So the Winner has Lower Crime Rates?
But didn’t Reporting Scotland just two nights ago state Edinburgh has the worst crime & detection rate in Scotland. BBC can’t be lying surely?
I was a bit miffed to see this parroted in The National, along with the other attack that night, Glasgow’s flagship new hospital still not meeting it’s 95% target.
Monday night the Telly narrowly escaped having my boot put through it! Thank god for these new-fangled remote controls…
@Nana
Good catch on the Wheeler quote Nana. Apparently the South Derbyshire MP is somewhat at odds with the idea of a UK parliament.
Still better togetherness abounds in that particular discussion. 😀
Frankly we’d like our politicians on the first available flight back home too, just so long as they’re bringing all of our sovereignty home with them. 😉
Until that time, the UK parliament is a place for UK parliamentarians. Oh and just to be clear, they did ask us so very nicely to remain party to the treaty of union, to participate to the fullest, yes? Perhaps they didn’t really mean it. 😀
@Lollysmum
Left a link for you on Fiddling the figures thread
@Ruby You’re welcome
@Macart
I’ve been watching the debate and frankly at times I felt sick at the bile shown towards our mps. Had to walk away and take a deep breath.
@Macart
forgot to say the best bit was when Ronnie Cowan said
England should have its parliament- you’re not too wee, too poor
Pure dead brilliant hahaha
@sensibledave “I think we are agreeing”
How very dare you agree with me. Or vice versa. Or something.
@Nana
Heh, ah’ll bet that was an ooft moment in chamber.
Said it a while back, they can’t help being who and what they are. They’re doing a fine job of the heavy lifting and proving the point we’ve been making for us.
They don’t want Scottish representation or the Scottish electorate at all. They want the real estate, the resources, the tax take and quiet acquiescence. Heh, well not for much longer.
@Nana Smith
@Macart
Aye, watching EVEL. The ignorance and arrogance of Tories is … well … disgusting, but not unsurprising.
I may have got this wrong, but I suspect anything passed by EVEL which individual Scots believe effects them, will be open to challenge in the courts.
I feel a great many crowd funded court cases could be on the horizon if this isn’t stopped!
The one thing I do like about Westminster is that they do a written transcript of all proceedings.
I’m looking forward to reading what Tommy Sheppard said in his speech and perhaps quoting from it.
The other interesting thing I find about these Westminster debates is checking the parts the MSM choose to cherry pick.
One example of this cherry picking/biased reporting that stood out for me was when John Swinney was intereview by HOL Economic Affair Committee there were a lot of interesting things said during that meeting but the press focusing on a snide remark made by Lord Lipsey who said:
‘John Swinney’s EU claims ‘the last refuge of a scoundrel’
@Galamcennalath
Or a trigger? 😉
I have absolutely no objection to an English assembly, working from a budget formula, with the devolved powers of ‘a parish council’. How and ever EVEL ain’t that and this would surely constitute a significant detrimental change in the constitutional settlement, wouldn’t you say? 🙂
Can I use the word cunt on here?
Because seeing the photo of the political giant that is Ian Gray with his placard has set my blood boiling. Get the fuck back into Subway where you can converse with something on your intellectual level – the lettuce, and stop trying to play with the big boys you cretinous, one-brain-celled buffoon.
Macart
“… this would surely constitute a significant detrimental change in the constitutional ”
Tommy Sheppard was certainly pointed that out to them. Of course they took no notice. They are blind in their sense of power and entitlement.
Something important will arise and blow up into a big issue.
Cameron and his mates seem Hell bent on destroying their Union. {shuggs shoulders} We will accept all the help we can get! 🙂
@galamcennalath
Heh, I think Cammo Hameron will be aware by this point of the dangers. He merely hoped that after the vote last year we’d be safely tucked away in our box. I don’t think any of the establishment benches saw our reaction coming, but by the time they launched this fuckwittery, it was too late.
They set a blatantly racist, anti Scottish agenda rolling in the press then let it run away from them. The meeja did too good a job and their own brain dead MPs ate up the company line of otherness, the tartan barbarians at the gate and now? Now they are forced to follow through regardless. They have too much invested in the narrative, but instead of a quiet acceptance from a defeated movement, they are faced with a grumpy electorate and the vast majority of Scottish MPs pro Scottish self determination.
Its a pickle for them, but their plans on excluding all nation partners and controlling the UK parliament through the back door are too advanced to drop. Consequence? They are forcing the result they just spent two years and a considerable amount of cash, favours and threats attempting to avoid.
Nana Smith
Thanks for the link-downloaded 😉
What is so tragic, is that many like my mother, 86, cling to the Daily Rancid, like a junkie.
Sat in Braehead, having a coffee, and the hour was dominated by where she would lay her hands on today’s copy. Found an outlet, and as she clung to the rag for dear life in the tills queue, I gestured to the front page and said – what bollox.
She looked at me, and said, you don’t know who to believe.
That should tell you everything you need to know about how valued my word is, and how this disgusting gutter press holds sway.
I’m sure my experience is not unique.
Anyone who has had the misfortune to have a serious illness, will know what a fantastic job our hardworking NHS do.
These pieces of toilet paper should be de-barred for having the word ‘Scottish’ printed anywhere on their sorry pages. They are an effrontery to reporting, let alone democracy.
A lifetime in industry taught me targets are pish. What are needed are a series of measures, monitored for continuous improvement. Measure something and it will improve.
Targets in themselves are futile. People spend time trying to meet targets whilst forgetting what the job is really all about. Whether targets are made or not is largely an irrelevance.
Think it was Bomber Bliar who started targets in NHS.
tbh – anymore boldness and I am going to get annoyed.
Hi Paula Rose.
Will you put your hand on your hip and stamp your foot? When you do that…
Oh, I must have a cold shower.
Paula Rose says:
22 October, 2015 at 7:50 pm
tbh – anymore boldness and I am going to get annoyed.
Ruby replies:
Oh dear! You know Darling anger is a very negative emotion it’s not good for the soul. Perhaps you need to tune into You Tube and listen to some Gaelic psalms being sung in the Free Church in Back. That should help!
Now now Sen Dave, you’re being a bit disingenuous there. By talking about the “NHS” and all the hospitals wherever they are in the UK. Surely you can’t be unaware that the SNHS is and always has been a separate entity. One might be forgiven for thinking that you were deliberately spreading some disinformation there, but I’m sure it must have slipped your mind. Tsk, tsk.
It’s beginning to look like operation smear
Is organised
I noticed reading Friday 23 record at my local library,
it continued with its Scottish NHS in crisis,
jobs catastrophe – job losses at the steel mills and
north Lanarkshire council- as well as a two page spread
about its the economy stupid.
At the foot of that two page its the economy stupid
story it callenged the Scottish Government or anyone
else to dispute the calculations it has used in the
article which shows a £10 billion Scottish deficit.
While the article highlighted the price of oil it
didn’t mention that it published on 24 Feb 2014
a press statment from the Prime Minister David Cameron
who warned that Scotland could lose out over the next
20 years on £200 billion worth of oil money as a result
of a yes vote.
These hate filled purveyors of smear, lies and fear will not suceed despite the torrent disgorged by the establishment’s MSM.
And hate filled they are when in the face of ten percent Westminster funding cut they try to scare the sick and the old when they say the NHS is ready to collapse due to the Scottish Government.
I for one am heart and soul sick of these bastards. They don’t reflect Scottish wishes, and its time we got rid of this poison. Democracy Westminster style only operates one way – as every ex colonial nation knows only too well.
[…] million in cuts” to health – when in fact, the Scottish Government actually increased day-to-day health spending in 2014/15. The year before that, another document which was claimed to be something it […]