By stewartb The stench of hypocrisy is in the air around opposition party politicians in Scotland again. A seemingly successful, direct and public intervention in an industrial dispute by a FM is denigrated for being too late by those not privy to the negotiations. Labour’s only MP in Scotland is even tweeting that the timing of the FM’s intervention was overly delayed because of a couple of appearances she made at the Festival Fringe! And this is the person the Labour Party considers appropriate to be Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland! The history of FM’s or PM’s or even … Continue reading The stench of hypocrisy is in the air

BBC Scotland today is featuring: Scotland’s Covid contact tracing staff lacked training – watchdog The report is based on concerns raised by ‘a worker’, ‘sometimes‘, ‘there is reason to believe‘ and ‘some‘. The only numbers are in this: It found 91% had complied with the agreed call centre scripts but that a “relatively high number” (25% of all cases) had the exposure date changed after the initial call by a quality control or supervisor check. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62765825 There’s no mention, needless to say of this kind of thing, reported here in two years ago: Less than 3 weeks ago, Scotland’s MSM … Continue reading Scotland’s contact tracing system was miles ahead of that in England

I’ve had to correct the BBC Scotland headline again, but as they tell you a bit down the page: It follows an 11-hour meeting between unions and council leaders that was hosted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh on Thursday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62766520 Follows what? This: Strikes that had been due to close hundreds of schools and leave bins unemptied across Scotland next week have been called off. A new offer will mean a 10% pay rise for the lowest paid staff instead of special cost of living payments this year and next. Non-teaching school staff in 11 council areas had … Continue reading Sturgeon persuades unions to call off strikes!

By stewartb On the subject of Scotland-Germany collaboration, this from the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s (RSE) website: ‘The new RSE Scotland-Germany Hydrogen Research Scheme is funded by the Scottish Government with the purpose to facilitate international collaboration between Scottish and German institutes. It aims to develop hydrogen-related research which can inform Scottish Government policy objectives. This aligns with the RSE’s ‘knowledge made useful’ mission. ‘OBJECTIVE: This scheme seeks to foster research- and practice-based partnerships between Scotland and Germany to lead the way towards a decarbonised future. The objectives of the RSE Scotland-Germany Hydrogen Research Scheme are as follows: – ‘To … Continue reading Scotland-Germany Hydrogen Research Scheme funded by the Scottish Government and invisible to BBC

From Alasdair Galloway: Stewart’s acute perception is well used on his recent “Is Scotland’s economic fate already sealed for the next 50 years?”. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2022/08/31/is-scotlands-economic-fate-already-sealed-for-the-next-50-years/ I agree completely with all the points that he makes there. It is lazy journalism in the extreme to call a projection a forecast – but then for many of the journos ‘confused’ in that way, it is politically expedient to do so. He is also right about the claimed precision of economic forecasting. I still recall 45 years later, going in to see my new head of department (the Department of Economics & Management) who … Continue reading ‘Economic forecasting was devised to make astrology seem respectable.’ A rejoinder (sort of) to Stewartb

Typically BBC Reporting Scotland tells us a tale of a supposed health problem under SNP-rule which, based on one case and no facts, is a wider problem which can then be laid at Humza’s door. My headline questions, relevant for any real news story, even one by a 1st Year student, are not addressed. Lots of personalisation but no context would be an undergraduate fail. We just hear: An Edinburgh mum whose young son fell seriously ill after contracting sepsis is backing a campaign to raise awareness about the condition. Corey King was 18 months old when he became ill … Continue reading Sad indeed, BBC Scotland, but is sepsis common, increasing or reducing, in ‘top of the pillar Scotland?’

From stewartb From today’s Scotland Politics section of the BBC News website: ‘Scottish economy FORECAST to grow slower than UK’. (my emphasis) It begins: ‘Scotland’s economy is PROJECTED to grow more slowly than the UK over the next 50 years, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC). The independent body projected that Scotland’s GDP would grow by 0.9% per year on average between 2028-29 and 2071-72.’ As an aside, it is astonishing how statistically precise economists claim to be! It begs the question: is Scotland’s economic fate already sealed for the next 50 years? This is the source report: https://www.fiscalcommission.scot/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Trends-in-Scotlands-population-and-effects-on-the-economy-and-income-tax-August-2022.pdf Here … Continue reading Is Scotland’s economic fate already sealed for the next 50 years?

From SNP Media today: The SNP has called on the UK government to match Scottish Government efforts to tackle child hunger and poverty, by expanding free school meals and introducing a UK-wide Child payment. The calls come after videos of a Lancashire based dinner lady detailing her distress at having to deny children a school meal captured significant attention on social media. In Scotland all children from P1-P5 are entitled to free school meals, as well as all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. Families also benefit from the, recently doubled, Scottish Child Payment of £20 a week, … Continue reading Call for Conservative Government to match SNP school meals for all in need

In November 2021, two child deaths at a Glasgow hospital were ‘linked to hospital infections’. At the time and now, there was no evidence that the infections had caused the deaths, yet the BBC coverage allowed the Scottish Labour leader to appear to be championing (groom?) the parents and opened the report with this: The deaths of two more children were linked to infections at a troubled Glasgow hospital, the Scottish Labour leader has claimed. Anas Sarwar said he had been told about the deaths by clinicians who were afraid to speak out publicly. He called on the government to … Continue reading Two baby deaths: BBC Nottingham do not politicise a health tragedy as BBC Scotland prefers to do

From BBC England today: Policy Exchange, a centre-right think tank, says some common offences are “in essence almost entirely decriminalised” because policing has “lost its way”. Boris Johnson said making Britain safer has always been a priority. The report said that the public feels police officers are “more interested in being woke than solving crimes”. Mr Spencer [the author] said the police’s ability to solve common crime is “woefully low” with only 3.5% of residential burglaries, 6.3% of robberies and 4.1% of thefts solved during the last year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62732336 BBC Scotland has not been reporting on this problem despite their … Continue reading Housebreaking crimes nearly TEN TIMES as likely to be solved in Scotland