Liecestershire/Rutland patient transport improvements promised

Back in July it was reported that in a recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said Arriva Transport Solutions' service which provides hospital patient transport in Leicestershire and Rutland had been failing people. The report said that there were problems with staffing the service, the management of the service and that the service was failing in respect of care and welfare. This lead Leicester deputy mayor Rory Palmer saying that "Too many patients are receiving an extremely poor service from Arriva Transport Solutions." They were given three month to clean up their act or face the threat of fines.

Examples of poor care reported include the case of Olive Burns, who was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary after a fall, waited in the discharge lounge from 08:30 until 19:30 BST before she was taken to her care home. And this is just one extreme case and their have been others where patients are discharged to the holding lounge to wait for hours and hours. These I have seen with my own eyes when the same thing happened to me. Many of the patient waiting were old, frail and in some cases very confused as to why they weren't being taken home.

Today Arriva Transport Solutions' said it was investing in staff and punctuality was better. this was in response to the claims that patients were "often" arriving late for appointments, and taxi drivers with "poor attitudes" being used when other resources were unavailable. In a recent public meeting the company's managing director, Jonathan May, said he was "disappointed" with the delays but claimed "improvements" were being made. To solve the problem the of vehicles has been increased by 14% and the number of staff by 20%. The company are promising that this will improve the service.

Before the service was handed over to Arriva Transport Solutions' to reduce the cost of patient transport the service patients were transported by East Midlands Ambulance Service. And the mess lead Leicester deputy mayor to say "This is yet another example of big, national companies winning lucrative NHS contracts up and down the country and letting patients down." To me it is an example of private companies providing public services and cutting everything to breaking point to preserve profits. It is the one reason why the NHS should be privatised in part or as a whole. People deserve better.

Scottish Independence Vote

With talk of intimidation of "NO" supporters and threatening vote graffiti posted on the wall of at least one polling place by the Nationalists as Scotland goes to the polls to break up the United Kingdom. Whatever the rests the police have planned for civil unrest tomorrow as the results are announced, with police officer leave cancelled.

The polls opened at 0700 and closed at 2200 and the rest of the United Kingdom waits to see if the Nationalists have won the vote for independence. A "YES" vote will plunge the rest of us into years of being ruled by the Conservative party and the fool of a prime minister, David Cameron, who agreed the independence vote in the first place, after the Scottish National Party took control of the Scottish Parliament in the 2011 election.

I hope for the sake of three hundred years of history the two counties share that the vote to remain to stay in the United Kingdom. If they don't there will be years of political fighting before this issue is sorted out between the two counties and a lot of bitterness is going to be generated along the way that could damage relations between the two counties for years.

In twenty to thirty years time the whole of Scotland could be paying the prices of a "YES" vote with oil running out and high unemployment, net youth migration, falling standards of living and cuts to public services that were funded by oil revenues. When that time comes there will be no coming back and assuming that Scotland even gets into Europe it will become it poor man with all its wealth spend. What price Independence then, when they can't return to the United Kingdom.

UPDATE 22:35 - The YouGov exit poll puts the Yes vote on 46%, with the No vote on 54%. I just hope it is right and this matter can be put to bed once and for all for several generations to come and we get on with saving the UK from the Tories EU referendum nightmare.

One day left to decide

Tomorrow the people living in Scotland will decide one way or another to stay in the union or leave it forever with no chance of going back to the way things are today. While the majority of us in the United Kingdom watch hoping that they will stay and make this country great and a fairer place to live for everyone. While in Europe people will be hoping that they same the same, because most people united people and nations are stronger than the sums of there parts.

Despite the rhetoric of the Scottish Nationalist Party party there are too many unanswered economic questions and implications to Scottish independence: 

• It’s not clear what the Scottish currency would be. Scottish Nationalist Party ministers have asserted that they would create a currency union with England, but the Chancellor has made it clear that he will not allow Scotland into a currency union.
• There’s concern about Europe and the conditions and time lines of Scottish membership are unknown. 
• This would prove to be a massive risk and cause a huge uncertainty and it would mean extra cost for business and the people of Scotland.
• With many companies having to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom there would be more bureaucracy for companies whose main business crossed the boarder who would have to deal with different tax and regulation and would find themselves paying import duties. 
• It isn't clear how the Scottish Government would stop inflation and interest rates from rising, protect the country from rises in unemployment, control taxation while keeping unrealistic promises, maintain standards of living and stop the flow of migration into the United Kingdom. 

Basically the fundamental questions on the economy haven't been answered they have been either avoided or ignored and hidden in the debate by the Scottish Nationalists Party. This will be a leap into the unknown by the Scottish people.

I hope the people of Scotland vote with there heads. We all love our individual nations in the United Kingdom, we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't, it is what makes us great. The fact we all live together in one country making it all work sets the world an example of unity and what can be achieved as a whole rather than in parts. It is the way that we will achieve fairness in society by working together.

 I know not many people in Scotland will read the posts I have made in recent days, it might be as few 20 or so but if one of those people decide to keep this great nation together partly because of my words then it makes writing this and the posts before it worth it. It will be better for all our children and there children too if we remain together.

Politics or Bullying?

Ever since the December last year business leaders in Scotland have been frightened to say what they think and what will happen after independence. All through the campaign until the final weeks they kept tight lipped about there plans and what it might mean for them. This is all for good reason as we found out over the weekend from one of Alex Salmond right hand men, former deputy leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Jim Sillars.

Back in December one business leader was reported as saying “Most business leaders are keeping their heads down on this issue mainly due to the aggressive reaction any expressed negative opinion provokes from Alex Salmond and his cohorts.” While another said It is disgraceful what is going on, with SNP ministers putting in threatening phone calls to anyone in business who dares to ask legitimate questions, accusing them of being unpatriotic and trying to kill off criticism.”

It would seem many business leaders, entrepreneurs and bankers were checking they weren’t being overheard when talking about the independence , in case they are targeted for retribution by Alex Salmond’s nationalist administration if they supported the union. Some felt it was safer to say nothing than face the potential consumer boycotts by nationalist voters who might not like their views come irrespective of the vote on Thursday. Couple with this there were concerns about incurring the wrath of Scottish Nationalist Party politicians, in terms of smear campaigns instigated in the Scottish parliament and publicised in the media.

Last year when four of the United Kingdoms big supermarkets (Tesco, J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and Asda) dared to raise their heads above the parapet. Senior supermarket executives warned that in the event of a Yes vote, Scottish consumers faced the possibility of higher food bills. This resulted in the following response on twitter from Stan Blackley, a member of the Yes campaign’s executive: “Wouldn’t it be great if Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons (and) Asda just left Scotland after Yes vote.” While one Scottish Nationalist Party councillor in Glasgow added that it was “time to boycott” the firms.

The reason the firms issued this warning is that increased prices would result due to increased costs of distribution in Scotland compared to the rest of the United Kingdom and because of the effects of International market. In response to the threats the chief executive of Asda explained his position in the media and Sottish Nationalist Party leadership claimed that his remarks proved he had retreated when he had not. He just stated the reasoning behind the statements that were released by the supermarkets.

Iain McMillan, director of CBI Scotland, which speaks on behalf of businesses, said that businesses are worried about talking publicly. The leaders of prominent businesses have been contacted by Scottish Government ministers, he says, and warned not to criticise Mr Salmond’s independence plans. Clearly business don't want to speak out because they know whatever the way the vote goes they will have to work with Alex Salmond's regimen and in the case of a yes vote for decades to come.

That was all back in December last year and little has changed accept that there fears have come true in terms of the smear campaigns and the threats to teach them a lesson come independence are being openly spoken about and reported in the press. This has created a climate of fear is extraordinary and quite sinister and I fear that businesses are right to be fearful.

Last week a number of major banks, financial institutions, telecommunications companies and supermarkets spoke about their fears for independence, with some moving operations out of Scotland while others talked of increased costs of the products they market. The response from one of Alex Salmond, right hand man, Jim Sillars, showed the true colours of the Scottish Nationalist Party and that accusations of threats back in December were correct and the fears of businesses were well founded.

Tim Sellars threaten to nationalise BP operations in part or as whole in Scotland if the company didn't do as it was told, he further said that if the company wants to extract wants extract the potential oil fields west of Shetland "it will have to learn to bend the knee to a greater power". As for the banks he threatened them with splitting them up and warned Scotland won't bail them out if they fail. While financial institutions have been threatened with employment laws which require them to give two notice of relocation and redundancies. Finally he said  "What kind of people do these companies think we are? They will find out."

What is more interesting is when the truth came out when  Jim Sillars said "This referendum is about power, and when we get a Yes majority, we will use that power". Although he was talking about business it show what the Scottish Nationalist Party want, and its not power for the people but power for the party. Power they will have for decades to come with no real opposition in Scotland. That is one of things the people of Scotland need to think about tomorrow. Do they want a party in power that puts themselves above the needs of the nation that need to rule by fear and bullying.

Alex Salmond is a skilled campaigner and he has dedicated his life and career to winning a vote on separating Scotland from England. Having got this far, winning an overall majority for the Scottish Nationalist Party at the last Scottish parliament elections and engineering a referendum on the Union he will let nothing get in his way. Clearly he won’t opposition from the business community that might sway voters worried about jobs and prosperity, especially when they are right to be worried about doing business in Scotland given Jim Sillars remarks and the uncertainty and ecomonic questions that remain unanswered. 

Nationalism at all costs won't make Scotland a fair a place, it won't make it a better place to live or work, it won't give the people jobs. Those things won't come from socialism which has failed in so many counties in the past and will fail in Scotland too. Capitalism might not be perfect, but nor is socialism, communism or fascism. What does work is being free to speak out, make your voice heard and to change the system, something you can't do when you live in fear and you are subjected to political bullying.

Is Scottish Independence worth it?

The one thing I haven't seen is a risk analysis of Scotland voting "YES" on Thursday and what it could mean to the Scottish people. Their have been bits and pieces in the press about this and that but nobody seems to have done a complete analysis of the consequences. Looking from the out side it doesn't seem good for Scotland at all as there are too many unanswered question which means the economic stability of the country could push it into years of recession that the oil revenue will not be able to save it from. 

What I have done is to try and draw my own thoughts on what Independence will mean for Scotland in terms of the key issues as I see them. Unfortunately they don't make good reading at all if you are Scottish in an independent Scotland.

The Economy  Smaller countries are more at risk in times of global economic meltdown; you just have to look at Ireland which in recent years has suffered a recession, higher taxes, lower public spending and higher interest rates. Scotland during such times won’t have the rest of the United Kingdom to help it out financially and to provide stability during times of a downturn. The global economy isn’t stable and Scotland won’t be able to protect itself from another credit crunch by relying on oil revenue alone which is a finite resource. All this could make it hard for the Scottish Government to raise money on international markets and it will affect the countries credit rating in a detrimental way. Currency  It is clear despite what the Scottish Nationalists claim that there will be no currency union with Scotland after the vote for independence and if Scotland keep the pound it won’t be the same pound as we use in the rest of the United Kingdom. People and businesses will be forced to convert currency from one form of the pound to another. In the short term it is impossible to see Scotland adopt the Euro because of the fiscal uncertainty that independence will bring to the country, so Scotland will have to go it alone. This will all cause uncertainty and instability in the money markets that will last into the medium term. Investment  Investment and money has already started to flood out of Scottish Businesses, even before the country has voted to become independent, if the country does vote for independence this will only get worse. Other counties will be reluctant to invest in the country in the future that has so many unanswered economic questions and that is not part of the European Union, since the risks will be just too high. This means the only investment of note will come from the Scottish Government itself and this will have to come through public spending which raises the question of where will they get the money from if it not through higher taxation because it will be hard to raise money on international money markets. Interest rates  In an independent Scotland, what banks that are left will find it harder to borrow money in order to lend to customers, this will cause cash shortage that will result in them having to raise interest rates in order to attach the money they need. This will affect business and households by increasing there costs. Mortgages will be more expensive for home owners and businesses will have to pass the cost of borrowing onto consumers. This will have an affect on growth and in the short term could lead to a recession that would lead to higher unemployment, cuts in services and lower standards of living as has happened in Ireland since the credit crunch. Business  It is impossible to think that business in Scotland will not be affected by independence and as we have seen some business have plans to move head offices from Scotland to the rest of the United Kingdom. Although currently Scottish businesses pay some of the lowest levels of commercial business rates in the United Kingdom but in an independent Scotland these would need to rise to pay for the promises made by the Scottish Nationalist Party. This would make Scotland a less favourable place to base a business, together with the uncertainties about an independent Scottish economy and the affects that independence could have on the important valuable Scottish export market. Taxation  The Scottish Nationalist have made a lot of promises in the campaign for independence about how things will be better under their rule however the problem is going to be how they are going to pay for all these promises. The only way is through increased taxation and not just of the rich, who will flee the country, but by increasing the tax burden on every person in the country. Just looking through my thoughts you can see increased spending due to rising unemployment, increased public spending in order to invested, increased education funding and funding to the NHS, the list go on and on. There is no way that the increases in taxation can be avoided which will result in less consumer spending and less investment by business and will help fuel a recession which could last years. Oil Revenue  A lot is being made of the importance of oil revenue but this is a infinite resource and the revenues generated by it will only be available in the short to medium term. Hanging too many promises off it will be a disaster just waiting to happen as this avenue of income comes to an end. Services funded by it will have to be cut drastically or taxation raised to make up for the short fall. Yes, oil is a golden egg an independent Scotland but has to remembered when it is used up there will be nothing to replace it. With uncertainty about the amount of oil reserves it is not clear how long the Scottish Government has before they run into trouble. Health  Research seems to show that NHS spending in an independent Scotland would fall behind that in the rest of the United Kingdom unless the Scottish Government increases spending on health services. In order to do this they will need to find extra money through taxation. In addition to this the NHS is a United Kingdom based resource with some specialist treatments being offered in a limited number of Hospitals around Great Britain, some of these services would no longer be available after Scottish Independence representing a degrading of the services off to the people of Scotland. Unemployment With the financial companies already saying they will be leaving an Independent Scotland, employment in this sector is set to rock, then add to this the closing of the ship yards that are make ships for the Royal Navy and the loss of jobs in Naval bases and that just the tip of the iceberg. You can see there is no way increasing unemployment can avoid in an independent Scotland. The cost of increased unemployment will have to be paid for the Scottish Government which will increase the need for increases in taxation. Food Prices  In an independent Scotland food prices will increase, partly due to the geography of the country and through the costs of having to import food from outside Scotland. Currently the major Supermarkets balance the cost of food distribution throughout the whole of the United Kingdom which benefits Scotland which is more spacey populated and where transportation costs are higher, once the country is independent all these costs increase and will passed on the consumer and will result in higher prices. In addition the need to exchange currency from one form to another will also add to price of food as will higher interest rates in Scotland and possible business tax rises. Standards of Living  In a the short term there are going to be a sharp decrease in the standards of living in Scotland that the country will take tens of years to recover from. There will be a higher cost of borrowing, increasing unemployment, and higher taxation all of which will increase the risks creating a recession that will last years to a certainly. In addition to this lower investment, static wages, economic instability and a shrinking export market and oil reserves in the medium term which will lead to tight fiscal control and lower public spending and cuts in services. For the majority of the people of Scotland they will be worse off in years to come than people within the United Kingdom. Education Free University Education could be at risk in Scotland once the fee paying students from the rest of the UK stop going to Scottish Universities. This could in three years time result in a short fall of £100 million University in fees being received by the Universities which the Scottish government will have to make up. This will make it impossible for Nicola Sturgeon to keep her promise of free universities without increases in taxation. In the medium term the Scottish people could find themselves having to look to make savings in other areas of Education due to excessive short term spending just after independence. Migration In countries with falling or low standards of living people leaving the country has always been a problem. You just have to look at Ireland to realise that generations of young people have left the country to seek a better standard of living for their children. This has left Ireland with the problem of an aging population with all the cost that this involves on those that remain in the country. It is highly lightly that the same situation could arise in Scotland if there were a free movement of the work force across boarder as there has been between Ireland and the United Kingdom. This could be a disaster for the Scottish economy. Population and Emigration Even the Scottish Nationalist acknowledge that Scotland will need to grow it’s population and will need a net inflow of people of other counties for some time to come this will result in polices that encourage emigration to Scotland. This is going to be a massive problem in a country with falling standards of living and an unstable and adjusting economy which will be less and less attractive as time goes on. Also the numbers of people that the country needs will be much higher than predicted due migration form Scotland to more wealthy counties. Europe It is naturally assumed by the Scottish Nationalists that Scotland will be instantly a member of the European Union however the EU has already said it will need to apply for membership. From what I have heard from people in business in Scotland that trade and deal with the EU it isn’t going to be simple to get membership and other member states are not happy with the political system in Scotland or their push for independence. They see the country as being economically unsound and fear that the cost of them joining could be to high a price to pay in terms of propping up the economy given the spending plans of the Scottish Nationalist party. Boarder Control Boarder Control and Customs are inevitable and will be implemented on both sides of the boarder. Scotland will not want low cost items coming into the country from the United Kingdom which could undermine is tax system and so will need to set up customs posts. The United Kingdom on the other hand won’t want large number of emigrants and Scottish nationals flooding into the country through an open boarder with Scotland and will set up boarder controls. Board controls also will be required to be put in place to meet policing and defence needs as deter smuggling of goods. Defence  The Army, Navy and the Air Force in Scotland after independence will be tiny compared to the forces at its disposal that it has today and it is unclear if the Scottish Government are willing to spend enough money to allow the country to join NATO. Although it is clear the forces will be enough to defend it will have a limited influence militarily around the globe. One thing nobody has touched on in these times of international terrorism is that Scotland will need its own secret service and intelligence organisations. In addition to this Scotland will be reliant on the import of military hardware from around the world as defence contractors move operations to the United Kingdom from Scotland. Policing  Although not a big issue, Policing has to be one to be considered and there will be an effect both sides of the border. First one will have a new problem of cross border crime, i.e crimes being committed in one country being committed another. Police won’t simply be allowed to cross the board as this would be an invasion of sovereignty so a whole set extradition rules would be need to be put in place. In addition to this services which are currently provided by national bodies to the polices forces in the United Kingdom wouldn’t be available to the Scottish Police after independence such as those to fight cybercrime. These will have to be set up in Scotland adding to the cost of policing the nation. Broadcasting  It is clear that the BBC will no longer broadcast radio and television programmes in Scotland after independence and these will not even be available on BBC iPlayer. The BBC role in Freeview in Scotland will be a thing of the past as terrestrial broadcasts come to an end, although satellite broadcasts will still be available for the foreseeable future. Given the small take in license fee it is not clear if the replacement Scottish version of the BBC will even be able to afford to buy in all the programmes wants from the BBC. Further to this their will be no need for the BBC to produce programmes in Scotland that have no appeal or relevance to audiences within the United Kingdom. The BBC will simply leave Scotland. Telecommunications   Telecommunications companies have already highlighted that the cost of using mobile devices will rise just to pay for maintaining and expanding the mobile data networks in Scotland come independence. What is not said that it will cost more to phone relatives in the United Kingdom after independence because they be making international calls. In addition to this the cost of maintaining the fixed lines services is greater to in a country such as Scotland. It is also unclear how the telecommunication systems in an independent Scotland will be regulated. These are all things that little thought has been given too. Politics  It is unclear other than that Scottish National Party will be in power for at least three more terms if independence becomes reality in Scotland on Thursday. There is no organised opposition in Scotland to oppose them and they will be on the high of the independence vote. Over time the current unionist’s parties will come together in some way and provide some opposition to the nationalist party. And if they can ever defeat it is a question that remains to be answered, but something that will something is a long way off. Some people in Scotland will feel completely marginalised for years to come and this could be major problem for the Scottish Government and undoubtedly will lead to civil unrest. World Influence With a small high cost economy, a small population and a small sized military presence Scotland will have little say in world affairs. It will become a nobody state in a big world. On the world stage it will become a bit player and have little control on world events. Its influence will be tiny and this will affect trade and commerce for years to come. In addition to this, being a socialist country in a capitalist world will further diminish it credibility with a lot of nations which have a distrust of such political systems.

As far I can the only winners of a vote for independence will Alex Salmond, the Scottish Nationalist Party and the people that support them and profit buy them. For the people of Scotland it will be a one way journey into the unknown that will see them poorer and living in a country where the cost of living out strips the benefits of independence and the hallow promises made by the politicians that in the end won't be kept.

There will be no going back however close the result and the divorce won't be as neat and nice as some would have us to believe. It is all going to get very messy and their will be a backlash on both sides of the new border should the two counties divide. Already the Scottish Nationalist are threatening reprisals about businesses that leave their nation and nationalising those that disagree with their views. Talk like this is just the start of something very nasty and years of friendship will be gone forever as old friends become the old enemies of the past as nationalists on both sides make a stand. No good will come of this. 

Finally, the sad thing is this will happen and Scotland will be independent be it on Thursday or ten or twenty years time. The Scottish Nationalist won't let it go away now they have power and they want to keep it, no matter the price that Scotland has to pay for it. When Scottish independence come Great Britain will lose something great, it will lose Scotland and it people that have given so much to make the United Kingdom the country it is today. For the last 300 years or so we have stood together fighting injustice in the world and combining our strength to create a great nation. That will be lost forever.