There are peculiar phenomena and peculiar phenomena. Some have told me to get over this. Nobody is reading his stuff. Well, OK, just this last time. First, Smith writes: There were unionists who hoped the virus would “bring the UK together” and historical precedents (most notably, the Second World War) appear to support them. Instead, exactly the opposite is happening. Wales is telling people from Liverpool to keep out. Scotland is telling people not to go to Blackpool. And now 58% of Scots say they want to get out of the UK altogether. The virus is proving to be anything … Continue reading Just wrong, again

How damaging is Sturgeon-Salmond rift? To the SNP? To the independence movement? To the First Minister? Judging by the evidence from the last election and the last ten opinion polls, not at all. Cancel the show? Scotland Tonight will not satisfy unless you’re into navel-gazing and pointless opinionated waffle from members of the Commentariat. Here’s the damage the rift has done to the independence movement: Here’s the damage the rift has done to the SNP: Here’s the damage the rift has done to the First Minister: I won’t be watching. Continue reading Don’t waste your TIME. The answer is ‘Diddley’

We don’t have the full facts yet but this is beginning to look like a re-run of the ‘rerouting’ of UK-funded PPE supplies away from Scotland and the denial of overseas PPE supplier details to Scottish agencies. More below. At the moment it looks like the apparent fall in confirmed infection cases from more than 1 100 to only 316 in the last 24 hours is due to delays in the UK-run system’s Glasgow base and that these delays are due to a surge in demand from ‘outwith Scotland.’ overwhelming the Glasgow facility. From the Scottish Government website: “The Scottish … Continue reading Scotland moves toward Greater Autonomy on testing as UK systems fail again

BBC Health at the end of September: Some GPs and pharmacies have run out of flu jabs and are asking people to wait until more stock can be delivered. Boots says it has seen very high demand for the vaccine and has now had to suspend bookings. It doesn’t seem to have been a national scandal but, in Scotland, well only in Fife and Tayside, a handful of complaints passed by one woman to the P&J, BBC Scotland and now the Scotsman, is. Anyhow, Ross needs to have a word with the Minister Health in England before panicking old folk … Continue reading GPs and pharmacies run out of flu jags, in England but Matt says it’s OK, chill.

The BBC Scotland report tells us: The construction of a second golf course at President Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire resort has been approved. The 18-hole MacLeod course is to be built to the south and west of the controversial original course at Menie, built in 2012. It is named after his mother Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on Lewis but emigrated to New York. Councillors gave construction the go-ahead on Friday, despite local objections. They do tell us about the locals and SEPA objecting but don’t tell us about the committee which made the decision. There are 12 members. 4 … Continue reading Second Trump golf course approved by 8 Unionists against 4 SNP members

Yes, yes, the lab is in Glasgow but that’s not what’s important and BBC Scotland knew that as they instinctively, perhaps consciously, sought to headline the story to deflect criticism away from the UK Government’s troubled, privatised, system and onto the Scottish Government. Clearly, that was the best they could do and those who read on will see the truth: A delay to the publication of Covid test results was caused by a “testing capacity issue”, the Scottish government has said. The issue with the UK government Lighthouse lab in Glasgow has caused 64,000 tests to be re-routed to other … Continue reading Covid Testing Delays due to UK Government’s privatised labs!

A pro-independence newspaper gives space to the UK Government in Scotland, to confuse the message on Covid-prevention. Money doesn’t talk it lies. The National is a corporate project to make money and so requires ‘professional’ staff who will serve that same priority. They’ll attempt to cover it with notions of balanced ‘professional’ journalism: Their first editor made that clear at the time: The National’s Richard Walker: ‘We can and will be critical of the SNP’: Libby Brooks https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/22/national-newspaper-scottish-independence-richard-walker Every so often, something will appear to weaken the cause: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/08/20/the-national-warking-the-news-to-undermine-the-snp/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/08/05/fury-as-national-reminds-us-it-will-always-weaken-the-yes-campaign-to-snipe-at-snp-government/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/04/24/another-wee-reminder-that-the-corporate-national-is-not-entirely-with-us/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/04/12/the-limited-commitment-of-the-national/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2019/11/08/the-national-and-a-dundee-profs-dodgy-statistics-feed-the-unionist-press-boris-rants-and-that-dundee-tory-mp-on-qt-last-night/ Should the National have denied the BMA … Continue reading The National’s Professionalism

In the Herald, where else? SCOTLAND has been urged to improve its Covid checks to include border controls as it emerged that the nation is only testing at up to a third of its ability as it hits a second wave of the virus. It comes as questions have been raised over apparent slumps in Scotland’s technical ability to test for Covid and continuing failures to meet the First Minister’s target of contacting one in five of those required to quarantine after travelling to Scotland from high-risk countries. I weary at times of correcting this fake news but, hey, if only … Continue reading Herald fails to ask Experts in its nearest Uni about mass testing

In a report which fails to clarify that it’s entirely about England, the Herald seems to care little if it confuses the situation in Scotland and undermines compliance levels. Those who are revealed by the NHS in England to have been told to self-isolate but whom the police discover have not, will then be prosecuted. In England, Sir Ed Davey has already suggested that the move will reduce willingness to get tested. In Scotland: Data that is collected in this manner will be used to implement Scotland’s COVID tracing system. It will not be shared with other organisations unless they … Continue reading You can trust the Herald but only if you’re reading it in England

On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia split in an amicable, ‘velvet divorce’ after finding devolution too much bother. There was no referendum. The elected politicians just did it. They split the assets and liabilities based on their respective populations. In 2004 both joined the EU and have thrived. Notably, Slovakia, the smaller, more mountainous and with a greater burden of heavy industry decline, has done better. In January 2013, Glenn Campbell wrote a piece with few serious reservations about it: Campbell concluded: For better or for worse, the Velvet Divorce was irreversible and after twenty years of independence there’s no clamour … Continue reading Scotland benefits twice from Velvet Divorce