From Leah Gunn Barrett I sent this to the Scotsman, below, in response to the above. It will not be published. Dear Editor, Andrew H N Gray (letters, 27 Feb) doesn’t accept that the UK Government suppressed the McCrone Report for the obvious reason that if Scots knew their nation’s true wealth, they’d exit the Union. Dr Gavin McCrone, the report’s author, concluded that “for the first time since the Act of Union was passed, it can now be credibly argued that Scotland’s economic advantage lies in its repeal.”[1] Rather, Mr. Gray asserts that a nation “having lots of money is … Continue reading The UK Government DID suppress the McCrone Report to hide Scotland’s wealth

I’ve been forgetting to check the business mag, Insider, for some time so this from 10 February 2023, had passed me by. Did BBC Scotland’s Douglas Fraser tell us this good news? I searched for ‘Douglas Fraser whisky exports’ in the last month and got: It looks like there aren’t many great matches for your search Anyhow, here’s the essence of the story: Global exports of Scotch whisky grew to more than £6bn for the first time in 2022, according to figures from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). In 2022, the value of Scotch whisky exports was up 37% by … Continue reading Scotland’s food and drink exports surge to new high and leave UK behind

Covid is spreading much faster everywhere in the UK than in Scotland. The infection rate in Scotland remains the lowest in the UK other than in Wales but it is spreading faster there. You know I like a graph. In this scattergraph, the closer to the bottom left an area is the better things are – low infection level and little growth. Continue reading Covid infections most under control in Scotland

While overall Covid infection and hospitalisation rates continue to be at pretty much the same level across the UK, an anomalous difference in the numbers requiring intensive care persists, month after month. Recently the number of patients in ICU for Covid in England has been running at approaching three times as many, pro rata, and rarely falls below twice as many. Wales, with a smaller population, typically has more Covid ICU cases than Scotland. This cannot be a random effect. I’ve reported this several times over the last year or so but no reliable research has been done to explain … Continue reading Covid ICU cases almost three times more common in NHS England

From Alasdair Galloway The BBC routinely gets a good kicking for its coverage of Scotland and Scottish politics, so I thought it only fair to bring to your attention – if it hasn’t already – an article on their website today. It’s by “veteran” (ie old) reporter Alan Little. You can find it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64761495 While it begins in a kind of downbeat way – Nicola’s gone, Unionist parties poised and ready to strike (don’t laugh!). But he quickly gets over that with a “Don’t be so sure.” While Little works in London, he is from Scotland (Glenluce) and has … Continue reading A Little not Small relief from BBC Scotland’s rubbish?

The National poll yesterday found this: I was a bit surprised by the Kate Forbes interview where she doubled down on some quite reactionary social attitudes and I remain uncertain that any Christian fundamentalist or Muslim, regardless of how moderate, democratic and decent they seem, is genuinely accepting of same-sex marriage, abortion, women’s or trans rights. Both claim they can be trusted to protect the existing laws but I want more from a leader than that. I understand the National poll may have been compromise by bots: https://www.thenational.scot/news/23346251.snp-leadership-election-poll-bot-located-near-holyrood-detected/ So, I did a quick small poll with 9 100 TuS twitter … Continue reading A three-ways split with no overall winner?

We’ve seen poll after poll where Scottish Labour support is only half that for UK Labour but this latest has them at less than one third and Scottish Cons back in 2nd place. Quite a low number for the SNP but unlike Labour, they’re supposed to be in trouble at the moment. They didn’t include Alba, I see. Only one wee poll I know but still enjoyable to consider. Continue reading Poll suggests shocking collapse in Scottish Labour support

According to the Sunday Herald in 2016, because of Labour’s PFI scheme, the 80 projects completed between 1993 and 2006, will cost us ‘a massive £30 billion over the coming decades.’ Today, the Herald tells us, under one of their thousands of Nicola pics, that we are facing, due to PFS schemes, an ‘astonishing £8.5 billion bill’ for ‘over 50 schemes‘ (2007 to 2022?), to be ‘forked out in the next 26 years.’ Stop sniggering at Martin Williams’ ‘forked out.’ Clearly a precise comparison is not possible here but it does look as if the SNP schemes are a far … Continue reading Latest: SNP funding infrastructure projects far better deal for taxpayer than Labour PFIs

Today, Sharon Dowey, Conservative List MSP, like a fox in a chicken coop, poses unashamedly in a food bank. It’s doubly strange, in that the party line these days is that food banks are largely unnecessary because the main cause of food poverty is a lack of cooking and budgetary skills. Fear not, Dowey will soon be grinning in a home economics class before you can whimper ‘please sir I want some more.’ Leftist sources like the Jacobin and the Tribune are clear: The last decade of Tory rule in Britain has seen a devastating rise in malnutrition. The impact … Continue reading Tory MSP strangely comfortable in a food bank

The above attempt to demonise Ash Regan as an Alba insider could not be more pathetically faked. Look at the straight lines between Regan and the two on either side of her. Look at the varying resolution of the images with Regan sharp and the others clearly cut and pasted from older poorer quality shots. Has Salmond arrived by time machine. Are other two actually outside on a chilly day? Don’t the young folk have the apps to do this better these days? The above is actually less good than KGB work in the early 20th Century: Stalin was known … Continue reading SNP leader campaign has even more naff photo-faking than Stalin and Mussolini got a century ago