Infected but still strong enough to cross the line into a place where ‘a better nation’ can be formed

I DO BELIEVE that the Scottish Government has been infected, penetrated, by a few individuals, more loyal to the UK and probably placed there by forces such as MI5 and the Civil Service heads. That would be a normal thing for them to do, given their task of protecting the UK. I DO BELIEVE they have done some damage, abetted by the police and the judiciary. The attacks on Salmond, Murray and Campbell, are evidence. I DO BELIEVE that the First Minister, in the maelstrom of her professional life and perhaps too driven by her understandable commitment to women’s rights … Continue reading Infected but still strong enough to cross the line into a place where ‘a better nation’ can be formed

I smell a rat

When I saw the Herald headline below, I smelled a rat. I didn’t expect it to be a winged one. After a quick search, it became clear that the poll had been paid for and scripted by Wings over Scotland. In a strange report, Stuart Campbell writes: In addition to the Survation poll that was in the field last week and which we’ve been reporting on, there was also a Panelbase one going round at the same time. (It’s as yet unpublished, and having been sent a few of the… interesting questions in it by some people who took the poll we’re very excited to find out who … Continue reading I smell a rat

Feeding England’s demand for power and paying for the ‘privilege’

An informative piece in the Herald and missing only two things. A headline that clarifies just what is going on here, done above, and some indication of the scale of Scotland’s resilience in transferring huge amounts of power to England would help. Note in the Herald’s headline ‘Scottish grid premium charges’ to refer to what are, of course, UK grid’s charges imposed on Scotland. From David Bol today: A LEADING energy company has warned that Scotland will not be able to scale up wind farms to meet climate targets without an overhaul of charging regimes that “penalises” projects north of the border. … Continue reading Feeding England’s demand for power and paying for the ‘privilege’

Desperately seeking the same as England

As NHS England suffers a real crisis with infection and death rates surging to the highest in the World and whole regions on the very edge of being overwhelmed, the BBC Health Correspondent, Lisa Summers, pounces gleefully on a report from James Cook on one of Scotland’s more hard-pressed areas, Monklands in Lanarkshire. You might remember Summers, a few weeks ago, excited about a small rise in hospital-acquired Covid infections in Scotland but not mentioning that they were only at 2% and at that, a tiny fraction of the rates in NHS England. Or, back in 2019, when she decided … Continue reading Desperately seeking the same as England

Shielding the Tories from drug deaths and pinning the blame on Nicola

From BBC Scotland’s Glenn Campbell at 06:27am and no doubt all day, we hear, headlined again, of Scotland’s drug deaths, the highest in Europe allegedly and watch an attempt to pin something on the First Minister. Writing the tabloid headlines for them, Campbell notes that deaths have doubled in the years since Nicola Sturgeon took over. The Conservatives get to demand a big expansion in services but escape without any reference to their role in denying the permission at UK-level, for the safe injection rooms that could save many lives. As for the historical background linking the high death rate … Continue reading Shielding the Tories from drug deaths and pinning the blame on Nicola

Lowest infection AND death rates? Nah, there’s no interest in that

They’ve been busy at BBC Scotland News. There’s a lot to cover so I’ll just do this one for them. Maybe someone will be interested. More than twice as many cases of infection in England and Scotland has the lowest rate in the UK? No, really? What about deaths? Didn’t Andrew Marr say it’s worse in Scotland? Fiona Bruce too? What twice as high again in England and Scotland has the lowest death rate in the UK? That can’t be right. We’d know all about if it was true. I know, vaccines! Ah hah! Gotcha! Scotland is behind the curve, … Continue reading Lowest infection AND death rates? Nah, there’s no interest in that

Conservative Government’s vaccine strategy kills more than a thousand in care homes, again

Starting on 14th December, care home residents and staff in Scotland were the first to receive the Covid vaccine. By today, 90% of care home residents had received their first dose of vaccine. A number of health boards have now given the first dose of vaccine to 100% of their care home residents. The Scottish Government followed the JCVI advice on this and the vaccinator teams achieved this despite logistical problems with the Pfizer vaccine. The Health Secretary for England has claimed 50% of care home residents there have been vaccinated though the Guardian today reports that the figure is … Continue reading Conservative Government’s vaccine strategy kills more than a thousand in care homes, again

Infection level falls for 12th day to lowest this year

Above, the Herald ‘take’ on the fall in case numbers. Below, the trend 1 165 cases in the last 24 hours is the lowest since the 28th December and less than half that of the peak of 2649 on the 7th January. The 7-day average death, though still tragic is also down at 57.3 on the13th, to 50.4. In the First Minister’s briefing, but not likely to feature much elsewhere, this clarification of the situation in care homes: However, as of today, I can report that more than 90% of care home residents – the top priority group – have … Continue reading Infection level falls for 12th day to lowest this year