‘Andrew McKie is a political columnist for The Herald and former Obituaries editor of the Daily Telegraph.’ Described as a ‘Conservative voice‘ in David Torrance’s Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland (£0.99 in The Works, Ayr High Street), McKie is famous for his obituary of Roy Hudd, describing him as ‘a wide-ranging actor and comedian who was an expert on music hall and variety.’ Ah, I’m not going to read the full thing today. I’ll just deal with the headline which few will go beyond. In the Herald today, he writes: Opinion: Andrew McKie: There is no basis for arguments that Scotland has handled this crisis better Oh, yes there … Continue reading SNP Government success in suppressing covid-19 is very real but once more the Herald gives space to these lies, from an Obituaries editor!

In a report of the kind of high quality journalism we’ve seen before from this writer but all too infrequently in the Herald these years, the headline does not do justice to Stewart’s final thoughts and given it is an opinion piece why was there not the courage to say: Opinion: Catriona Stewart: Police were wrong to corral peaceful protestors After an extended account of the events with the obligatory recognition of the difficult challenges faced by the police, with which I agree, it is only at the end that we see what the writer thinks. Surely it would be … Continue reading Corralling peaceful protesters: Herald headline hides their own writer’s well-argued conclusion

That’s the page after BBC Scotland staffer Billy Cumberland (16) clarified the headline. The BBC Northampton staff, gentle folk clearly, had gone for this: Coronavirus: 36 test positive at Desborough care home It is accurate, but really? Cumberland had to sort out the text too, to bring out the true message. Here are the key points, from within the mushy Northampton text with his additions in bold: Thirty-six people have tested positive for coronavirus at a care home which admitted three hospital patients who later turned out to be infected because the hospital did not test them properly and then … Continue reading 36 infected in care home as hospital dumps untested old folk! Reporting Scotland team sent to BBC Northampton to sharpen coverage of care home deaths!

stewartb In the letter to The Herald from (seemingly) Ian Murray MP’s election agent, this stood out: “… the SNP Government has tried to integrate health and social care, but it has systematically cut local authority funding, and INTEGRATION HAS NOT HAPPENED.” (my emphasis) It’s really not hard to refute this claim. However, it’s the kind of public assertion from a notable political activist that brings NO credit to the Labour Party in Scotland. Or perhaps it’s just the kind of knock-about political banter – the not to be take too seriously, over the top political rhetoric – that some … Continue reading More on the Scotland in Union letter

In a startling piece of twisted logic, the Herald promotes an attempt to blame the Scottish Government for the failures of the private care sector, ignoring the hard evidence that agency staff and not discharged hospital patients brought the virus into the care homes and that failed basic infection control there allowed the deadly spread. On 29th April, Robert Kilgour was blaming lack of funds for the deaths though infection control has been a long-established, costed, practice through annual flu outbreaks. As for the lack of funds, as recently as last August, he had boasted: Care home operator Renaissance Care … Continue reading The honest truth about care home deaths and profits

This, passed to me by @Sheilz4indy, simply and utterly smashes the campaign to undermine the Scottish Government’s strategy for schools, by Lord MacConnell of that trough, Jackson Carlaw, BBC Scotland and others too wee to mention: Continue reading The ‘Back to school whatever the cost squad’ demolished across social media

In the Herald today, a letter attacking the ‘SNP Government’s’ handling of NHS Scotland and, in particular the issues of bed-blocking and discharges to care homes. https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18532508.letters-need-national-care-service-work-alongside-nhs/ Thanks to one of our wonderful feeders, we can reveal that the author, unmentioned, was Ian Murray’s ‘wonderful agent’: More worrying, however, Tate is a member of Scotland in Union’s undercover letter-writing group. This letter-writing group organised by Scotland in Union is essentially a covert propaganda unit, clearly aware of the need to keep their existence secret. They are writing to journalists, hoping to influence them and readers, pretending to be simply members … Continue reading SHOCK: Herald publishes anti-SNP unattributed letter by Ian Murray’s election agent and member of Scotland in Union’s covert propaganda letter writing group

The above headline appears in the Herald today based on a self-selecting survey with around 3 000 ‘parents and carers’ taking part. There are 1,452,240 pupils enrolled in Scotland’s schools so there are around 3 million biological parents in Scotland. There are are, of course, unknown numbers of grandparents and carers actively engaged in the schooling of their grandchildren. So, roughly speaking, 1 in a thousand or more, at best 0.1%, of all parents or carers in Scotland, took part in this unscientific, self-selecting, thus statistically insignificant and unreliable, survey? At the very least, given the constitutional issues dominating Scottish … Continue reading 99.9% of Scots parents don’t complain about blended learning

Update to put things into perspective: Dr Daniel Martin OBE, head of intensive care for serious infectious diseases at the Royal Free hospital, emailed a report to colleagues at the peak of the pandemic with a note claiming that the trust would “track any leaks to the media” and then “offer you the chance to post your P45 on Facebook for all to see.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/22/doctors-warn-culture-of-fear-in-nhs-could-prevent-whistleblowing As the slavering pack of opposition MSPs turns from the PPE, testing and care home deaths, carcasses to devour the Independent Review into the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, it’s clear they are not … Continue reading QEUH: Freeman must be defended against victimisation by opposition pack

In Insider today: Foreign direct investment in Scotland’s financial services sector increased last year as it shrank for the UK and Europe overall. Scotland was the UK’s second most attractive location for financial services FDI in 2019 for the seventh year in a row, increasing its share from 6.3% in 2018 to 8.1%. The latest EY UK Attractiveness Report for Financial Services 2020 reports that while London secured more financial services FDI projects, the eight launched in Scotland last year, created 2,911 jobs – more than three times that of London and more than half the UK total. https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotland-bucks-trend-shrinking-fdi-22220782 Continue reading Scotland outperforms all of Europe on inward investment