Retired Sheriff Kevin Drummond QC is the latest to lend his reputation to the strange bedfellows leaping to join the attack on the First Minister with more than a bit of melodrama in his words, above. Let me say, I don’t know what happened but some folk seem convinced, from Stuart Campbell to George Galloway, a cluster of guys (only?) seem in little doubt. Not really knowing, not really being legal-savvy, I find myself looking at the kind of guys piling in here. There are some I’ve admired, Craig Murray for one, and others, George Galloway for another, of whom … Continue reading With friends like this

Is the media effect reversed? The more the media report negatively on the FM, the more popular she gets. In a poll where the desperate find the teeniest suggestion of a dip in support for independence, Ipsos MORI reveal this: 95%, up from 93% in October 2021. She’s going nowhere unless she decides to. Take out the don’t knows and it’s 97%. From New Zealand: Ardern’s own popularity as preferred prime minister was sky high at 62%, while the National Party’s newly elected 61-year-old leader Judith Collins stood at just 14.6%. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-election-ardern-idUSKCN24R0UI Continue reading Sturgeon’s popularity limited by 100% restriction

Beside themselves, soiling themselves, Scotland’s media commentators pore over the latest from Ipsos MORI and find to their delight, a DIP! Look: See it? There, in yellow, top right, the average support for the SNP constituency vote has just dipped. It has! Look. Get your magnifying glass. Ipsos-MORI have just reported 52% based on 15-21 February, down from 55% on 20-26 November. The Green vote is up by 2% so that probably explains it but no, the experts see the effects of the investigation. Given the huge effort put into getting some kind of effect by the media, they must … Continue reading editor obliged to wear nappy!

The Herald, at its worst, distorting the truth to make the place it lives in seem somehow inadequate. First, contrary to the headline this was not a poll of ‘Scots’ but an online panel-based survey by Scotpulse, an STV market research subsidiary on behalf of a trade union, the Royal College of Nursing. Scotpulse gives prizes to respondents but neither they, the RCN nor even the STV reporters seem able to tell us what we need to know if we are to take any of their percentage results seriously. Reporting percentages only is a sign that the sample size is … Continue reading Despite having 50% MORe than NHS England does?

The Kuenssberg original was, of course well off the mark: Everybody knows that’s not true, not even close. Polls indicating SNP report running at 50% for a year now, Yes support above 50% for most of that same period. I predict absolutely no riot. Have a go yourself now at educating Laura. Write your headline below. Big prizes? You bet. If your entry is good, Professor Naemeritus John Robertson has agreed to ‘like it’ and if it’s really good, honour you with a brief comment. Eh whit!!!! Continue reading Tell Laura you ***** her! Play the Headline Game! BIG PRIZES

I know the Tories specialise in that form of psychopathy where they will happily accuse other people of sins far less than their own and then wonder why we’re all smiling. Here’s Liam’s outburst today covered by the Herald: Liam Fox has warned that the ongoing Salmond controversy is threatening to “bring politics in the whole of the United Kingdom into international disrepute”. In a dramatic intervention in the House of Commons, the former International Trade Secretary quoted the former First Minister’s attack on Nicola Sturgeon’s Government, telling MPs how Alex Salmond had accused the SNP administration of the “complete breakdown of … Continue reading Liam Fox wins Brass Neck of the Year Award again

Inspired by Janey Godley’s application to lead the troubled ‘Save the Union’ unit, I’ve reworked my earlier application to Dom Cumming and offer myself as her second-in-command. Dear Boris Save the Union Unit I write to offer myself as a key player in your creative destruction strategy for the UK. In particular, I can advise on how best to make sure England’s destiny as a free and potent global force and, of course, a Borisian hegemony, is realised by first shedding the constraining and stifling forces of the BBC, Scottish social democratic politicians and voters. The BBC is demonstrably a … Continue reading application to work under Janey at Save the Union Unit

In the last 7 days there were only 36 confirmed Covid deaths in Scotland’s care home, after falling for the 5th week in a row. Tragically, there were 649 in the last 7 days in England, pro rata, approaching twice the level and failing to fall significantly from week to week. The failure to follow the JCVI guidance has cost the lives of thousands. Relatives must be considering action. Sources: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/numberofdeathsincarehomesnotifiedtothecarequalitycommissionengland https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-additional-data-about-adult-care-homes-in-scotland/ Continue reading Covid care home deaths in Scotland plummet to only half those in England

In the Herald today: A care home provider has told Scots families that designated visitors will be required to produce proof of vaccination before seeing loved ones despite the First Minister confirming that it would not be a pre-requisite for indoor visits. In a letter to families, Barchester Healthcare, which runs around 200 homes across the UK, said that ‘our current thinking’ is that all designated visitors should be vaccinated and be prepared to produce proof they have received the jag. Readers will know that the Scottish care home visiting rules are based on the fact that 99.9% of all care home … Continue reading English care home visit rules applied in Scotland because of Hancock’s failure

Headlined in the Herald today from a single campaigner with only a handful of Facebook friends: A CAMPAIGNER who describes cuts to care home visiting during the pandemic as a “human rights disaster” says she is confident that “meaningful contact” will resume this time. Cathie Russell, from Glasgow, set up the Care Home Relatives Scotland Facebook group in August last year amid growing frustration among relatives over rules that she says were “worse than prison visiting”. There has of course been a human rights disaster in care homes, in England and it’s still happening there. There have been 599 Covid deaths in … Continue reading No, it’s been a human rights miracle in Scotland