In an appalling show of misinformation aimed at undermining the Scottish Government, Reporting Scotland recycle the urban myth that hospital discharges caused care home Covid outbreaks. Nobody credible believes this and BBC Scotland knows that too. Who are the ‘many people?’ Well, there’s Neil Findlay, Monica Lennon, David Cameron, Alex Cole-Hamilton. What qualifications do these people have? None. The First Minister, the Health Secretary and Professor Bauld clarify that it only happens in exceptional circumstances. Highly-qualified and dedicated clinicians decide that some patients, perhaps with dementia, would be traumatised by testing procedures, are being traumatised by being in the more … Continue reading Experts discounted because Neil Findlay knows better?

The opposition parties will not let this lie. BBC Scotland headlines their ill-informed and dishonest cries. Five research studies find no evidence that such discharges played any part in outbreaks in care homes but link them to large corporation-owned homes with maximum occupancy levels and bare staffing levels held up with over-use of agency staff travelling between sites. Inspection reports on some homes describe under-staffing and inadequate infection control procedures. Highly-qualified and dedicated clinicians decide that some patients, perhaps with dementia, would be traumatised by testing procedures, are being traumatised by being in the more formal clinical setting and trust … Continue reading …..by highly qualified and caring clinicians in their best interests!

Michael Gove need look no further if he is struggling to find attack dogs for the Union. The Herald and the Scotsman have let the dogs out over the weekend to drool over some rehashed mince. The Scotsman has Ruth’s wee pet, John McLellan, Tony Blair’s wee pet, Brian Wilson and Jack McConnell’s Old English, Susan Dalgety, all long-in-the-fang and snarling incoherently at any readers daft enough to approach them. The Herald has former Labour adviser John McLaren snapping at the heels of herd immunity and their Macwhirter Terrier growling about..something…zzzzzzzzzzzz. Is anybody buying these things? Continue reading Attack poodles!

A friend of the Tusker sent me this from Private Eye. My gob was well skelped but then I remembered writing this in September: THREE EXAMPLES OF DOUBLE STANDARDS: COMPARING THE BBC IN LABOUR WALES AND THE BBC IN SNP SCOTLAND On Monday 21st, MSM_Monitor spotted the BBC double standards, in only BBC Scotland and opposition parties seeing the need to ‘politicise a health briefing during a pandemic‘ and effectively ‘provide a platform for the new Scottish Tory leader.’ BBC Wales did not do the same to their Labour FM and there was, to my knowledge, no pressure from the … Continue reading BBC Scotland shocked to hear BBC Wales accused of being pro-Welsh!

In a major breakthrough, the Herald almost gets in right. The second wave was, on the evidence, based on open borders and student outbreaks but a ‘spike in Covid spreading in hospitals?‘ sorry, no. The supposed evidence for the ‘spike‘, though the word is not repeated, lies in the published PHS data: The increase, beginning around 20th September, to 189 hospital acquired cases, is still only 2% of the 9 303 cases reported in the week-ending 25th October. I’ve reported elsewhere that the rate in England ranges from 17% to 25%! This small increase is the perhaps unavoidable consequence of … Continue reading Almost correct but the community spread caused the slight increase in hospital infection

Psychologists call it ‘cognitive dissonance.’ Where you have to say or do things every day that you really don’t believe in, it can lead to depression and/or anxiety. The Glasgow ‘anti-Psychiatrist‘, RD Laing thought that if the gap between your public self and your inner self got too big, it could trigger schizophrenia, as a coping mechanism. Douglas Ross seems to be challenged in this way too often for my liking. He votes against free school meals in Westminster then speaks out passionately in their favour in Scotland. He hears what a Scottish fishing industry leader says about the Tories … Continue reading This cannot be good for his mental health

Opening the above long report: Concerns have been raised at a sharp rise in Covid infections likely to have been acquired in hospital. Public Health Scotland revealed there were 180 definite or probable “hospital onset” infections in the week ending 25 October, up from 98 the previous week. Opposition parties have called for increased testing of hospital staff. Lets be clear, BBC Scotland health correspondent Lisa Summers follows PHS publications and found that there had been an increase in hospital acquired Covid infections. She then fed contacts in the opposition parties with the news. She tweeted stupidly about it on … Continue reading BBC Scotland forgets again to tell you that covid hospital infections in England are between NINE and TWELVE times higher

Little of what follows made the BBC report which opens: A care home in central Scotland has confirmed 20 of its residents have died in a month after testing positive for Covid-19. The death toll at Caledonian Care home in Larbert is thought to be the worst during the second wave of the virus. The home is operated by Care UK, which says stringent infection controls and testing are in place. The last sentence is interesting, especially when you read the Care Inspectorate report based on an inspection only 11 days before on 10th November. The word ‘infection’ appears 17 … Continue reading Larbert care home with 20 deaths had been warned about infection control. Tory donor Owners accused of paying ‘not a penny in tax’

By Brenda Steele: There is a rather excellent piece from Bella Caledonia headlined as: The battle for Scotland and the language of apocalypse from Andrew Neil and the right In it, Gerry Hassan relates recent claims from certain right wing journalists and a politician. Step forward Andrew Neil who in a debate with SNP MP Alyn Smith said that ‘the level of poverty and deprivation in the East End of Glasgow is unrepeated anywhere in Western Europe’ and that ‘male longevity in parts of the East of Glasgow are on a par with sub-Saharan Africa’. Fraser Nelson used his own … Continue reading Andrew Neil is a liar

The writer finds little comfort for Ross other than maybe true-blue Labour politicians like the Aberdeen 9. What about Britain First? They have Scottish antecedents: Britain First was founded by Jim Dowson, who ran a call centre in Dundonald, East Belfast, for the BNP. Dowson’s links with the BNP as a fundraiser ended acrimoniously in October 2010 when he was accused of groping a female activist. A former Calvinist minister, Dowson is a Scottish Christian fundamentalist. Based in Ballygowan, Northern Ireland, he also led an anti-abortion campaign, the UK Life League. He is linked to Ulster loyalist groups in Northern Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain_First They could stand in selected places to split the Labour vote … Continue reading I know! I know! Wait, no, I don’t