On BBC Reporting Scotland Down tonight, we heard, well into the report: Rest centres for people without power or whose homes were flooded like this one in Brechin have been mostly stood down. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone To my knowledge, 1 house in Fife and 2 in Brechin, were flooded. In December 2019, we could report: As large parts of England flood, the Scottish Government launches a new action plan to further improve the management of flood risk and I’m reminded of a 2016 report here in response to Reporting Scotland letting someone claim unchallenged that protection was better in England. The new … Continue reading Rest centres for those whose homes were flooded are stood down as SNP Government’s improved flood defences kick in

Above, where the English-born electorate lives in Scotland. In some parts, up to a third of the voters are English-born. Given their likely older age profile and the higher turnout in the elderly, they may account for more that a third of those who vote. Here are the results: If you remove, I’m not saying you should (!), the one-third, the results flip over into a Yes majority and produce a strong Yes majority across the country. There’s a clear lesson there for Yes campaign messaging in these areas, to win English-born and older voters over. Agree that they had … Continue reading Native Scots are strongly in favour of independence

I’m shocked. Kenny Farquharson hasn’t bother to look at the actual support for Scottish Labour to see if they might be replicating the Starmer surge in England. It’s so easy. In the last 5 full Scottish polls, August-October 2022, the SNP averaged 46.6% and Labour averaged 26.2%, more than a 20% lead, as the Con support collapsed. In March-April, the 5 poll averages were 44.8% and 24%, the same lead. So, a 2% climb for both between March and October? Nothing really. At the end of 2021, Labour were in 3rd place with the Cons typically 2 to 3% ahead … Continue reading Scottish Labour lag is giving Sarwar a headache?

Frances McKie Andy Cartwright’s dismissal of sustainable alternative energy sources [Herald 14 November, above] as the core providers of Scotland’s future electricity supply was, at the very least, disingenuous: it was, in fact,  misleading: Mr Cartwright’s letter, by omission,  suggested that our only alternative energy source is wind power. He failed to mention current investments in Scottish Tidal and  Hydro Power and the massive potential of both for this country- which, in any case, already regularly exports surplus electricity. This surplus gives Scotland- and the multi-national oil companies who are engaged in such diversification- time to complete development of more … Continue reading 50% of French nuclear reactors off-line as a result of corrosion: Scotland’s renewables are cleaner, safer and more reliable

Despite 30 flood warnings and 7 severe flood warning, Scotland’s media have no images or reports of flooded homes to be blamed by local Tory MSPs on failures by the SNP Government to prevent them. If they had them, we’d see them. BBC Scotland’s headline report has ‘disruption’ on the roads but not one image of a flooded house. Maybe I’m tempting fate, but we’ve been here before, in 2016, as major flooding of homes in England was desperately linked by ‘our’ media to a few cases in Scotland and supposed SNP failures. Why are homes not flooding despite a … Continue reading Why are so few, if any, homes flooding in Scotland?

Leah Gunn Barrett Professor Ronald McDonald claims a Scottish currency would be worth 20-30% less than the pound sterling.[1] This is not credible.  2019 ONS data reveals Scotland had a balance of trade surplus of £20.5 billion, comprised of £12 billion in goods and £8.5 billion in services, far greater than any UK region apart from London. By contrast, England had a £43.3 billion trade deficit. London’s trade balance was £28.7 billion, comprised of a negative £33.4 billion in goods and a positive £62.1 in financial services.[2] But Brexit has knocked the London stock exchange from its top European position. Paris … Continue reading Scottish currency: When Scotland ends this union England will lose its cash cow

stewartb I noted this story from ‘Defence News’ in an article entitled ‘UK orders five more counter-submarine frigates for $5 billion’ (15 November, 2022). (https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/11/15/uk-orders-five-more-counter-submarine-frigates-for-5-billion/ ) The admitted cost and time overrun to date is in a programme to build just three vessels, only the first of which is due ten years after the award of contract. Lots of scope for further time and cost overruns before all three vessels are operational! Of relevance to scares about MOD procured warship building in Scotland post-independence, the same article quotes BAE Systems’ CEO who said the MOD’s newly announced frigate building contract for … Continue reading After independence, just who is really going to tell BAE systems to uproot its massive investment in the Clyde?

As the news of the death of the toddler, above, in Rochdale spread, BBC Scotland’s intrepid reporters will have thought: Hey Scotland is colder and wetter, we must have had mould deaths too! Try searching for ‘Scotland mould death‘ and you get the Rochdale case but only ‘warnings’ and ‘fears’ from the Express and the Courier. BBC Scotland are quick to react with the sneakily worded: Sensors detect damp and mould in Glasgow social housing No surprise, it’s not about the level of damp and mould but a story about a new technology to detect it being installed in housing. … Continue reading Jumping on the mould death bandwagon as SNP massively reduce level in poorer households

From Janes today: UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace has confirmed that initial operating capability (IOC) for the Royal Navy’s first Type 26 City-class frigate has slipped by one year to October 2028. The ship is being built by BAE Systems at its Govan facility in Scotland. In a written statement to Parliament on 2 November, Wallace said the delay was mainly due to the impacts of the Covid pandemic, as well as design and supply chain issues. “Due to the impact of Covid 19, where the Govan yard was required to shut down for a number of … Continue reading Clyde shipyard blames Covid for delays

stewartb Visitors to this site will be familiar with the endless criticisms of the Cabinet Secretary for Health in the Scottish Government over the performance of NHS Scotland. These come from the corporate media and BBC Scotland, and from opposition politicians in Holyrood. I accept their right to criticise but for as long as Scotland remains within the UK – and supposedly ‘better together’ for it – I will argue that providing context, perspective and comparative assessments with England is legitimate and necessary. Amongst the critics, prominent is the Tory health spokesperson and part-time medic, Sandesh Gulhane MSP. Perhaps a … Continue reading Sandesh Gulhane urged to ‘Check out your own backyard before you check out someone else?’