Interesting. Been saying for a while that I think @KemiBadenoch will be our next Prime Minister. She speaks in common-sense language that resonates with voters, and is very likeable. Burnham already struggling, Reform/Greens toast, Lib Dems irrelevant.
The SNP don’t care about public sector reform.
The SNP don’t care about the spiralling benefits bill.
The SNP don’t care about having Europe’s highest drugs deaths.
The SNP don’t care about Scottish schools failing.
The SNP don’t care about Scottish Universities nearing bankruptcy.
The SNP don’t about NHS delays and overruns.
The SNP don’t care about islanders still waiting on a functioning and reliable ferry service.
The SNP only care about one thing - separation of our United Kingdom.
John Swinney currently on @bbclaurak droning on about independence again.
I'm sick of this nonsense. Absolutely sick of it.
We voted NO. John Swinney and co should get over it and get this country, the NHS, the roads, the benefits bill, the filth, the graffiti etc sorted.
If you leave your home empty for 6 months, Labour are going to let councils *seize it*.
Their MPs say that this is "great news".
But it's a despicable attack on private property. The Government shouldn't seize your property just because they don't like how you use it.
Two stories this morning that should shame the Scottish Nationalist Party “Government”.
1- Drugs deaths rise again as Scotland remains the worst in Europe.
2- Scotland has the highest death rate for children of any nation in the UK.
And what do the nationalists choose to spend hours debating in Holyrood yesterday? Another unwanted, unnecessary referendum on ripping our United Kingdom apart.
They are single issue obsessives, not a Government. Scotland is suffering but they don’t care as long as they get to talk about the only thing they care about- Separation.
Stop treating the adult population like children and stop allowing adults who behave like despotic toddlers to decree what the rest of us are allowed to watch.
Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News Washington bureau and is the current TV pool chair, says in an email; ”This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President.”
“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.” Via @brianstelter
Together with Stephen Fry, Colin McFarlane, David Cameron, Steve McQueen, Jeremy Clarkson and Nick Jones, I’ve written to the Health Secretary about prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer among men in Britain. It kills one man every 45 minutes, many after a diagnosis too late for treatment to succeed. Black men face a 1 in 4 lifetime risk, double that of the general population, and men whose fathers or brothers have had the disease face a similar threat.
In May the National Screening Committee refused to extend screening beyond a group of just 1,500 men with one specific genetic variant. Everyone else at high risk doesn't have guaranteed access to a test that could save their life. We believe that's wrong, and that the Secretary of State has both the evidence and the power to overturn the ruling.
More than 250 MPs from across the political spectrum have called for a targeted national screening programme, and over 100,000 people have signed petition demanding the same. A programme targeted at those at highest risk would cost £25 million a year, which is 0.01% of the NHS budget.
We are asking the Secretary of State to reconsider the Committee's recommendation and commit to a targeted national screening programme; to act now, rather than wait a decade for further trial data while men continue to die; and to ensure that risk, not luck, decides who is tested.
Apparently we’d be about £3000 better off if we were to join the EU as an independent Scotland so I’ve been doing a little bit of digging to see how much of this is credible.
1/ Scotland has a large deficit of about £26.2b that’s 11% of GDP that’s much higher than the UK overall 5.2%.
2/National debt: Scotland would have to take on its fair share of debt estimated at around £200b
3/Scotland about 66% trade with the rest of the UK which is by far our biggest trading partner. A hard border would slow trade and put barriers on trade.
4/Security: Scotland would lose immediate access to shared UK defence and intelligence networks.
5/ Entry into the EU is not a given with a deficit of at least 11%. It would also need all 27 nations to agree. Scotland would need to take the euro and have a detailed economic plan of austerity to bring down the deficit to below 3%.
6/ Scotland gets more per head than any other part of the UK by £2,720 higher.
The £3000 better of claim comes from a report from a Stanford university professor Nick Bloom who suggests Brexit has costs the UK 8% of our GDP potential. Which equates to £3000 per person. The SNP think that means we’d be £3000 better of if we entered the EU it’s a flawed argument they don’t take into account the damage done by leaving the UK. Which would be far worse than Brexit.