A poll of 1 697 followers of Talking-up Scotland today found that 97.6% agreed with Nicola Sturgeon’s assertion that Boris Johnson is a f*****g clown!’ The full transcript: Continue reading 98% of Scots agree with Nicola
stewartb Ths is from an earlier Covid Inquiry public hearing on Module 2 in London (16 October 2023). The Inquiry’s lawyer puts this to Professor Woolhouse: ‘Then if we can go to a passage towards the end of YOUR STATEMENT, please, you return to this theme …..: “… SAGE and its subgroups PUT TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON CONSENSUS AND TOO LITTLE ON MINORITY VIEWS. The most likely outcome — intended or otherwise — of only expressing a single view is that it presents policy makers with an overly limited set of options and so will channel policy decisions along a … Continue reading The overly sensitive professor
In the Herald today: The Scottish Government ignored its own scientific advice not to close schools during the second Covid wave of 2021, the UK inquiry into the pandemic has heard. Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said that the decision to shut classrooms across Scotland was “not necessary” and did not contribute to halting the spread of the virus. Woolhouse, as far as I can see, was only one of the 20 advisors on the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group. I’m not aware of this group advising against school closures. Prof Sridhar was … Continue reading Covid Inquiry – Scottish ministers closed schools and saved thousands contrary to Prof Woolhouse’s wrong views
This, funded by their many donors, came through my door yesterday. To be fair, it does mention the Conservative Party in wee print, unlike the leaflets from some Aberdeenshire candidates. Note the careful mention of ‘Unionist’ in this part of the world. Don’t mention the DUP hates Tories now. It’s in a nice Tory……green and, best of all, repeats that graph from 2019, when even Boris failed to get them in, in Ayr. Things have changed, as they well know, after Partygate, Liz Truss and now Rishi. Here’s the December 2023 poll with Labour only 0.6% behind them and the SNP … Continue reading Ayr Conservatives hide their identity but reveal their bad maths
In Island Echo today: Wightlink made a profit of £16million in the financial year to March 2023, according to the company’s latest financial figures. The cross-Solent operator published its accounts – which are available on Companies House – on 8th January, covering the period from April 2022 to March 2023. The highest-paid director – who is unnamed – took home £398,000, with a further £285,000 paid out to other directors. A dividend of £10million was proposed to be paid in June last year, despite Wightlink taking a COVID rescue grant from the Government. No CalMac or previously Caledonian MacBrayne ferry … Continue reading Isle of Wight ferries charged several times the CalMac rate and got a Covid rescue grant yet made £16m profit and paid shareholders £10m
In 2020 rape prosecutions were more common in Scotland than in England, by 13% to 1.6% despite reports of rape being more than twice as high in England. I’m not, this time, going to make much of that because the 13% level of prosecutions seems lower than it should be and the Scottish Government’s plans to pilot juryless trials is a very sensible thing to try out. Since May 2023, the UK media in Scotland have pounced on the objections of some defence lawyers (What else would a defence lawyer do?) with a view to irresponsibly blocking another progressive SNP … Continue reading Juryless rape trials already take place in England and Wales – somebody tell the Scottish media and defence lawyers?
In December 2023, NHS Scotland’s full emergency departments (Type ED) saw 62.9% of those attending, within 4 hours. In England, the equivalent figure was only 54.7% 62.9% is 14.8% better than 54.7%. That matters. It means around 100 000 more, every month in England waiting over 4 hours, than if they had lived in a country with A&E performing like Scotland. It means around 10 000 fewer in Scotland, every month, waiting over 4 hours, than if they had lived in a country with A&E performing like England. The great statistics in public health communicator Hans Rosling says: When I … Continue reading ‘Beware of lonely numbers’ – Scotland’s A&E is still far better – by 15%!
In the Herald today from Martin Williams, the man with a ferry newsletter, the above disgraceful image and then this: Ministers have been accused of putting lives at risk after it emerged it has overseen the removal of dangerous cladding of just one building seven years after the Grenfell Tower blaze that claimed the lives of 72 people. Who has accused the ministers? A trade union fighting in the interests of its members, as staffing is reduced but by a far lesser extent than fire incidents are plummeting. Just doing what they should but NOT evidence of anything other than … Continue reading For the umpteenth time, there will never be a Grenfell here but Herald’s ferry correspondent lies in our faces for cheap returns
I’m prepared to admit that super-rich independent Norway might offer a more reliable, more frequent, though more expensive, ferry service to more locations than CalMac, but in the absence of any figures (no one forces them to publish any), one more ferry fiasco, this time in Brazil, forces me to leave CalMac in first place. From infosaj.com.br today, with apologies for any translation hoots: Lots of horns, some shouting. Now I’m the idiot blocking access. I open the window, apologize to the guy in the white truck, and reverse. He shouts that “this is it straight away, every day”. The … Continue reading Will the ferry misfortune continue like this? If there isn’t a pileup a day, it’s because God exists, no more!
By stewartb ‘Sir Tom Hunter saying Ireland has a £60billion surplus and Scotland has a £30billion deficit.’ Hadn’t seen this latest intervention in Scotland’s polity by the wealthy entrepreneur, but I do recall a similar theme covered in The Herald last year (on 5 September). Whether down to a deficit of understanding, a deficit in the journalism or a ‘political/economic ‘blindness’ caused by Unionism, the part of the article available to read online for free was IMHO fundamentally flawed! This was the headline: ‘Business veterans say Scotland can learn from Ireland’s success’. The article opened with this: ‘ONLY by engaging … Continue reading Tom Hunter – ‘So, the ONLY thing Scotland’s economy needs is …..?’
Talking-up Scotland 