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?’

Leah Gunn Barrett Unionists Ian Murray MP and Alex Cole Hamilton MSP are frantically trying to talk down Scotland’s offshore wind potential to deter inward investment into Scotland. They dispute the oft-repeated statistic that Scotland has 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential.[1] So naturally they don’t want people to know that this is an underestimate. An EU Commission report reveals that based on current projected installation capacity, Scotland is on course to deliver nearly half of Europe’s offshore grid supply by 2035.[2]  This represents over 55% of the entire offshore grid potential in the Mediterranean Basin.[3] Unionists are in a panic because they … Continue reading Ian Murray and Alex Cole Hamilton frantically trying to talk down Scotland’s offshore wind potential

in the Guardian today: The study, by an international team of researchers including academics from the University of Oxford, examined data on millions of live births across Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and the UK. The UK data included information on more than 2 million live births between 2016 and 2018. They found that the rates of death among mothers in pregnancy and up to 42 days after the birth of their children varied from 2.7 per 100,000 live births in Norway to 10.9 in Slovakia. In the UK, there were 9.6 maternal deaths for every 100,000 … Continue reading Despite shared Tory austerity, why does Scotland have far lower maternal death ratio?

‘A road blocked off by a fire on bonfire night?‘ That and a few similar, one night, events in two or three other parts of Scotland and we have a violent crime wave and sick society? There were 12 arrests across the whole country, out of 5.44 million souls. The Daily Record found a death to report… in West Yorkshire. It happened for one night. It’s stopped. A violent crime wave? Rubbish. See this: “Overall reported violent crime was up 12.8% year on year (13,951 to 15,743 from 2020/1 to 2021/2), but down 2.1% on the five-year average.” Note a one-year variation … Continue reading You can take the sick writer out of ‘The Troubles’ but you can’t take ‘The Troubles’ out of the writer (?)

From BBC Scotland today: More than 100,000 birds have been culled at three Scottish farms amid the UK’s worst avian flu outbreak. Ayrshire farmer Billy Robb told BBC Scotland he lost 32,000 hens last week. And farming union NFU Scotland revealed 72,000 birds had also been “taken out” at two farms in Aberdeenshire in the last 10 days – taking the total to 104,000. Last month just four avian flu cases were recorded in Scotland, compared with 80 in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63652849 See, there, line 4? Who says BBC Scotland is biased and doesn’t do the whitabootery itself, that triggered John … Continue reading Why is Scotland with the lowest Avian Flu the only country with a problem?

BBC Reporting Scotland Down do helpfully tell us, today, that some of today’s Autumn Statement will not apply in Scotland. On their website they post the different taxation bands and rates: Just under that, they sneak a wee line in to suggest that the differences are not so good for Scots: Sneakily done. It means, there is a higher percentage of Scots, those on more than £43K, paying more tax. At £26,007, Scotland has the third highest median gross annual salary of the nations and regions of the UK and it is higher than the UK figure, so might that … Continue reading The SNP limit Hunt’s statement for the greater good

Ipsos MORI with more than 2 000 Scots on 13-19 October 2022, suggest a 7 point lead for Yes, after more than 6 months of polling in favour of No. The last Ipsos MORI poll in May 2022, with only 1 000, had No ahead by 46% to 45%. There are several other positive indicators which you can read at the link above. Continue reading 8% surge in support for independence