Time for SNP to admit that sometimes 'Things Are Better in England'

The NHS is showing more signs of recovery in England than in Scotland, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Picture: Christopher Furlong)The NHS is showing more signs of recovery in England than in Scotland, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Picture: Christopher Furlong)
The NHS is showing more signs of recovery in England than in Scotland, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Picture: Christopher Furlong) | Getty Images
The SNP should not be so proud as to refuse to learn lessons from the NHS in England

The SNP is fond of trumpeting how ‘Things Are Better In Scotland’ than they are elsewhere in the UK. There’s even an acronym for it, ‘Tabis’.

Many taxpayers, among others, will disagree and, in many alleged cases, it seems like ‘Taquabis’ would be more accurate, as in “Things Aren’t Quite As Bad In Scotland”. There also appears to be a degree of cherry-picking of the statistics. It is a politically useful but highly dubious way of defending the nationalists’ track record in government and deflecting criticism about crumbling public services.

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Of course, what actually matters is not whether things are worse than somewhere else, but whether people in Scotland can get the social care they need, a dentist or GP’s appointment, or manage to persuade police to investigate a ‘minor’ crime. If voters simply accept such excuses, the decline of public services will continue. We can’t let the government deploy this idea as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

However, the SNP’s use of such comparisons does mean they have few grounds for complaint if others do the same, particularly when they are a respected body like the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

NHS performance declining in Scotland

The economic think tank found that “almost all measures of NHS performance have worsened over the last year” in Scotland, while “in England, most measures have improved”.

For example, between April and June, hospitals in Scotland treated 6 per cent fewer inpatient and day cases and delivered 6 per cent fewer outpatient appointments than before the Covid pandemic. According to the Scottish Government’s NHS recovery plan, inpatient and day case activity is supposed to increase to 15 per cent above pre-pandemic levels this year.

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With the ‘Westminster austerity’ excuse no longer credible following the injection of billions into the Scottish Government’s coffers this year and next as a result of the UK Government’s Budget, perhaps it’s time for the SNP to show a little humility and see if there are lessons to be learned from the way the NHS is being run in England.

However, that would mean admitting that ‘Things Are Better In England’, and woe to the SNP politician who ever does that...

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