I only joined the SNP on retiring, in 2016. I’d been sympathetic to the idea for most of my adult life but working with young people in education, I felt it was unethical to be party member. There is no way that party membership will not affect your thinking and then your teaching and research. For all of that time my teaching and research was ‘critical’. That meant taking nothing at face value and insisting on evidence and the constant improvement of the pursuit of evidence. Now, the brutally exploitative nature of imperialism and capitalism in which we all live … Continue reading Really? That’s what you think? I despair of such mean thoughts

THE numbers of women dying with dementia at home has risen by 75% according to figures which have been attributed to over-stretched health and social care services during the pandemic. Figures suggest significantly more women have died with the disease outwith care homes and hospitals than in previous years. The Herald’s Caroline Wilson opened with the above and I thought, wait, do the ‘concerned’ think we should have put more into care homes, to infect or to get infected? Confusing me a little, the report then seems to be about excess deaths in care homes. So, is the point really, that there … Continue reading Damned if they did damned if they didn’t?

Reflecting on the above, the Herald‘s Catriona Stewart: She’s right that we need a more coherent approach but why is there no word of the numerous attempts, against the tide of Tory austerity ideology, by the Scottish Government to do something to make life a bit better for the most vulnerable? The UN and researchers across the UK have: In 2019, the United Nations report on ‘Workhouse Britain’ noted that Scotland was spending ‘£125 million per year to protect people from the worst impacts of austerity and unlike the UK Government provided funds for emergencies and hardships.‘ In 2017, researchers … Continue reading Not one word of praise for the SNP despite the UN recognition

From Tom Gordon in the Herald today: NICOLA Sturgeon has put Boris Johnson at the heart of her campaign to win another SNP majority at Holyrood and claim a mandate for an independence referendum, trashing the Prime Minister and his record on Covid. In her closing speech to the SNP conference, the First Minister said the pandemic had shown how the PM and Westminster could not be trusted with Scotland’s future. So based on a few words in her speech, Gordon’s political insight is the above. Once more his view is predicated on a belief, like BBC and ITV commentators yesterday, that … Continue reading Imaging having to do this for a living?

? Continue reading November Statistics

Another complaint. Another sneaky selection of data to conceal truth of matter. Continue reading Andrew Marr complaint: Care home deaths

I haven’t complained for a while. It’s usually demoralising. Please use this to make you own: Continue reading Andrew Marr Complaint to BBC: Bias by selection

In a typically irrelevant style, the Herald suggests: A BLANKET policy which requires entire primary school class ‘bubbles’ to self-isolate if one child tests positive for Covid is too restrictive and not based on evidence, researchers have said. They warned that primary school children “will disproportionately experience harm” if more is not done to take account of the differences in transmission risk between young children compared with older children. Perhaps, I’m not looking hard enough but I see not sign of blanket policy or even a policy. I’ve searched most recent Scottish Government guidance documents but can see no sign … Continue reading Not in Scotland

The Herald’s David Bol knows damn fine that the First Minister, though provoked evilly by a frankly slavering Andrew Marr, did quite the opposite of the above headline. She made it clear that she did not think any level of death was defensible and only contradicted mildly some of the worst of Marr’s disgraceful selective use of statistics to try to reinforce the latest urban myth that Scotland has done badly yet the dumb voters have been taken in by her spin. I agree with her approach, modest and open, accepting that lessons must be learned. Judging by repeated polls, … Continue reading That’s just what she didn’t do