This morning, we heard: ‘Some people experiencing homelessness have told the BBC they feel safer on the streets than in housing provided by local authorities and housing associations.’ Some people eh? I checked the extended report on the BBC Scotland website. How often does the word ‘safer’ appear? Zero. Is there any mention of the idea of feeling safer on the streets? Not one. Is there some other research by the BBC saying this? Why ‘the BBC’ and not ‘BBC Scotland?’ Are they reporting the experience of some English people? All I could find in recent BBC reporting was this: … Continue reading As the homeless are beaten up on the streets of England has Reporting Scotland ignored Heriot Watt research on their own website to rely on ‘some people’ telling ‘the BBC’ they feel ‘safer on the streets?’

Ludo Thierry Useful stats on Scotland’s reducing (record low) Carbon Footprint carried on news.gov.scot site today. Note the correlation with the period of the SNP Scottish Govt – Note also the rising figures during the previous britnat lab/lib coalition. Somehow I can’t see beeb Scotland drawing attention to this! Link and snippets below: https://news.gov.scot/news/scotlands-carbon-footprint-1998-2016 Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published Scotland’s Carbon Footprint: 1998-2016. This publication provides estimates of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption basis; that is emissions that are associated with the spending of Scottish residents on goods and services, wherever in the world these emissions arise, together … Continue reading SNP-rule helping us to cool?

Ludo Thierry Some useful stats and comparison info regarding Policing in Scotland that one is unlikely to see reported on beeb Scotland is carried today on news.gov.scot. Link and snippets below: (Note the substantially better basic starting salary for new Police Constables in Scotland as compared with their equivalents south of the border. Also; imagine how much easier today’s Scottish Police Priorities meeting would have been if the Scottish Govt had access to the £125M in VAT monies thieved from Police Scotland by the Westminster Govt?): https://news.gov.scot/news/policing-in-scotland The Scottish Government is protecting Police Scotland’s revenue budget in real terms, despite … Continue reading Scotland’s 30% higher starting salary for police keeps the numbers up

My complaint was received by the BBC on Friday 29th November. It was a simple one and could easily have been responded to in 10 working days as promised but it took until today, 17th December, after the election. Many readers will know that a damning report on midwifery in NHS England, was delayed and that a report on Russian funding of the Conservatives has been held back by the UK Government. Here is the complaint: The presenter said: ‘The mother of a girl who died FROM an infection at Glasgow’s ‘Super Hospital’ has told Reporting Scotland she believes her … Continue reading Reporting Scotland editor APOLOGISES for error in reporting hospital death but only after election

Is the absence of Norovirus reports from Reporting Scotland Down evidence of an outbreak of winter vomiting in Pacific Quay or was that just a reaction to the SNP landslide? From Health Protection Scotland on 13th December: The provisional total of laboratory reports for norovirus in Scotland up to the end of week 49 of 2019 (week ending 8 December 2019) is 798. In comparison, to the end of week 49 in 2018 HPS received 1367 laboratory reports of norovirus. The five-year average for the same time period between years 2013 and 2017 is 1385. Click to access 1_norovirus-lab-reports.pdf From … Continue reading Reporting Scotland Up reveals Scotland’s hospitals cleanest in UK as Norovirus reports halve here but double there

Based on their usual bean-counting and blinkered ‘analysis’, the FROFALINS announce via the Herald: Independence would be an inherently more “radical” and economically disruptive event after Brexit than in 2014, one of Scotland’s leading think-tanks has said.The Fraser of Allander Institute said the UK’s departure from the EU would shatter the Yes campaign’s past assurances that independence would be marked by “continuity”.  Off course, they are correct, but only in stating the bloody obvious, that if Scotland has to re-join the EU after Brexit negotiations are complete, that will be more complex than just staying in would have been, but ‘radical’ and ‘economically … Continue reading Fraser of Allander Institute begin their opposition to Indyref2 as petty and ill-informed and WRONG as ever

Ludo Thierry Now that former Aberdeen City cooncillor Ross Thompson is at a bit of a loose end can’t help but wonder whether the Bitter Together coalition at Aberdeen City Council will put him up in the seemingly inevitable(?) by-election following former tory councillor Alan Donnelly’s court conviction for sexual assault? – The former Bitter Together Depute Provost Donnelly seems to be hingin’ oan fur dear life – but the Bitter Together coalition are now trying to scrape him aff their collective footwear – Even if he does hing oan it looks as if the Committees will have to be … Continue reading Aberdeen’s Bitter Together Council attempts to scrape sex offender off its collective shoe

The Scotsman headline is completely inaccurate and misleading as well as, once more implying direct responsibility, for any event in a Scottish hospital, to the SNP Health Secretary. Let me be clear. Not one of the much-publicised deaths of children and babies in Scottish hospitals has been BECAUSE of an infection. They have all died BECAUSE of prematurity or of a cancer, and an infection, PERHAPS hospital acquired, may have been a contributory factor. None of the infections discovered has been proven to have come from the water supply in the hospitals. Until, the recent case of the boy on … Continue reading WRONG! NO EVIDENCE but Prof Pennington is prepared to say anything to damage those threatening his precious Union

Robert Goodwill, Minister for Agriculture and managing director of Mowthorpe burials company From the Scottish Government: Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing has expressed disappointment at the outcome of fishery negotiations between Norway and the European Union, which have concluded after a third round of talks in Brussels. A significant 50% cut in the North Sea cod quota for 2020 was agreed, reflecting scientific advice on declining numbers. Mr Ewing said: “A cut of this size will be very challenging for Scottish fishing businesses. We recognise the need to manage fish stocks sustainably, necessitating a substantial reduction, but it is regrettable that … Continue reading Interests of Scotland’s fisheries ‘buried’ by Norway/EU deal done by ‘United’ Kingdom minister

From a Freedom of Information request reported yesterday: I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. The list covers formal flood protection schemes completed in the previous five years. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have all of the information you have requested. Under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, flood protection schemes can now proceed without formal approval from Scottish Ministers so there may be other schemes that have been taken forward and completed by local authorities which the Scottish Government does not hold information … Continue reading Scottish Government spends at lease £250 million on flood defences in last 5 years