Are English Patients Disadvantaged?

I would prefer to contribute something towards any prescriptions I may need but the Scottish Government has decided prescriptions will be free from April next year.  Since coming to power the SNP government has reduced the cost of prescriptions from £8.85 to £3.  Removing the charge altogether is expected to cost around £40 million.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The prescription charge is a tax on ill health that Scotland's poorest families can ill afford. Some have argued that in this financial climate, we should not go ahead with our plan to abolish prescription charges. Well, times are tight and we believe that the last people who should be paying the price of the current economic mess are the sick."

Yet the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign manager Fiona McEvoy complains that this is the latest in a series of moves which disadvantaged English taxpayers compared to their Scottish counterparts.

Does Ms McEvoy not realise Scotland is, very fortunately, not attached to the English health service?  We presently have a government which wishes to use our allocation of the UK budget in the way the people want it spent.  The SNP government show they listen to the people and it's up to the English themselves to lobby their politicians for a similar policy.  It's shameful that English patients with long-term conditions are not given free prescriptions yet millions is spent funding fake charities and some dubious overseas projects.

My suggestion to Ms McEvoy is to use the example of the Scottish Government as leverage with your political contacts in England.  Oh, while you're talking with them, suggest a freeze on council tax.  We've had a freeze here for 3 years now and hopefully it will continue for another 2 years.  It's not how much money you have, it's how well it's used.

In this case the Scottish government are creating policy which the majority support then finding the finance to support it.  That's the way it should be, instead of the present 'what can we do for the money' attitude at Westminster.  Wednesday's announcement concerning our security requirements will be a fine example of that no doubt.

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Another Example of the Abuse of Power

The above photo is of Obama's motorcade on the coast road on the east coast of Oahu, Hawaii.  Some will protest this amount of protection is a waste of public money, but let's remember Obama is a politician elected by the American people.

Who do you think said the following:

When Barack Obama goes on vacation, is he not the president of the United States? When Nicolas Sarkozy goes on vacation, is he no longer the president of France?,

Well done those of you who said a spokesman for -

Herman, the unelected President of the European Council, is in trouble for using his motorcade as a taxi service to run his family from Brussels to Paris (and back) to get a flight to and from their private holiday, thought to be in the Caribbean.

Mr Van Rompey lives in Sint-Genesius-Rode, a leafy Brussels suburb, less than 10 miles from the city's Gare du Midi where there are frequent high-speed train services to Paris and other European capitals.

"All costs of the private part of the holiday, down to the last euro, were met by the president," his spokesman said.  "The security requirement was paid for out of his office budget." (My emphasis).

Just to ensure you know where your money's gone, the motorcade taking the 162 mile single trip - undertaken twice - chauffeured Van Rompey, his wife and four children, two of their spouses and two grandchildren.

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A Topical Painting

Caravaggio 1753-1610

 'The Tooth Extraction'

At 2am this morning I thought I'd deaden the head-banging toothache which woke me.  Unfortunately my cures - whisky, cloves, toothpaste - didn't produce a positive result, so this evening I intend to put my feet up and do nothing.  Hopefully my face and brain will be defrosted by morning.

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A Change of Plan

Apart from the tragic death of aid worker Linda Norgrove, there has been very little mention of Afghanistan from our politicians.  David Cameron hasn't uttered the words 'war cabinet' since his first week in office.

There's been much talk about impending Strategic Defence and Security Review.  That's the review in which our defence and security will be decided by how much we can afford to pay rather than do an in-depth study of what we require for our safety and then decide how we fund it.  What is already evident is that our security may well be compromised, particularly since George Osborne decided the cost of the replacement Trident had to be included in the defence budget.

To find information about our present situation in Afghanistan I have to look outside the UK and it wasn't too surprising to discover an article, by Fred Kaplan, in which he states:

Officials say a shift in U.S. war strategy has begun to take place in Afghanistan, away from classic counterinsurgency (protecting the population, providing basic services, promoting good government) and toward the traditional business of killing and capturing bad guys.


So the strategy has changed again and counterinsurgency has taken a back seat while there has been a huge increase, just in the last three months, of military attacks.  It is now calculated, even by many COIN advocates, that the process would take too long - and be too corrupted by Afghan politics - to work in any practical sense.  In the US, the time needed for success through a COIN campaign alone - another six to ten years or more the strategy's most avid supporters estimate - is seen as politically unsustainable.

Part of the failure of COIN is that it is only successful when it is supported by the host government.  Karzai's government is so distrusted by its own people - and so incompetent at, on uninterested in, providing services - that it can't really serve as a reliable partner in a COIN campaign.

As our armed forces are under the command of Gen. Petraeus, they will also be aware that COIN is ineffective and progress is exceptionally slow.  Is that why David Cameron is reluctant to mention the words 'Afghanistan' and 'progress' in the same sentence?

To quote Kaplan 'The path to the end of this war is suddenly a bit clearer, but how this thing ends and what happens afterward remains as murky as ever'.  How true.

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Today's Non-Story

This is Mimi, the family pet of the Tonges.  She escaped from their garden through the open garden gate.

Like most people I can be highly critical of local councils, but in the case of Mimi's owners, I have to defend Bolton council.  The authority operates an 'in house' dog warden service for the collection of stray dogs during daylight hours.  If a stray dog is collected, the dog is returned free of charge if it is the first 'offence'.  During weekends and evenings all Greater Manchester authorities use a company called Animal Wardens, who return the animal to the owner after a fee of £60 has been paid.  The fee is paid direct to the company and the council is not involved in payment of the fee.

It was after 5pm when a dog warden returned Mimi to the Tongs and requested a fee of £60.  When they said they didn't have the money the Yorkshire Terrier puppy was placed in kennels, increasing the cost to £85, and they were warned she could be given to another family if they don't pay up.

Mrs Tonge said: "We cannot find that sort of money – we either pay our council tax or pay to get her back.

What would happen if the dog required veterinary treatment?  Would others be expected to pay for it?  Yorkshire Terrier puppies sell for £350-£400. Mrs Tonge can still retrieve her dog by paying the £85 fee within the next seven days, according to Bolton council.

Maybe this puppy would be better off housed with a family who are responsible enough to understand the expense of caring for a dog.

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Bonfire Day

Up to 200 quangos will be axed today.  Another 150 taxpayer-funded bodies will be merged and a handful of others will be privatised.

But it came to light yesterday that many of those employed by quangos will simply be rehired by government departments. Francis Maude will stop short of saying how much money will be saved or how many jobs will be lost, in part because they have not been able to calculate the sometimes huge costs of redundancy payments.  Doesn't it say a great deal about government when politicians admit they can't calculate the cost of redundancies?

The Department of Education is planning to axe quangos which currently cost taxpayers £267 million, though not all those costs are expected to be saved.  The Department of Health aims to save more than £180 million by cutting 30 bodies or seizing control of their functions. British Waterways was expected to be scrapped yet the agency will simply become a charity, preserving its existence and 2000 staff.

The biggest cut will come in the Environment Department where 50 quangos will be killed off.  Is it any wonder we're fed a diet of environment propaganda when there were 50 quangos involved in substantiating their existence?

It's expected that 400 quangos will survive untouched and critics are stating that even if the savings hit £1billion, that would represent just 2.6% of the total amount spent on non-departmental bodies.

The Scottish Government hoped to have 'a bonfire of quangos' when they took office in 2007, yet it hasn't been an easy task.  We can but hope the Westminster government has a smoother run - once they find someone who is prepared to do the sums regarding the cost of redundancies.  Then, of course, they must also include the  golden handshakes which will be paid to the hundreds who are paid excessive salaries.

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Employment Statistics

The overall UK employment rate fell 0.1% in the three months to August the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported.  The rate in Scotland increased from 8.2% to 8.6%.  The figure also showed the benefit claimant count - those out of work and receiving unemployment benefit - rose by 5.300 in September to 1.47 million.

Many economists fear unemployment will rise later in the year when government cuts begin to kick in.

However this blogger has analysed the data and suggests less positive outlook and mentions a sector which accounts for only 10% of employment accounted for 24.2% of employment growth.  That is the self-employed who are 43,000 of the 178,000 increase.

First, of those 178,000, 43,000 are the newly self-employed. A sector that accounts for only 10% of employment accounted for 24.2% of employment growth. Now, if this is an increase in entrepreneurial spirit, fantastic. I suspect, however, that it is partly people re-labeling themselves as freelancers or consultants, or setting up tiny businesses that don’t pay as well as full-time jobs. Such people are frustrated  employees.

It's quite obvious Chris has either had a bad experience or no experience of self-employment. Not all of us suit the style. For some considerable years during my working life I was self-employed.  It was my choice and most certainly one of the best I ever made.  I was not a frustrated employee because I was employed - by myself.  At times, when the most time consuming and irritating challenge was the red tape imposed upon me, I would think it was so much easier to work for an employer and receive a regular monthly salary in my bank account, but the advantages and pride in making my living by only my efforts, was what motivated me.  So often, when I worked for organisations, it was easy to sit back and let others do the work.

What upset me most in the above quote was the reference to 'setting up tiny businesses that don't pay as well as full-time jobs' (my emphasis).  That is so patronising to those self-employed who work well above the national 35 hour week.  In many cases they have to do so, but their desire to succeed in their vocation stops them being clock-watchers plus that inbuilt belief in their abilities.  I wonder what 'full-time' jobs Chris means.  Areas of the public sector spring to mind and/or jobs cushioned by handsome pensions and sick pay payments.

I'm delighted if more people are choosing or being motivated enough to join the self-employed.  It's not for everyone and it's true that some people use self employment for less than honest reasons.  I admit I missed the teamwork which I experienced as being an employee of big business, but being in control of my own future and finances was the biggest motivator of all.

Without the millions of tiny businesses in the UK, the economy would grind to a total halt.  We shouldn't denigrate the self-employed. They contribute a great deal to the economy and are the hidden drones in an otherwise big business economy in a country where we have a top heavy public sector.

If Chris's attitude is that of the younger generation, then there is no hope for them.  They need to be inspired by the positives of self-employment, not deterred.

Although I live in what is regarded as the sticks by tradesmen are all self-employed, having served their apprenticeships with the 'big' boys.  Hence I have a joiner, electrician and plumber who know me as a person and not just a number.  Their service is second to none.  That's why they make their livings - on their abilities and putting their customers first.

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Lady in Red

The lady in red won't be smiling over her muesli this morning.  After detectives spending several months looking into the claims Margaret Moran made when MP for Luton South, it is reported she is expected to be charged within weeks.

Miss Moran, you will remember, claimed for than £20,000 for the treatment of dry rot at her Southampton home which is almost 100 miles from either Westminster or her former constituency. When her claim came to light she insisted she had done nothing wrong by 'flipping' her second home between Westminster, Luton and Southampton and, over four years, spent thousands of pounds on decorating each one in turn.  Since that statement she signed off sick from Parliament because of the 'stress' of the situation and within months had been deselected by her local Labour party.  Since leaving, with what is thought to be a £55,000   'golden handshake', she is in the process of selling her taxpayer-funded constituency home for £250,000 - a profit of £177,000.

According to the Telegraph, the police have been very thorough in their investigations.  One receipt, for work to replace a boiler and associated work at her Luton property for more than £14,000 is from a company which is not registered.  The VAT number provided on the invoice is not valid according to HMRC.  The address on the invoice is residential.  The builder who lives there said yesterday that he had been contacted by the police and he denied fitting a boiler for Miss Moran.

She is now set to join four other Labour politicians facing court over their expenses claims.  The first trial, of former minister Elliot Morley, is due to begin on 22 November.

Ms Moran has built up quite a property portfolio so she has plenty in the bank to provide the fees for a top legal team.  The evidence appears to be stacking against her so she'll need the best.

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What a Feat of Engineering

At 4.11am the first of the Chilean miners arrived back on the surface.  Florencio Avalos, married with two children, has been trapped along with his brother, 29 year old Renan.  He was chosen to go first because he is in good physical shape.

The initial arrival of the capsule - containing rescuer Manuel Gonzalez -  in the miners' chamber was overwhelming.

A medic is now down in the chamber and a second miner is on his way to the surface. Time for me to have some sleep.
 

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Love

Please don't immediately think this is only a post about an Army officer's wedding because, when you read on, you'll find it's much more than that.

Mike and Kady Parke were married in England a week past Saturday, 1 October.  It was a grand affair with a church wedding witnessed by 240 guests.

Let me tell you a little of the story.  Mike Parke is 36 years old and joined the Army from school.  He was soon recognised as being officer material and quick-marched to Sandhurst where he completed his officers training.  He's what is known in military circles as a 'ranking officer' and those people are highly regarded by all personnel as they are few and far between.  Mike then joined the Royal Signals, worked his way up the ladder and is now a Major.  The signals are seconded to every  area of military deployment.

This summer Kady, a senior cardiac nurse, and himself were finalising their plans for a small, quiet wedding on a Greek island next year, when their lives took a completely different direction.  For a couple of months previously Mike had been complaining of headaches, which he eventually realised were nothing to do with his alcohol intake, so he consulted his GP.  I'll leave him to tell you the story.  It's an exceptional diary so do read the links in succession.

So often these days we hear marriage doesn't matter but this story shows the commitment of marriage is still strong.  Hopefully it also gives a small insight into military life and how our armed forces pull together, regardless of rank. Some question why anyone would join today's military - I've wondered that myself - but trust, loyalty, respect and friendship are the values which hold our military together.  We hear of some service personnel having difficulties adjusting to civilian life once they leave the services.  Could it be that they see little evidence of these values in today's society?

Channel 5 News broadcast the following item on Friday.

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Today's Non-Story

New research suggests the secret to maintaining a healthy weight could be as easy as turning off the lights at night.

Persistent exposure to light during the hours of darkness changes your metabolism and makes you pile on the pounds even without any change in the amount you eat.  The researchers, from Ohio State University, also discovered that staying up later often led to a change in eating habits with much more food eaten at night when the metabolism is slowing down.

Study co-author Professor Randy Nelson said: "Light at night is an environmental factor that may be contributing to the obesity epidemic in ways that people don't expect.

"Societal obesity is correlated with a number of factors including the extent of light exposure at night.

"Something about light at night was making the mice (in one experiment) want to eat at the wrong times to properly metabolize their food."

The answer is keep the lights off then you won't see your way to the fridge. Simple.

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China's Got Talent

Liu Wei lost his arms when he suffered an electrical shock while playing hide-and-seek when he was 10. At the age of 18 he decided to pursue a career in music, using his feet to play the piano, much as he uses them to navigate on the computer, eat, dress and brush his teeth.

Inspirational.

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Make The People Pay

Sir Paul Stephenson, Britain's most senior police officer, claims that money is being wasted fighting speculative law suits by civilians alleging brutality or wrongful arrest.

Along with other proposals he wants the public to be charged a fee for FOI requests which, he said, were burdening police forces with unmanageable levels of paperwork. The tick-box target system which the police authorities enjoy don't amass mounds of paperwork of course.

In a letter to Theresa May, the Home Secretary he wrote:

We believe there needs to be a radical shakeup of the system; currently for every pound paid out in compensation, up to £10 or sometimes more has to be paid out in legal costs to the claimants' lawyers.

"One of the key aspects is that the average settlements are well under £10,000 and most under £5,000, in other words these are not major areas of police misconduct with long-lasting consequences but often technical breaches."

The civil rights group Liberty condemned his comments: "The ability to challenge police misconduct in court is a vital constitutional safeguard against abuse of power. Under current rules, if you lose a case in the civil courts you can expect to be ordered to pay your successful opponent's legal costs.  A service bound to uphold the rule of law should not attempt to carve out an exception for itself."

The family of this man may be seeking some explanation if not compensation. The constable told the inquest: "I think because of the flat being in darkness and him lying on his back there was no outward sign of anything untoward."  It was later, when the undertakers sought to move Mr Denis, they found the knife in his back.

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Take Your Pick

Burning Our Money -  How Can We Ever Escape?

underdogs bite upwards -  The Great British Journalist

James Delingpole -  US physics professor's letter to the President of the American Physical Society

Ian PJ -  Involvement of Trades Unions in EU lawmaking

Jamie Lyon -  87% of MPs raking it in with second jobs

Dick Puddlecote -  Libertarian Magic

Muffled Vociferation -  Geert Wilders Speech

Aangirfan -  Chaos in UK Schools

Calum Cashley -  An economic future

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Today's Non-Story

Following on from last week's Hate Crime Guidance Manual we have the TV Licensing Ask Helpscript.  All 964 pages of it.  It sets out how the fee should be administered.

Staff are advised to look out for the particular 'key' words suggesting a customer is protesting about some aspect of the £145.50 annual fee.  These include: compensation, complaint, disgraceful, disgusted, incompetent, appalling, furious, intimidation, mistakes, harassment, rude, threatening, outrageous, upsetting, unacceptable and swear words.

Officials are givens tock answers to common criticisms of the licence, including 'The BBC is producing poor programmes', 'Some are offensive', 'I am only going to pay a proportion of the fee' and 'If an old person had received this letter they would have been very shocked'.

A TV Licensing spokeswoman said: 'There are more than 25 million licences in force.

'In 2009-10 complaints totalled 29,900, representing 0.1% of all licence holders, which was a 16% decrease on the previous year.

'Complaint numbers are published each year in TV Licensing's annual review.'

She added: 'The Government is responsible for setting the level of the licence fee and defines who needs a licence.'

Now I have the vocabulary that the Licensing authority understand, it's time I added to their complaint numbers.  For years now the BBC's programme quality has been deteriorating.  Here in Scotland we aren't even allocated our own main news programme.  Scottish news is tagged onto the end of the 'main' BBC news.  Yet they managed to build a multi-million pound, state-of-the-art centre in Glasgow a few years ago.  Perhaps that's why there is no money left for quality programmes.

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Jim Swire

Nobody can fail to recognise the name Jim Swire or the face.

Dr Swire's daughter Flora was killed on the Pan-Am Flight 103 which a bomb exploded on the plane 30,000ft over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.

Since then Dr Swire has dedicated his life to make sense of the complex web of technical, legal and, he claims, often officially-suppressed intelligence about who carried out the atrocity.

He, and others, are now petitioning the Scottish Parliament:

Justice for Megrahi Raised by: Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Mr Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Mr Iain McKie on behalf of Justice for Megrahi on 08 October 2010
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988.

The closing date is 28 October but I would ask you to sign the petition now.  Thank you.

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How To Lose Voters in One Letter

The SNP plans to contact one million potential voters in the next week as it launches its campaign to win a second term in office.  Moray MP Angus Robertson will be leading the campaign for a second time, after successfully steering the Nationalists to victory at Holyrood in 2007.

However the SNP intends to loose the support of Dundee East voters.  Stewart Hosie (pictured) is the MP for Dundee East and his wife, Shona Robison is the MSP, and minister for Public Health and Sport in the Scottish government, for the same area.  Therefore the Dundee East constituency is well covered by Mr and Mrs Hosie.

Mr Hosie has irritated Dundonians.  Not so long ago there was much controversy about the installation of two giant turbines for Dundee harbour.  More recent is the debate out Forth Energy wishing to build a renewable energy plant, which includes a 300ft chimney, at the Port of Dundee.

A Courier reader, a John J Marshall, sent a letter to the paper, at the end of September, complaining about the building of this biomass plant - unfortunately that letter is not online - and Mr Hosie responded.  A couple of quotes from his letter:

'It is the same regurgitation of claims and assertions of those who have always been vociferously opposed to the plant and the same attack on politicians who have dared not to automatically accept these as fact.'


'That decision will be based on impartial evidence by those qualified to provide it independent of any vested interests.'

The tone of his letter (if you read all of it) is scathing and somewhat patronising.  However Dundonians don't take insults lying down and the following are just a few quotes from readers' letters in response to Mr Hosie's missive.

'The debate now should surely be about how we develop renewable energy and what locations are suitable for different types of production. For example, the biomass proposal for Dundee port does not sound like a good sustainable proposal — apart from anything else, it involves importing the raw materials.'

'I have voted SNP for many years now but feel let down by those chosen to represent the council and therefore the people of Dundee. The biomass plant and turbines being mooted as a valuable addition to our city is laughable if it wasn't so threatening.'

'Nowhere in the letter does he mention the wishes of his constituents. Do we only matter to him, his wife Shona Robson and the SNP councillors when they are standing for re-election? There is considerable opposition among the public.'

'Sir, — Once again we witness the unedifying words and behaviour of a politician, this time an SNP MP, Stewart Hosie with his patronising and personal attack on your columnist, John J. Marshall, simply because he has no substantive and fact-based counter-arguments of his own.'

'Mr Marshall's column last week presented a logical, defensible and fact-led argument against the proposed biomass plant at Stannergate and yet Mr Hosie resorts to personal vilification as his sole means of counter-argument.

Shame on you, Mr Hosie — surely our MPs are not all that shallow?'

I would suggest Mr Hosie isn't doing much for his wife's chances of being re-elected next year for the Scottish Parliament and Mr Robertson should hot foot it to Old Glamis Road, (where the SNP constituency office is situated and which was my local sweetie shop as a teenager), to have a quiet word in the ears of both Mr and Mrs Hosie.  I could never imagine my own MSP writing in such a tone to my local paper.  He's far too respectful of his constituents' concerns.

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"Free Sheets" promoting 10-10

Oh The Irony

We're so 'lucky', having 3 'Free Sheets' every week, each comprising 48 x tabloid-size pages of newsprint. 

Each is delivered, unrequested, and promptly helps fill our recycle bin. 

The front page of the latest one though, caught my eye. Plastered all over it was propaganda from 10:10, imploring us to Reduce Carbon Emissions.

So I have done. I've complained to the publisher instructing them to never deliver any more to my address. (One has to do one's bit to help save the Planet).

Contributed by Joe Public

Can I add a short note here please Joe?  My blogger friend ASE reports that '10:10 wants as many people as possible to send in pictures of their low carbon Sunday lunch tomorrow - email photos@1010global.org '.  I've just sent mine and a copy is below.  Maybe it could be lower in carbon if I omitted the ice?  Subrosa

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Only in Glasgow

Superimposed against the Glaswegian backdrop are not the leftovers of the Edinburgh trams but three tuk tuks.

Tuk tuks are a common sight on the streets of Mumbai and Bangkok so, in order to ensure Glasgow keeps it's international reputation, Glasgow taxi driver, Pat Donnelly, has decided to buy one for ferrying tourists around the city.

The vehicle costs £14,000 and should be arriving next month.  According to Mr Donnelly the transport seats 6 people comfortably - although I have my doubts about that - and he intends to charge £10 a head for a one hour trip in his up-to-50mph machine.

Good luck to him.  The novelty factor just may see him getting a return on his investment.  Don't think they'll catch on in Dundee but one of these may do at the bargain price of £4125.  Could be an attractive addition to Riverside Drive before they build the gigantic windmill and biomass plant.  But that's another story.

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