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Reposted by Andrew Learmonth

Oldfirmfacts @oldfirmfacts.bsky.social · 1d

A handy guide

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Reposted by Andrew Learmonth

Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East reut.rs/48RrstN

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Reposted by Andrew Learmonth

Kenny Stewart @kennystew.art · 6d

Big credit to @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social and the @heraldscotland.bsky.social for choosing to do their own version of this thread (this time regarding the Autumn Budget Revision) as the splash in today’s paper. Imagine a world where budget papers made it clear how taxpayers’ money is being spent.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

Basically, the direct mental health budget line has halved mid-year. Ministers say it’s just accounting shifts, but won’t publish the details. When I went to them for clarity they answered questions I didn't ask.

Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

Now, Scotland’s Mental Health Partnership has written to Tom Arthur MSP demanding clarity.

They want to know if this is a real-terms cut, and where the money has gone.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

Officials are also comparing the new figures to the 2024/25 ABR, not to the original 2025/26 Budget — the figure Parliament approved.

That’s the proper benchmark for seeing whether spending has gone up, down or been moved since the Budget was set.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

They also said 2025/26 “Level 4” figures show a £3.2m increase compared to last year.

But ABR documents only go down to Level 3. Level 4 is a more detailed breakdown that isn’t published as part of this revision.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

But the £127.7m wasn’t part of this budget revision — it was a previous baseline transfer.

Asked again to explain the drop from £270.5m to £134m, officials cited “presentational adjustments” and pointed back to NHS budgets.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

When asked, the government said the £120m wasn’t taken from the Mental Health Services line.

They also pointed to £127.7m already transferred to NHS Boards earlier in the year and claimed total mental health spending will hit £1.5bn.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

£120m of that was internally transferred to local government for the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan.

But that still leaves a £16.5m gap, roughly 6% of direct mental health spending, which ministers haven’t explained.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

The Scottish Budget published in Dec 2024 allocated £270.5m to the Mental Health Services line for 2025/26.

But the Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) — which lets ministers shift money mid-year — revised this down to £133.9m, a £136.5m reduction.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 6d

Scotland’s leading mental health organisations are demanding answers over what appears to be a multi-million-pound cut to direct mental health spending, quietly buried in the Scottish Government’s Autumn Budget Revision. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2551697...

Charities demand answers from Scottish Government over secret £16m mental health cut

Groups including SAMH and the RCGPs say ministers need to explain a gap in mental health funding exposed by the Autumn Budget Revision.

www.heraldscotland.com

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 8d

Pro-Palestinian activists took over Edinburgh Waverley on Thursday night to protest Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla. Passengers had to be escorted onto their platforms by British Transport Police.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

Full story in today's @heraldscotland.bsky.social

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

Additional reporting by @emily-moore1.bsky.social

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

That email, signed by 210 people from a local community council, targeted 12 councillors who backed the Flamingo Land development.

Because of how the system records cases, it counted as 210 complaints against each councillor.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

The key reason for the spike? West Dunbartonshire Council.

Of the 2,714 complaints, 2,520 were about councillors there — all submitted in a single email.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

The spike has raised fears the complaints process is being “weaponised” against councillors, with vexatious or ineligible submissions clogging the system and slowing down scrutiny of genuine cases.

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · 27d

Scotland’s standards watchdog received a record 2,714 complaints about councillors last year — nearly nine times more than the year before. But just 128 cases were actually investigated. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2546280...

Fears process being weaponised as record 2,700 complaints lodged against councillors

Scotland’s standards watchdog saw a record 2,714 complaints in 2024/25, but just 128 were investigated, sparking concern over misuse of the system.

www.heraldscotland.com

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Andrew Learmonth @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social · Sep 6

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2544675...

Far-right leader charged with indecent online communications

The arrest came after officers were called to a confrontation in Castlemilk, where a man — who believed he was meeting a 13-year-old girl — was…

www.heraldscotland.com

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Reposted by Andrew Learmonth

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Aug 26

Police Scotland buried a damning internal report that warned of pervasive misogyny, predatory senior officers, and a “toxic boys’ club” culture in which women in the force were bullied into silence and branded “troublemakers” for reporting abuse 👇