Tag: Politics

Scottish Affairs Committee to quiz RBS chief on branch closures

The Scottish Affairs Committee will take evidence from Ross McEwan, CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday (8 May). The session will examine the reasons behind the decision to close 62 branches of RBS in Scotland, subsequent temporary reprieve for ten branches, and the long term future of local banking in Scotland. The Committee will also hear from the Lending Standards Board, the self-regulatory body for the financial services sector. Continue reading Scottish Affairs Committee to quiz RBS chief on branch closures

Mind the Gap: poor in Edinburgh die 21 years earlier than rich neighbours

The life expectancy gulf in Scotland’s capital city is now 21 years, experts have said, DOUBLE the previous estimates.  Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs says he is “staggered” by Edinburgh’s inequality gap and has urged the SNP government to take action to address poor health in deprived communities. Continue reading Mind the Gap: poor in Edinburgh die 21 years earlier than rich neighbours

Briggs: NHS Lothian accounts for almost a quarter of Delayed Discharge in Scotland

NHS Lothian accounts for almost a quarter of Delayed Discharge in Scotland

Delayed discharge costs our NHS over £100 million per year, with NHS Lothian accounting for £28 million of the total. That means less money to spend on treating patients who require medical attention, while patients awaiting discharge are being kept in hospital for longer than they need to be, says Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs. Continue reading Briggs: NHS Lothian accounts for almost a quarter of Delayed Discharge in Scotland

Rise in food bank use is national scandal, say Greens


Figures from the Trussell Trust, showing that 17,328 people in the City of Edinburgh and 21,443 people in Lothian were provided with three-day emergency food supplies from this one food bank charity alone, highlight the urgent need to implement the Scottish Greens’ ten-point plan to tackle poverty, says Lothian MSP Alison Johnstone.  Continue reading Rise in food bank use is national scandal, say Greens

Letters: All in this together? Don’t believe the lies!

Dear Editor

The misplaced faith expressed by the people of the UK in 2010, believing the financial disaster caused by the banking industry would be dealt with by the Conservatives and their Liberal allies in a fair way, saying that “we are all in this together.”

In a typically British way, the government was given a chance to ‘do the right thing’ but we know, to our cost, they didn’t. Instead, they embarked on a systematic policy of wage-cutting and drastic cuts in both local and national public services for eight years – and they have said cuts will continue for many years to come.

People have learned a hard lesson in thinking that Conservatives will be fair and treat all people equally. They have failed on all counts: they are not competent, they are not fair and, above all, they seem not to care.

Their main political purpose is to maintain the system of ownership and control by the rich, for the rich.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens