SORRY, Mark Smith, just as there really are no free lunches, there are no "free" prescriptions in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland where the costs of prescriptions are paid through general taxation in the same way as treatment in other ways within the NHS is funded.
If the SNP had enacted John Swinney's mantra in 2014, things would be very different.
When John Swinney first announced his intention to stand for the SNP leadership, he underlined his experience and stated that he is a “stronger and tougher” character compared to when he stood down as party leader in 2004.
AT last the BMA acknowledges the damage done by the 2004 GP contract that allowed GPs to opt out of out-of-hours care.
Anas Sarwar should take some time out, maybe read a little and find out who he is meant to be representing. And tell his boss, Keir Starmer.
WE don't know who Neil Mackay's "rebels" are within the Scottish Greens ), but we can certainly testify that authoritarian misogyny in the party long pre-dates the Bute House Agreement, and is institutional.
John Swinney is lauded as the new leader of the SNP who will miraculously cure all the SNP's ills and woes, But what about his record?
I CAN readily understand the feelings being expressed by relatives at the planned closure of two council care homes in South Lanarkshire.
LAST February you kindly published a letter from me in which I described John Swinney as one of the most decent men in politics, anywhere. It was therefore with deep relief that I listened to Mr Swinney announce his candidature.
First Ministers may come and go, but some things from the past few years remain constant – one of them being worries over the state of the NHS.
