10 minutes into Question Time last Thursday night, and host Fiona Bruce pounced, as she spotted the tiny EU flag, in SNP MP Kirsten Oswald’s shelves. It was tiny compared with the big Jacks now de rigueur for ministers. Do the French have a word for de rigueur? We’d just had a bit of ‘patriotic’ EU-bashing over vaccines and Oswald simply praised the vaccinators but Bruce took the opportunity for some playground-level nah nah stuff implying that, had Scotland been independent and still in the EU, we’d have no vaccines, like Israel presumably. Then, it was straight on, clearly unable … Continue reading EU flag is the ‘Red flag’ causing them to show how they cannot hide their contempt

A statement from the SNP members of the committee: BBC Scotland are ignoring this and the Herald is keeping it small. Continue reading Political desperation by opposition MSPs

I’ll keep this short: I don’t think I’ve ever seen such unambiguous evidence for anything, ever but Keir Starmer doesn’t appear to have seen it. The largest review ever undertaken, of 349 research studies, from across the globe though mostly in Europe, carried out by the Centre for Criminology at the University in South Wales in 2017, found that ‘safe’ or ‘supervised’ injection rooms significantly reduced drug-related harms, dramatically cut mortality and offered a range of benefits for the wider population, in terms of reduced crime, nuisance in public spaces, violence and trafficking. Will the leader of the Labour Party … Continue reading Labour UK denies the strongest of evidence on how to save lives

By stewartb What is different and more progressive about Scotland – albeit a place that, yes, is far from perfect! – may be denied by some (e.g. Scottish Labour?); has a tendency to be under-played, deliberately by some; or may be under-appreciated by too many.  I suspect this situation is able to persist because of the selective nature of media coverage. The media profile given to a UK Supreme Court judgment today triggered this contribution. Supreme Court blow for care workers There is news today of a UK Supreme Court judgement stating in terms, that residential care workers who ‘sleep … Continue reading A progressively different Scotland – example of pay for social care staff

On the 9th March, Murdo Fraser of the Scottish Conservatives (Membership not published) told Scotsman readers: It was even announced that as many as 10,000 new members had joined the SNP following her appearance – a claim which is as unsubstantiated as it is incredible. I’ve just seen evidence that there have been 224 new members in in Ayr, Prestwick and Troon, in the last month. The population in the area, 76 000, is almost the same as the average for Scotland’s 73 MSP constituencies (74 600 00). This is a marginal constituency with at best, average SNP membership so, … Continue reading Confirming the incredible?

The death rate lags behind the infection rate by some time. From a horrible peak of 93 deaths on the 9th January and a 7 day average of 60 on the 27th, to a 7 day average of 6 today, it’s been a long tough wait and, I appreciate, not yet over. The level of infection started to fall, but from a great height of 2 649 at the end of January, to 655 today. We won’t know if the stupidity in George Square has killed, until deaths increase again, if they do. Hopefully the vaccines have saved us this … Continue reading Thank Goodness!

7 out of 10 headline stories about whether or not the FM truthfully forgot a meeting and inadvertently mislead the Scottish Parliament. A 5/4 vote on party lines by some pretty dodgy characters. Meanwhile the PM, a serial mis-leader of the UK Parliament, is treated with undue respect: On the same day, Peter Stefanovic of the CWU reminds us of the terrible truth of the PM’s lies: Share, share, share. Continue reading The Master of lies: Johnson shows Sturgeon how to do it

Alec Cole Hamilton, Murdo Fraser and Jackie Baillie were interviewed extensively yesterday on BBC Panorama, before the programme-makers made the above claim and before it was spread, like slurry, across all of MSM, including Newsnight and Question Time. On the latter, we got another reminder of the contempt in which our democratically elected government and most of us are are held. Boris Johnson has broken ministerial codes on far far more serious matters, as many as 7 times, but that could not be mentioned as context in which to put the, frankly, trivial accusations made against the First Minister. The … Continue reading Which of the Panorama 5 broke the code of conduct for MPs in committees

From the Herald as part of their ‘quality, reliable journalism’ to help us all in this time of pandemic: The NHS Louisa Jordan hospital is to shut by the end of March without having to treat a single coronavirus patient. This is just a cheap rehash of an ill-informed Monica Lennon snipe from last year. The Health Secretary’s answer then, stands: Continue reading Herald reporting: Correct yet no use to anyone

Opinium’s poll today for 11th to 16th March gives Yes a 2 point lead, turning around the Scotland In Union ‘poll’ giving No a 12 point lead for 9th to 12th March. This dramatic 14 point swing may not be reliable as the 2 point lead represents only a 4 point swing from the previous six polls averaging a 2 point lead for NO. BBC Scotland have not reported this first lead for Yes for some time and the Herald have headed it: SNP set to fall short of Holyrood majority again, poll finds It’s not like Tom Gordon to … Continue reading SHOCK: 14 point swing to YES and Anas in bottom Place