Chris Musson

1 month ago | thescottishsun.co.uk | Chris Musson

SCOTLAND needs to get healthier or faces a budget black hole of up to £14billion a year in the decades to come. Independent forecasters revealed our ageing population means unaffordable levels of NHS spending with Holyrood ministers set for huge cash shortfalls in the 45 years from 2030. But the Scottish Fiscal Commission said the grim scenario could be greatly improved - or even reversed - if Scotland boosts its healthy life expectancy, which has consistently been lower than England’s.

1 month ago | thescottishsun.co.uk | Chris Musson

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement will have a “devastating impact on Scotland’s budget”, Holyrood’s Finance Secretary Shona Robison has moaned. The SNP are not known for their shiny outlook on life, of course - not least as so many of them reckon the way to get independence is to make out Scotland is a total hellhole. But Ms Robison’s shrieking about her budget being cut and impending “austerity” isn’t just hysterical. It’s utterly ridiculous.

1 month ago | thescottishsun.co.uk | Conor Matchett Chris Musson |Conor Matchett |Chris Musson

KEMI Badenoch lacks a “work ethic” and needs to put more graft into the job of Tory leader, Ruth Davidson warned today. The former Scottish Tory leader also said she did not believe the leader of the opposition would last until the next UK General Election in 2029 and was not doing enough to keep Nigel Farage off the airwaves.

1 month ago | thescottishsun.co.uk | Chris Musson

SCOTLAND’s ailing NHS is still planning around 50,000 fewer operations than before Covid - despite a 2021 SNP promise to treat far more patients than pre-pandemic days. A new report underlined how the recovery from health service shutdowns seen during lockdown has been far slower than Nats ministers vowed. Worryingly, rates of improvement are slowing - promoting claims the Scottish Government’s NHS strategy has “run out of steam”.

1 month ago | thescottishsun.co.uk | Chris Musson

JUST one in five housebreakings are being cracked in Scotland’s worst hotspot for the crime, we can reveal. Last year saw Edinburgh emerge as the worst place in the country for burglaries, for the second year in a row. Its 1,416 housebreakings in 2024 represented a rate of 27 crimes per 10,000 population. Second worst of 32 council areas was Dundee, with 354 incidents meaning a rate of 23.7. Third was East Lothian, fourth Midlothian, and fifth Glasgow.