THE QUESTION IS...

...AND WE'D LOVE TO KNOW THE ANSWER

Was Ruth fed duff information by her team and go ahead without checking to see if it was correct?  It happens. You read something somewhere and accept it as fact. Then embarrassingly it turns out to be incorrect, incomplete or a hoax.

It's even happened to Munguin on the odd occasion. But not in parliament.

Or did Ruth know perfectly well that the criticism of the health service that she was making was in fact nothing to do with the Scottish organisation, but in fact, about the English health service...run by her rt hon friend Mr Hunt?

I'm pretty sure that as she was doing it on our pay cheque we probably have a right to know which it is.

Now, in fairness, Ruth never put herself forward as a potential first minister. She didn't reach that high. Amazingly she actually promoted herself as a potential leader of the opposition. And she got the gig.

But presumably the leader of an opposition party somewhere deep down inside has ambition to be the leader of the country?

So, do we want an incompetent for FM, or maybe an out and out fibber?

Neither, you say? 

Thought not.

Oh, and as she was happy enough to make a song and dance about these shortcomings  in parliament, now that she knows that she got the country wrong, will she be having a word with Mr Hunt about what an all-fired mess he's making of a service that many of my friends rely upon, and are being bitterly let down by?

HUNT TELT

This poor woman, who has just lost her daughter, has made public for all to see, her fury at Hunt making capital out of deaths (including her daughter's) during the two days of doctors' strikes in England last week.

An incredibly brave and  principled stand against a cheap, nasty, sordid, second rate politician.

Every day in hospitals all over the world, people die. For Hunt to simply get a total of those who dies on the two strike days and use it against the doctors is beneath belief.

We salute you, Mrs Lovell, and pass on our condolences on your loss.

The Scottish Heath Service may not be perfect, but aren't you glad that we have Shona Robison at the helm, and not that man?

Fotos on Friday

Remember when the Labour Party was like this?
 (Thanks Mister_TMG)

Now look at it...
What does he think he's in?
Looks like The Muppets to me!

And yet, Mr Average is more concerned about the guy with the pretendy sore back whose made off with
a miserable £4 000, than he is with Gary Barlow, HSBC, Royal Bank, or Google which have made of with billions .

So much for our democracy.

What I can't understand is that a man who spent so much time with Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charlie wasn't forensically examined by the secret services. Every time I hear an excuse for another establishment figure, I think about that!

DUH! Doctors? What's that then?

I suppose if you work for a compulsive liar like IDS,
you have to learn the lying trade 'Priti' damned quick.

OK, so if he gets his wall built (as if) how does
 he get his suits over the wall? (Thanks Danny)

Well obviously it is because British People are Special! DUH thicky!

Nanny, Nanny, did you do that hen house at the end?

HUNT THE BRAINCELL

A proud record!

Weekend working for some people only.
No wonder he's unbothered by waiting times in doctors' surgeries, when his own surgery has a wait of a month.

Now we know why he was appointed.
How would privatisation of the English NHS
affect Wales, NI and Scotland

Oh, that's a hard one.

Last night I was the sole doctor on site caring for over 100 patients who were acutely unwell with complications from their cancer.

Some couldn't breath, some were fighting overwhelming infections with literally no immune system, one had bleeding in their head, one had a blockage in their bowels. If I made a mistake because I was tired, any one of these patients could've died.

Every cancer patient in the south Birmingham region has a direct line to call for advice or help. 11 new unwell patients arrived and I assessed and treated them too.

There was not a single manager in the whole hospital. Last night, I ran the oncology service for the whole south Birmingham region from inside the biggest teaching hospital in Europe.

Apparently I have no transferable skills to find a different job.

And then I stood on a picket line in the cold to save our NHS. But my shift wasn't during the strike, it was just what countless other junior doctors do everyday.

I am 27 years old. I work 60 hours a week, for the 48 that I'm paid for, I earn £18/hour.

Apparently I lack vocation, I'm overpaid and I need to work harder.

Screw you Jeremy Hunt. We never asked for thanks. All we do is for our patients, how dare you try and turn them against us. All of this is your government's fault. Well you've picked a fight with the wrong crowd.

Go on, announce imposition, and just see what the most resilient, driven, passionate, intelligent group of people in Britain do next. Bring it on. 

Dr Richard Bowman

**********

In the meantime Jeremy rakes in a cool million a year and as you can see from the letter above, doesn't work at the weekends.

Petition here

TAKE A LOOK, MR HUNT

NHS ENGLAND: TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR JUNIOR DOCTORS

RANDOM FOTOS ON FRIDAY

Brave decent man.

Let's be honest, neither of you gives a damn...

Oh my.... would you look at the state of that nonsense? I bet Chic was tempted with that sword; I know I would have been. This is how the other half lives, while the rest of us are worrying about the electricity bill.

No wonder the Brits wanted them on the Human Rights Council. When they bring in their English Bill of Rights for those with titles, the Saudis will rubber stamp it.

Eh Cameron?

LETTER FROM MUNGUIN

To the BBC

Teaching the Libations a few chords before my big number

London 
England

Dear BBC,

We know that you are based in England, and that most of your staff are English.

Given the respective sizes of our UK constituent  countries, this is only to be expected. It's quite fair, and we have no problem with it. We just wish you would spend a little more of your money in our counties, instead of the bulk of it being spent in London and Manchester.

But it is important as a news organisation to remember that what you are broadcasting, although mainly for consumption in England, does go out in other countries too. You know, that is not unfair, given that citizens of the other countries pay licence fees at exactly the same rate as the English do.

It is, therefore, very important for you to distinguish, in your reporting of a news item, which countries you are referring to.

In many cases your failure to make it clear is little more than an irritation; a discourtesy, and what minor misunderstandings your misreporting of events cause are of no real significance. 

However, your reports about junior doctors' intention to take strike action, do not come into that category.

There are in fact four NHSs in the UK. The English one is the biggest of course, but in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, thankfully, Jeremy Hunt is NOT the Health Secretary. 

Mark Drakeford is Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government. In Northern Ireland Simon Hamilton is Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, and in Scotland, as seen above talking about junior doctors,  is the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being, Shona Robison.

Mr Hunt has badly handled the dispute with junior doctors and strike action applies only to his fiefdom In the other countries more mature and sensible heads have prevailed.

 MEDIASTORM Retweeted

Nicola Sturgeon ‏@NicolaSturgeon  14h14 hours ago

Nicola Sturgeon Retweeted Kay Burley

This is a massive vote for strike in England. NHS Scotland open to junior docs who want to be valued by government.

Nicola Sturgeon added,

Kay Burley @KayBurley

BREAK: Junior doctors vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. 98% in favour on a turnout of 76%

431 retweets320 likes

 

 

 

It matters so much this time becasue those who are ill, or expecting to be taken into hospital for routine procedures, or have outpatients appointments, or indeed friends or family of these people in the Celtic countries of this union, should not be alarmed by today's news. It doesn't apply to them.

When things are geographically specific, you should report them as such. You wouldn't, for example, warn everyone across the UK to evacuate their houses becasue of an unexploded bomb in Brown Street in Bristol, would you? 

No, because even if the bomb went off in Bristol, people in Cardiff or Derry or Aberfeldy wouldn't be affected. 

Same thing then with cancelled appointments in Scotland. They are not going to happen.

Now for heaven's sake it's not that difficult, BBC. 

Britain is not England is not Britain.

Try saying it over to yourselves a few times and see if eventually it sinks in.

Oh, and one last thing, before I go. If you seriously think that you can address the democratic deficit in your reporting in Scotland by appointing Sarah Smith, another of you Labour Party friends to be your Scotland Editor, then please, think again. We're not impressed, in fact we are howling with laughter at your ineptitude.

It's a bit like trying to fight a fire with paraffin. And we are beginning to wonder if you are doing this on purpose.

Kind regards

MUNGUIN

SNAPS ON SATURDAY

 Union Jackie Bird plays Nursemaid

Tessy is watching you...
Bring back Big Brother!

                  

If only they bothered about the people who survived...

Bang on Harry. Give Cameron a gun.

Because they really don't give a damn.

Unless they know that half the country is watching them on the telly, in which case they care with passion.

Mr Corbyn is off to the palace at long last to become a rt hon.

And the queen says he doesn't have to get down on his knees.
Clearly she's happy about this lack of respect for her majesty.

And then there was this zoomer...

The English Health Service is collapsing on his watch.

Ern no, Mike. We have to have a leadership that listens to the voters.
The parliamentary party and their families won't get Labour elected.

Mon conseil pour vous: Arrêter de parler anglais.

Yep, that sums up the mess.
I spared you another photograph of Jackie Baillie,
 because I'm nice that way.

A NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE EXPENSIVE AT THE POINT OF USE?

Well, you can laugh, but we know The Eton Boy's already suggested that people should take out insurance against ill heath or unemployment. Just like National Insurance doesn't exist.

I seem to recall us being told that the NHS was only safe in a united kingdom. It seems just possible that they were lying to us, hard though it may be to believe. I see they have put one of their aristocratic ministers in charge of it. That's comforting.

The NHS in England is in crisis. Facing a shortfall of £2 billion this year. Agency staff costing  a fortune; PFI deals taking a big slice of their money; an ageing population causing greater demand, a big cut to budgets and a complete arse at the helm. Still we're better together with the broad shoulders of the Westminster government pooling and sharing misery. So don't worry people, you're in safe hands. But do remember that if you are desperate for treatment and the worst comes to the worst, there are some good hospitals in India.

Thanks heavens this loonie isn't looking after our health service.