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Sorry, my sentence above isn't sufficiently clear: "I am not aware of the equivalent in England or Wales etc (but am happy to stand corrected)"

I do know the 18 week RTT target in England, but not of any equivalent 12 week target. (And I remain happy to stand corrected).

Well it is hardly a quantum leap in difference re. NHS use of the private sector. In Scotland it is over 1% in England about 4% under Labour at the time they lost the last election.

As for tax avoidance, well, the SNP have hardly been thrusting when it comes to implementing tax changes. John Swinney, the Finance Minister, faced calls to use the Scottish Variable Rate during a parliamentary debate on the 2011 Budget, but failed to tell opposition MSPs it had already lapsed. It was left to Michael Moore to tell political leaders that Salmond had made a decision to let it lapse without telling any other political parties.

In terms of creating Scotland as a tax haven, the SNP seemed much keener. As I said their only tax pledge in the run up to the independence vote was a 3p cut in corporation tax and a promise to have the equivalent of a race to the bottom in order to keep existing business in Scotland and attract new business. That would have funded a lot of childcare and doctors wouldn't it?

As far as I know, you are correct that there are no legal targets enshrined in law which apply to the English NHS.

On the subject of a closer perusal of the SNP record, I would like to see much more of that in Scotland. I confess I found the SNP independence campaign hilarious in the sense that prior to the vote, the SNP offer was for things to stay pretty much as they were e.g. carry on in the EU as before, carry on in NATO as before, still have the same Queen, still be able to watch Corrie on the tele, still use exactly the same currency and no tax changes other than a reduction in corporation tax.

Now the SNP has moved away from the situation in which THEY have to explain to the Scottish voters what THEY will implement in an independent Scotland, they are now back into its all Westminster's fault and we will be the backbone and guts of any Labour government.

Hilarious! When will we see a "Thick of it" based in Holyrood?

The Scottish figure above isn't over 1%, but rather a fraction of 1%. Plus, for 2010 like-for-like, in Scotland it was just over 0.1% compared to over 5% (per the UK Govt stats) in England. Proportionally, 50 times more. But I'll readily admit statistics are often just a useful indicator, can lack context, and not always definitive one way or the other.

Tax avoidance: I've nothing new to add. There's a rebuttal/context setting of Michael Moore's version of events, as linked within the Uni Prof blog above. But I am not inclined to favour either. My gut feel is that the political posturing on both sides probably hides the truth.

3p cut: I can only refer you back to my comment 30/3, 7.06.


Would you agree we've backed and forth'd the arse off this now and can put it to bed?

Thanks for the info.

I agree entirely.

All the best