Once more, a feeder who wants to remain anonymous shared this with us. Readers may remember that before Mears had the contract for housing asylum seekers, it was held by the dread Serco. Last year, they were at the centre of a scandal after they proposed evicting vulnerable refugees, many the victims of torture or other threats to life, onto the streets of Glasgow. The £1.15 billlion contract then went to Mears Group despite an investigation by Corporate Watch into their track record. The full Corporate Watch report is a frankly awesome piece of investigative journalism. One section will be … Continue reading Glasgow stabbings: Asylum landlords no better than Serco before them?

By stewartb: Cost to Scotland of global ‘power projection’ – a blank cheque! Paying anything is too much for what you don’t need! The National Audit Office (NAO) has just published (26 June, 2020) a report on the UK Ministry of Defence and its ‘Carrier Strike – Preparing for deployment’ programme. The NAO states: “In this report, we examine how the Department has managed the programme since 2017 and how it is addressing the risks towards achieving the full capabilities of a carrier strike group.” Source: https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/007678-001-Carrier-Strike-preparing-for-deployment.pdf The present article follows on from recent TuSC alerts regarding Westminster government cost … Continue reading Scotland having to pay millions for another weapon that doesn’t defend you because you have to defend it

Many of Scotland’s biggest hacks are drooling over the forthcoming inquiry into the treatment of Alex Salmond just as they did when he was first charged and when Derek Mackay was not charged and when a few old-timers wrote in the very newspapers that had previously and often unfairly attacked them, to challenge the current leadership. Luckily, we have the reasonable evidence of opinion polls after all the previous incidents to guide us in deciding whether Gordon’s ‘unforgiving light’ will be so or soon forgotten. I predict the latter. The evidence: On April 17th we wrote: Scott Macnab of the … Continue reading Expert predicts Salmond inquiry will have little effect on SNP

Here’s McArdle’s daily tonic for you: PATIENTS in Fife face waiting up to 20 weeks for a routine MRI scan, as a leading radiologist warned of “inevitable and significant” imaging delays as the NHS restarts. NHS Fife confirmed it currently expects patients to be waiting around 17 to 20 weeks for a non-urgent MRI, compared to a national target of no more than six weeks. Here’s what NHS England hopes to achieve: The current waiting times standards are: 18 weeks Referral to Treatment Standard. 12 weeks for new outpatient appointments. 6 weeks for the eight key diagnostic tests and investigations.26 Feb 2020 https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/health-rights/access/waiting-times Thank … Continue reading Exclusive: Despite coronavirus effects NHS Fife beats NHS England scanning target

Some 6 hours after The Tusker connected the Glasgow stabbings with the Home Office treatment of asylum seekers, the Herald’s Hannah Rodger tried to claim an exclusive on the same thinking. Our two reports posted six hours earlier. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/06/27/glasgow-stabbings-are-uk-home-office-policies-causing-extreme-mental-distress-and-behind-the-violence/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/06/27/glasgow-stabbings-snp-leaders-warned-uk-of-humanitarian-crisis-a-year-ago/ Continue reading Herald tries to claim exclusive on Tusker story 6 hours earlier!

BBC Scotland staffer Angie Brown clearly knows Stef Scott, Content Marketing Manager at TravelNest. She appears as the lead ‘parent’ in the above report pushing SNP-led Edinburgh City Council to be less cautious about a school residential trip and also leads in this on 11th June: In neither case are Scott’s commercial interests mentioned. There are only three mums in this protest. We don’t know what commercial interests the other two have. We don’t hear how the BBC writer heard of the story other than through, perhaps, just being a pal. Most of all, we don’t know if the parents of the … Continue reading BBC Scotland pushing against SNP Government lock-down strategy on behalf of undeclared business interests

On 26th July, BBC Scotland Glasgow and West wrote, unattributed: A mass eviction of asylum seekers in Glasgow has begun as part of a housing provider’s lock-changing programme. The Scottish government has written to the new Home Secretary calling for her to intervene in the mass eviction. Communities and local government secretary Aileen Campbell urged Priti Patel to ensure people who reach the end of the asylum process are not left destitute, adding that the ongoing legal action should be allowed to reach its conclusion. Glasgow City Council’s leader Susan Aitken warned the move could lead to a “humanitarian crisis” … Continue reading Glasgow stabbings: SNP leaders warned UK of humanitarian crisis a year ago

Asylum seekers moved into hotels without assessing individual vulnerabilities. This prompted by Brenda Steele: Yesterday’s horrific violence in a Glasgow hotel being used to house asylum seekers may well have its roots in the arrangements for asylum seekers whose claims have been refused by the UK Home Office. See this in the Guardian, two days before the incident: In a move condemned by campaigners, all financial support was withdrawn when asylum seekers were moved into hotels three months ago. A 30-year-old Syrian man was found dead in one of the hotels in May after outreach workers raised significant concerns about the spiralling … Continue reading Glasgow stabbings: Are UK Home Office policies causing extreme mental distress and behind the violence?

Committee on Climate Change – ‘Scotland has led the UK’ From stewartb The UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has just submitted a report to the Westminster parliament on 25 June, 2020 entitled ‘Reducing UK emissions progress: Report to Parliament’. Source: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/reducing-uk-emissions-2020-progress-report-to-parliament/ It has some things to say about Scotland and the Scottish Government. It also seems to get tangled up over various parliamentary roles and responsibilities across the UK. About Scotland “Scotland and Wales both have their own legislated climate targets. Both countries were close to being on course to meet their next major climate targets for 2020 (Table … Continue reading Climate Change – ‘Scotland has led the UK’

As the Israelis allegedly teach US police the horrific neck choke hold, a Florida sheriff describes how Scottish police taught him ways to reduce violence: Sheriff Mike Chitwood requires all new officers to take 40 hours of crisis intervention classes developed in consultation with the Police Executive Research Forum, a reform advocacy group. He said at a recent forum sponsored by the group that his goal is to reduce the “warrior mentality” he found in some officers when he arrived at the department in 2017. He said he was also inspired by a trip to Scotland in 2015 organized by … Continue reading As Scottish police train US police to use LESS force did English police train the Scots to use MORE against peaceful protesters?