Same old … same old … same old. That is what the people of Scotland will have to put up with now that the Scottish Parliament elections are over.
STV News told the remarkable story of William Gillespie, 83, who had a bowel tumour successfully removed using the da Vinci Xi surgical system at the RAH on 30 April.
It follows the introduction of the technology at the hospital – the first time a surgical robot has been used at the site – bringing state-of-the-art care closer to home for patients across West Dunbartonshire.
The development is part of a wider expansion of robotic-assisted surgery across NHSGGC, with dedicated systems already in place at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI).
The health board has now surpassed 5,000 robotic-assisted procedures, underlining the growing role of this technology in patient care.
She said: “Having a robotic-assisted surgical system at the RAH for the first time is transformational for patients in our local communities.
“It allows us to provide high-quality, minimally invasive surgery closer to home, reducing the need for patients to travel while continuing to improve outcomes and recovery times.”
The expansion of robotic-assisted surgery across NHSGGC is helping to ensure more patients can benefit from advanced surgical techniques, while supporting the health board’s wider aim of improving access and delivering high-quality care closer to home.
“Sadly, in 25 years of devolution, Scotland has turned its back on Adam Smith. All that we have seen from the SNP is record highs in tax and spend, and grievances stoked up against the rest of the United Kingdom for cynical political gain.
“Now, with the SNP in partnership with the Greens, we have seen the politics of envy take root—politics that maybe meant well, but which paid no attention to perverse incentives in housing, welfare and regulation, which have instead made housing scarce, driven businesses bust, put workers out of jobs and reduced tax revenues, impacting public services across the board.
“With budgets under pressure, we have seen those who work and those who venture their own savings to create businesses and jobs being overburdened with the ever-mounting bill. At first, they were those who could afford to pay a little more, but as the bill has grown, they have been asked to pay more and more, with less and less to show for it in return.
“Bureaucracy has bloated, the engines of our prosperity are straining, and we find ourselves punishing those who aspire—those who are ambitious for themselves, their families and their communities—simply for trying to enjoy a good, decent life.
“That cannot continue. It must not continue. If we wish to build a prosperous Scotland that works for all, we cannot be led by this ideology of impoverishment. We want Scotland to have world-class public services, to hum with the whirring of industry and the buzz of thriving high streets, and to put a good life within the reach of every Scot.
“When I went down to London as a young Scot to make something of myself, with just one suitcase, my rugby boots and £2,000 in debt, I went with true treasure. I was a product of the very best of Scottish education that was provided freely by the state. I went with the most valuable of treasures—Scottish values of hard work, endeavour and honesty.
“I do not want young Scots to have to go to London to make their fortune, as I and many others did. I want them to have ample opportunities to stay in Scotland and prosper. However, regardless of how they make their way in the world, I want them to go with the same true treasure—the true wealth that I was given.
“The kind of state education that Scotland gave me is lamentably rare today. Too often, it has to be bought, whether through people paying for private education or people buying a house in the right state school catchment area. Allowing standards and discipline to slip so drastically, as the SNP has done in pursuit of ideological fads, has undermined the wealth and opportunity of young Scots. Real life is about incentives.
“Canny Scots will always work hard if we incentivise them, but not in a broken system of high taxation and welfare dependency that scarcely makes it worthwhile. Meanwhile, the inherently Scottish values of hard work, endeavour and honesty are being actively discouraged by this rotten system at every turn, with grievance and envy being stoked in their place.
“If we want a Scotland of endeavour and enterprise, and if we want Scots to enjoy prosperity and plenty, we must urgently change course.
Surely, all the proof that we need that the current system is broken lies in the fact that 2 million Scots did not vote in the 2026 election—a staggering 47 per cent of the electorate, in comparison with 16 per cent who were non-voters in the 2014 indyref.
“The incumbent parties in the chamber should take a good, hard look at themselves. How can Scotland be led by a First Minister from the SNP whose share of the vote fell by another 10 per cent? We should consider the decline in votes for the separatist parties, combined, from 1.6 million in 2014 to 1.3 million in 2021 and to 1 million this year. How can that ever be considered a mandate for separation?
“Furthermore, how could Scotland be led by a First Minister from Scottish Labour, whose steady decline can be traced from 56 MSPs in 1999 to 17 today, and whose vote share has halved from 32 per cent to 16 per cent?
“No—Scotland deserves a First Minister who wishes to build opportunity and prosperity for every Scot. The only party in the chamber with that agenda is Reform UK.”