Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community. Dr Dr Stephen Cole, the president of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Strangely or perhaps not hidden away at the bottom of a report on admissions to intensive care in which BBC Scotland give us a fairly dry and descriptive account of the numbers and events in ICUs, there is a glowing comment about the performance of … Continue reading BBC hides away leading Scottish medic saying ‘Unwavering support and close working relationship between the [Scottish] government and the clinical community’ has saved many lives .

The repeated attempts to blame care home deaths on the Scottish Government are largely foundered on the rocks of emerging evidence, that agency care staff inadvertently spread the virus in the first weeks (PHE, BHA) and that testing of those discharged patients or staff who were asymptomatic would have been unreliable and thus ineffective. Now, long suspected and rumoured, the issue of inadequate infection control in the care homes must surely finish-off the attempts of the likes of Carlaw, Murray and Leonard to lay the blame at the feet of the First Minister. No expert myself, I had thought that … Continue reading I’d agree but did the Health Secretary actually say that?

After extended discussion with our Visiting Professor of Ethics, Francis Boyle, we’d like to suggest that rather than virtue signalling, the Permanent Secretary was making a darkly ironic reference to the treatment of Alex Salmond, Mark Hirst and Craig Murray, by the forces of darkness in the UK establishment or ‘deep state’ as it sometimes known. Evans has been associated with the Deep State though that may be a reference to her husband’s Deep Purple tribute band. The next prominent knee-taker is expected to be Tony Blair. Continue reading Did we misunderstand the Permanent Secretary?

Brenda Steele: Looked at the ScotGov Coronavirus briefing of 2 June. https://mobile.twitter.com/scotgov/status/1267780603274985474 (45mins in)   First Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a press conference on #coronavirus 2/6/20 What caught my attention was the answer to a question from Vivienne Aitken of the Daily Record. It was not what our FM said but what Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said about the “strains of coronavirus“ and the use of “molecular sequencing”.   So I went a-googling with different keywords and to my surprise found this dated May 20.   https://inews.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-scotland-latest-scientists-edinburgh-nike-conference-2859627   Nicola Sturgeon said researchers were examining the strain of Covid-19 caught by those … Continue reading Could the Nike coronavirus strain be different from the one in the Scottish outbreak?

Brenda Steele: On 5th May  this article   revealed a plan that caused concern https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/18427443.secret-coronavirus-greenock-port-plan-revealed/   Peel Ports — owners of Ocean Terminal — have applied for permission to dock 12 vessels here for ‘lay-up’ in the wake of the collapse of the cruise industry due to the pandemic.   An Inverclyde Council report on the matter has been withheld from public view, but the Telegraph has learned details of the plan through its sources.   One insider told us that the local authority has powers to refuse permission for crews to come ashore but none to prevent the ships berthing … Continue reading Will cruise ship crews in the Clyde be quarantined?

Prospect is an often intelligent source but like the Guardian, blinkered when Scottish independence comes up. As in the Scotsman , the Herald and on BBC Scotland, partisan Unionist affiliations are never mentioned for the likes of Brian Wilson (Labour), John MacLellan (Con), Brian Monteith (Brexit) and Hugh Pennington (Better Together). Three days ago, Nick Butler was able to write the above ill-informed piece. Butler is long-time VP of the Fabian Society and former special adviser to Gordon Brown. That should be mentioned. Most of the piece is all-too-predictable and not up-to-date on the growth in Scotland’s onshore economy but … Continue reading Another Labour adviser poses as a journalist to spread lies about independence

The UK-wide trust in the Scottish First Minister and Scotland’s covid performance, are in for a battering on Question Time tonight. I won’t be watching. I’m not strong enough. I’ll get the details from some of TuSC’s ‘pitbulls’ who can even listen to Good Morning Scotland. While Lammy and Kinnair will be focused on attacking Zahawi, Pennington, long-retired and now a political activist for Scotland in Union, will use this opportunity to claim that things are far worse in Scotland than the ‘supine’ English press have allowed. When that happens, the other three will all nod approvingly. If the host … Continue reading BBC QT Health Warning: If you are of a nervous disposition and support Scottish independence look away

There are some wee saltires on display when the First Minister speaks. Perhaps that’s affecting Smith’s perceptions? There are two inaccuracies in the headline above. Nicola Sturgeon is not taking enough flak? Does Smith not listen to his pals asking questions after the First Minister’s daily briefings? Does he not listen the rants from Carlaw at First Minister’s Questions? Has he not read the recent accusations of the same recently from even the Guardian and the FT? Does he not read Common Weal’s regular sheep-savaging of the FM and the SNP? Does he not watch Reporting Scotland for a repeat … Continue reading Who really thinks Nicola Sturgeon is not taking flak over coronavirus? Only Mark ‘Cringe’ Smith

In the Herald today: THE media is full of lynch mobs baying for blood over Holyrood’s decision to relocate hundreds of elderly bed-blockers from NHS hospitals to private care homes, apparently taking with them Covid-19. No matter how one tries to dress it up, the outcome has been disastrous. But wait. These poor souls didn’t need, nor probably want, to be stuck in hospital; they caught the disease while they were in hospital, not when out in the community. The problem was not that they were decanted into care homes in the midst of a pandemic, but that it wasn’t … Continue reading Herald uses letter to start a new blame approach on covid-19 and hospital discharges

I think it’s very difficult not to see that the only real way that this can have come into our homes is through staff picking it up, just through the community contacts they would have had. Absent from BBC Scotland’s coverage but covered by BBC UK where the Conservative Party leadership is preferred but feared target, this report clarifies the role played by agency staff in spreading the virus. Remarkably, this is based on a charitable, not-for-profit, organisation’s research into its own homes. MHA, with a presence in Scotland, which paid to test its own staff, discovered this: Large numbers … Continue reading BBC UK only reveal evidence that the hospital discharges played little or no part in the care home deaths