Many of us have not forgotten Bill Munro, founder of Borrheid Travel, for his part in the NO campaign, in 2014. See this from BBC Scotland in March 2014: The founder of Barrhead Travel has told his staff that a “Yes” vote in Scotland’s independence referendum would be “a disaster”. Bill Munro sent a memo to staff about what he saw as the dangers of independence and accused the SNP of misleading voters. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26818227 Now we can reveal that NO remains a deeply ingrained tendency in Munro’s former business. From Money Saving Expert yesterday:: Travel abroad from the UK has … Continue reading Barrhead Travel: NO to Independence and NO to refunds?

Speaking in a webinar organised by the European Movement in Scotland and reported everywhere in the MSM except BBC Scotland, Kirsty Hughes, former director of the Scottish Centre on Europe Relations (SCER) finally demolishes any arguments that Scotland is not sure of straightforward re-entry to the EU and to the relative prosperity that ensures. Come on Reporting Scotland staff, remember that class you took on news values? I can’t easily locate the original so these extracts from the STV report will have to do: If Scots voted for independence in a legally binding referendum, she forecast there would be “complete … Continue reading EU would be completely open to ‘normal’ Scotland joining but the UK would struggle

Under [Professor] Gill Stephenson [GSG] in the Herald letters section yesterday, hopefully not giving one of her famous ‘flying fucks’ at the time, Aberdeenshire-based, Douglas Cowe, reservations co-ordinator for Town and Country Apartments, makes wee snidey comments about the First Minister and suggests: With recent polls at 54% for Yes, up 20% from 45%, in 2014, it’s hard to see that as ‘small’. As for being poorer after independence and being able to stay in the EU, you know the answer to that one. Cowe isn’t mentioned in the GSG email [see the previous piece on Prof Stephenson] but seems … Continue reading One-man Unionist letter-writing team in Herald to lie about Sturgeon and support for independence

Only two weeks after we exposed Ian Murray’s campaign agent and member of Scotland in Union, Phil Tate, posing as an honest citizen in the Herald‘s letters page, another one pops up. In the Herald yesterday as plain Gill Stephenson of Edinburgh, the retired Professor, expert on Nazi Germany, and member of the Scotland in Union, 30-strong, undercover letter-writing group [Geheimnis Schreiben Gruppe or GSG], was allowed to assert: This is all treated as being in a vacuum. When people realise that their jobs and livelihoods have been protected by money from the UK Treasury – money Ms Sturgeon speaks … Continue reading Herald and Express publish another Scotland in Union covert propaganda group [GSG] letter to attack SNP and First Minister with lies

English as opposed to UK data are not always easy to find but @UKCovidStats does show it. It seems like there is a reluctance to expose them and you can see why. England has just over 10 times the population of Scotland, so all things being equal, they should have had around 20 new infections yesterday but they had 572! So, the population-adjusted infection rate, yesterday, was 28 times higher. OMG. The Scottish Government is still using the 5 to 1 figure from last week based on 7 day averages. The above are just one-day figures but I doubt things … Continue reading As the infection rate yesterday in England soared to 28 times higher per head of population than in Scotland, pray* for our neighbours

By Sam When the corona virus came to the UK the government was moved to action. “A new, dedicated unit has been set up to focus on securing supplies of PPE, while ensuring that specifications match clinical need, supply chains are secure, fraud is mitigated and the best value for money is achieved in a high demand market.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppe-plan/covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppe-plan This is one result of that effort. https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/the-truth-about-the-billion-pound-ppe-procurement-fiasco/ “On 1 April an order for £10m was placed with Medco Solutions Ltd, a London-based company that apparently only incorporated on 26 March, three days after lockdown, with a share capital of just £2.” … Continue reading Chocolatiers and suppliers of pigeon netting: The Johnson regime’s choices for PPE supply

No, it’s not another rightist, Unionist, pressure group headed-up by a failed Labour candidate with a name like Pauline Nish, it’s great news about the inclusiveness increasingly characterising the curriculum in Scottish schools. My own education as recently as the late 1960s was a narrow exercise in high British culture and British imperial history and geography. By the end of the 20th Century, the curriculum had been broadened to include the social and cultural history of the majority of those in schools. Modern Studies in particular has helped to produce a generation who know more useful things about the society … Continue reading Scotland First!

Just as Australia’s intelligent response to an outbreak in one state, Victoria, led to that state shutting its border with its neighbour, New South Wales, to protect them, offered a sensible strategy for England and Scotland, so New Zealand now offers a solution to the issue of Scots returning. In the Guardian today: New Zealanders could be blocked at their own border after the government moved to slow the pace of international arrivals due to Covid-19. Mounting pressure on New Zealand’s Covid-19 border regime has forced the government to ration places for New Zealanders entering the country. Jacinda Ardern’s government … Continue reading New Zealand shows us how we might cope with Scots returning

As Professor Sridhar has made clear, the Scottish and English governments have diverged dramatically in their coronavirus strategies. In England, to an extent covertly, the strategy seems to be allow the virus to circulate but at levels low enough for the NHS to cope and using local lock-downs, as in Leicester, to cope with spikes. In Scotland, quite explicitly, the strategy is to limit to a minimum, the number of people exposed to the virus and to then use track and trace to shut down outbreaks. Here’s how Professor Sridhar put it: Holyrood and Westminster are pursuing fundamentally different coronavirus … Continue reading Not only has the SNP Government strategy reduced deaths to one fifth of those in England it will uniquely protect thousands more from long-term symptoms

I’ve looked and all I can find is a reference to Edinburgh airport, in the Daily Record, but no sign of any actual boss brave enough: A spokesman said: “Another day and yet more dithering from the Scottish Government.” Gary’s ‘followers’ clearly don’t read him for enlightenment. They said: Who has accused them of dithering? Just since, you know, we’d like some facts with our ‘news’ Did the airport bosses complain to the people responsible for port entry and the air bridges policy, namely the UK Gov Home Office? You mean the Foreign owners of airports in Scotland. Doris’s American pals. … Continue reading Gary Robertson accused by honest folk of just making stuff up