In a YouGov poll on 13-14 May, with a Scottish sub-sample of 145, Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak come out best but only at 9% and 8% approval respectively. Boris and Raab are at minus 46, Hancock at minus 33 but poor old Priti Patel is at minus 67%! They didn’t ask about Nicola Sturgeon. Wonder why? Continue reading New poll reveals Scots don’t really like any English politicians but when it comes to Priti Patel…….

In a nice inclusive move, YouGov asked Scots what they thought of the English lock-down changes but didn’t ask English respondents what they thought of the Scottish arrangements. Could have been embarrassing? With 145 Scots on 13-14 May, only 14% supported the changes compared to between 30 and 40% for the English regions. So, between 60 and 70% of English respondents don’t support the Boris plan. Only 19% of the Scots thought the new rules were clear compared, again, to between 30 and 40% for the English regions. So, between 60 and 70% of English respondents don’t understand the Boris … Continue reading New poll: Scots most disapproving of English lock-down changes

Above: 7 day average of new infections falls fairly steeply from 4 weeks ago, 319 to 163 yesterday. Below: New deaths fall more slowly but steadily from 50 four weeks ago, to 35, yesterday. Daily number in ICU falling for 33 days now: 5 day average of new cases in care homes falling dramatically: May 2-8: 152 new cases May 9-15: 95 new cases Continue reading Steady improvements

Note: The editor takes responsibility for the headline. From stewartb On the issue of ‘excess deaths’ statistics: given the ‘morass’ of Covid-19 mortality data and the scope it provides for confusion and obfuscation, ‘excess deaths’ are likely to be the most reliable single indicator of the overall public health impact of this pandemic. However, excess (all causes) deaths data for the nations of the UK and the comparable data in Europe – all of which are readily available – seem to have been largely airbrushed out of UK corporate media and BBC coverage. The prime source of these data is … Continue reading Chained to a madman and suffering excess deaths

It was only when researching for my previous piece on infection control failures in care homes that I saw this: Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust Date of inspection visit: 7 January 2020 to 5 February 2020 Date of publication: 30/04/2020 Not all clinical premises where patients received care were safe, clean, well equipped, well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose. Not all actions from fire risk assessments had been completed, the mitigation from some ligature risks was not appropriate and infection control was not managed well across all sites. Equipment at the East Glade Centre showed … Continue reading Infection control failures across a whole health trust hidden by media

I feel I must remind readers of my motivation here. I present this as information which can be used to compare with reports of alleged crises in health care in Scotland and the lies and misinformation propagated by members of the opposition and the MSM to undermine the Scottish Government. As one care home in Scotland (in Skye) hits the headlines, 21 have been reported by the Care Quality Commission, in the last month alone, as failing on infection control across England to, as far as I can see, media silence. I have not check for reports earlier than one … Continue reading As coronavirus arrived in England at least 21 care homes had just failed on infection control

It had to happen. The impatience, nay rage, of critics of SNP sloth, such as the Rev Campbell and Peter ‘Absolutely’ Bell, has clearly got to even those former champions of moderate politics, Tom ‘Prince’ Gordon and Ms Spowage at the FoALI. They make the case for a full independence spurge (go wild), now, with great clarity. In the Herald today: SNP ministers need to be bolder and more innovative in response to the coronavirus crisis, and not just complain about Holyrood being shortchanged by Westminster, the country’s top economic thinktank has said. The Fraser of Allander Institute said the UK Government … Continue reading Fraser of Allander Institute and Tom Gordon join Wings and Peter A Bell in making case for a full independence ‘spurge’

In Scotland, the 7 day average of new cases is 159 . https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/ The UK 7 day average of new cases is 3 777. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/ The UK population is 12.2 times greater than Scotland’s so, all things being equal, the daily number of cases should be around 1 900 but is, in fact 3 777, twice as high. Intuitively, I’d have thought that the above would mean Scotland had a lower R number than the UK. Why doesn’t it? Over to you readers. Continue reading Coronavirus infection growing at TWICE the rate per head of population in Tory parts of UK

SAGE has released the latest estimate of the R number for England and put it between 0.7 and 1, up from 0.5 to 0.9 last week. The lower figure was, of course, the basis for the PM’s schoolboy leap toward a loosening of the lock-down for England. This worsening of the situation after only 4 days of official loosening may have been due, also, to higher levels of rejection of the lock-down rules by people in English cities in the previous weeks: The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on Scottish cities has been larger than similar sized places across the … Continue reading One week of the Boris plan and England’s R number surges dangerously close to 1

In Hold the Front Page yesterday: The Scottish government has unveiled a £3m advertising boost for newspapers across Scotland. “The Scottish government will continue to share public health messages in Scottish papers and on their digital sites.” The announcement has been welcomed by Scottish Newspaper Society director John McLellan. He told HTFP: “The SNS is delighted that the Scottish government will be investing in our titles and it is recognition of the key role our titles play in communicating effectively with communities up and down Scotland. https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2020/news/government-chiefs-reveal-3m-ad-boost-for-scottish-newspapers/ John McLellan? John McLellan! ‘Communicating effectively?’ This Tory Councillor and Scotsman columnist is the most rabid … Continue reading Hell’s Teeth! Tory Councillor thanks SNP Administration for the free money to help him lie about SNP Administration!