By Alasdair Galloway Conspiracy, proper conspiracy, emergent conspiracy and garbage cans. A few days ago Peter Bell published an interesting article – “Alex Salmond: A fly bugger” (https://peterabell.scot/2021/02/23/alex-salmond-a-fly-bugger) in which he asserts that when Alex Salmond’s refers, as he does in his evidence to the Holyrood Committee to “a deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort amongst a range of individuals” he is not quite describing a ‘proper’ conspiracy.” But what is a “proper conspiracy”?  In law a conspiracy is when “A person who agrees with another or others to act in a way which would  involve  the  commission  of  an  … Continue reading A Garbage Can Explanation for Salmond vs Sturgeon

By Alasdair Galloway This title is something of a truism. One form of this is that anything we do can come back and bite us on the bum at some point in the future. This might be something that Alex and Nicola would do well to contemplate. But that, dear reader, is not my topic for tonight. Instead, it is this. Have all of us thought through the consequences of the action that we are set on? As Stuart Campbell pointed out yesterday, “We’re in for a heck of a week in Scottish politics”. We are indeed.  First of all, … Continue reading Actions have consequences: anything we do can come back and bite us on the bum

Let’s leave aside the long-term roots of Scotland’s drug death statistics, in the Thatcher government’s de-industrialisation of Scotland, the destruction of communities and the consequent loss of a meaningful life for a whole generation of, mainly, young men, who 40 years later make up the bulk of the dying, bodies prematurely aged by drugs. Let’s forget, for the moment the, smug contempt, the corruption and the low-browed ignorance of those big beasts of the Scottish Labour Party who did nothing to protect their country from London policies. This report from BBC Scotland is a clear example of the kind of … Continue reading The Needle and the Damage Done to the SNP Government

Growing pressure eh? Woah! Let’s see who’s coming on heavy: Scotland’s largest teaching union has written to Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney, as well as the leaders of all the major political parties, calling for their support to vaccinate school staff against Covid-19. The Educational Institute of Scotland is urging all those in power to reconsider the planned roll-out of the vaccine, claiming teachers and other school staff should be vaccinated as a matter of urgency. I’ve lost track of how many times Larry Flanagan has been on Reporting Scotland or in the Herald trying to get his pals the jag before … Continue reading Scotland’s teacher union leader has learning difficulty

The Ferret Factchecker has done some good work but they can’t be trusted when it comes to the SNP. Just over a year ago they relied on the discredited GERS figures to contradict a claim by Mike Russell and in May 2020 they used unreliable research by Newcastle University to feed Anas Sarwar for an attack on the SNP Justice Minister (refs at foot). Today they have assessed claims about PPE supplies never running out, by Nicola Sturgeon and Matt Hancock. They rate Hancock ‘mostly false.’ Too soft by far I’d say but whatever. They rate Sturgeon’s claim: ‘That is … Continue reading Factcheck: Scotland DID NOT run out of PPE

Gordon Brown on GMB this morning, with his UK hat on, defending Keir Starmer: It’s really difficult being the Leader of the opposition because you want the country to be united. You want the country to work together. You want to support the Government in what is a national crisis. Does that apply in Scotland too? Like this, telling barefaced lies? Regulars here will know that I and many of you have batted this stuff back with evidence more than once. I wonder if the First Minister’s refusal to contradict the accusers with the same evidence just invites more or … Continue reading Gordon Brown: You want to support the Government in what is a national crisis.

Since 2008, the Scottish Government has used the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands to assess and monitor how Scotland is perceived around the world. The NBI examines the image of 50 countries by looking at a country’s reputation along six dimensions of national competence: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism, Immigration and Investment. Together these provide an overall indication of a country’s reputation. Governance is of particular interest at the moment as the MSM in Scotland deliver blanket coverage of an alleged breach of the ministerial code by the First Minister, above, by forgetting to tell Parliament about a meeting with Alex Salmond. The actual breaches of ministerial … Continue reading SNP Government’s reputation higher than ever

From BBC Scotland an hour ago: An enhanced contact tracing effort is under way after the Brazilian variant of Covid-19 was detected in Scotland. Three Scottish residents tested positive for the new strain after flying into Aberdeen from Brazil, via Paris and London. Other passengers who were on the same flight from London are now being contacted. Experts believe this variant (P1) – first detected in northern Brazil in January – could be more contagious. Three other cases have also been detected in England, but they are not linked to the Scottish cases. Officials are still trying to track down … Continue reading Johnson’s flawed quarantine system lets Brazil Covid variant into Scotland

Above, Alex Massie, nearly a year ago . The FT last week: Scotland reaps dividend of Covid response that diverged from England’s https://www.ft.com/content/e1eddd2f-cb0b-4c7a-8872-2783810fae8d?sharetype=blocked The Annual Report: Infection level more than 40% lower in Scotland: Death rate more than 20% lower in Scotland: And, of course, deaths in care homes, 50% lower in Scotland: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2021/02/24/covid-care-home-deaths-in-scotland-plummet-to-only-half-those-in-england/ Continue reading Coronavirus may be the cure for Unionism

Headlining in the Herald last night: Three cases of a Covid-19 ‘variant of concern’ first identified in Brazil, have been identified in Scotland, officials have confirmed. Following their return to north east Scotland from Brazil, via Paris and London, three Scottish residents entered self-isolation and then subsequently tested positive for coronvirus, it has been confirmed.   These individuals then self-isolated for the required period of 10 days. These three have already self-isolated for ten days and no other cases have emerged from those they shared the flights with? So, there are currently really no cases ‘hitting’ Scotland? So, Scotland’s test, trace and isolate system works. … Continue reading NHS England fails to track Brazil Variant but NHS SCotland does