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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 5 and FINAL – 3 700, 9% more Covid deaths per head in England’s care homes

johnrobertson834

The above today caught my eye because I feel sure the various authorities in England and, of course, the Conservatives. we using a smaller number before. Given their long history of fiddling A&E and drug deaths data, let’s, nevertheless let them have the above. I’ll be quick. What was the equivalent figure for Scotland. Here’s the worst one: Care Inspectorate: 3,774 notifications of COVID-related deaths of care home residents from 16 March 2020 to 31 March 2021. Nearly all (3,761) were in homes for older people. This includes residents who died in hospital or elsewhere, and short-stay residents. https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/documents/inq000507855-report-from-care-inspectorate-titled-covid-19-related-deaths-in-care-homes-2020-21-care-homes-for-adults-and-older-people-in-scotland-dated-26-05-2021/ So … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 5 and FINAL – 3 700, 9% more Covid deaths per head in England’s care homes

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 4 – How and why Scotland had fewer Covid deaths than England – short video

johnrobertson834

Evidence here: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/02/16/as-covid-inquiry-reconvenes-today-a-reminder-of-how-fm-nicola-sturgeon-and-the-scottish-government-kept-excess-mortality-here-at-one-third-lower-than-the-uk-average-saving-thousands-despite-the-d/ Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 4 – How and why Scotland had fewer Covid deaths than England – short video

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 3 – Why Scotland’s higher PERCENTAGE of care home deaths was entirely expected because we had fewer deaths OVERALL

johnrobertson834

All the necessary data to explain the above is deep in the bowels of the 14 000 or so Talking-up Scotland archives. I could have dug it all up and posted an answer later today but then I thought, what do I keep Grok AI (I imagine a Raven-like familiar) for? I asked him: Compare the percentage of Covid deaths which were in care homes in England and Scotland from March 2020 to February 2022? He did and then I asked: Is this an entirely expected and not negative outcome given that England had overall a much….. before hitting <RETURN> … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 3 – Why Scotland’s higher PERCENTAGE of care home deaths was entirely expected because we had fewer deaths OVERALL

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian 19th July 2020, six months after Boris Johnson’s incompetence and callousness allowed the virus free access t the UK and just over three months since the SNP Government got devolved authority for the pandemic tactics, here is what happened to care home residents. In a piece broadly sympathetic to the First Minister and Scotland’s Covid strategy, the Guardian writers seemed to feel the need for ‘balance’ and to use anything they can find even if it’s wrong. Truth, fairness and accuracy are what readers need. You wouldn’t expect to have balance on a piece about the health … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

johnrobertson834

In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

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Burns had no connection to the slave trade and wrote the most powerful words against it

johnrobertson834

The Times titillates with a headline today designed to cast doubt on the basis for Scots’ love for Robert Burns. There is nothing there. In short, direct or indirect economic benefit from Caribbean slavery was widespread among the artistic, collecting, and intellectual classes of the period. Burns’ case—an abandoned plan in period of despair with no material outcome is nothing of substance by comparison with the documented ownership, inheritance, investment, and patronage links of figures such as Beckford, Turner, Raeburn, and Reynolds. Many of us will look back with sadness, perhaps shame, at episodes in our lives or of those … Continue reading Burns had no connection to the slave trade and wrote the most powerful words against it

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Why does the Royal College of Emergency Medicine avoid comparisons with Scotland when they reveal England to be the ‘Capital of Deadly Long Waits?’

johnrobertson834

In the Herald today: More than 30,000 NHS waits are still longer than a year despite a Scottish Government pledge to eradicate them by March. Last year, First Minister John Swinney set a target of March 2026 for no patient to wait longer than a year for their treatment. Important I’m sure but: Why A&E should take priority if resources force a choice Mortality evidence is clearer and more immediate for A&E delays. Excess deaths in the low tens of thousands annually are estimated from long emergency waits; equivalent quantified mortality impact is not shown for the current scale of … Continue reading Why does the Royal College of Emergency Medicine avoid comparisons with Scotland when they reveal England to be the ‘Capital of Deadly Long Waits?’

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Aren’t billionaires who tried to ‘help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood’ by using their money the undemocratic dictators?

johnrobertson834

By Liz S BBC Website headline: “McGill’s accuse Swinney of behaving like dictator over bus plans” Surely the real headline should be “Labour donors , who own McGill’s, accuse Swinney of behaving like dictator over bus plans”. I mean let’s get some context here. Prior to the Scottish elections in May Sandy & James Easdale , owners of the McGill Bud Group, pledged a conditional six-figure donation to Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Labour Party ahead of the May 2026 Holyrood elections. The brothers stated their goal is to “help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood”. In this latest … Continue reading Aren’t billionaires who tried to ‘help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood’ by using their money the undemocratic dictators?

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Even with hands-tied Scotland fights the housing crisis better than most

johnrobertson834

From the Guardian today: The housing crisis is now global. It shows just how undemocratic our nations have become. When we can’t even afford to rent or buy somewhere to live, we have to ask: did we give the financial sector too much power? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/19/housing-crisis-global-democracy-nations-financial-sector How does England compare with this? In short, England exemplifies Farha’s core argument. The financial sector’s growing power over housing has produced an affordability crisis that democratic mechanisms have only partially addressed, while also showing local policy responses and a still-evolving ownership structure. The direction of travel (more institutional capital, persistent high price-to-income ratios, generational … Continue reading Even with hands-tied Scotland fights the housing crisis better than most

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London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: ‘We’re living in darkness’: six years of scaffolding, still no post-Grenfell cladding’ Building safety regulator delays leave London tower block beset by security and vandalism problems. The block’s residents are among thousands of people across the country bearing the cost of delays by the building safety regulator (BSR) to approve construction works required by post-Grenfell building safety rules. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/19/london-tower-residents-fear-disaster-post-grenfell-scaffolding Ironically, Scottish Labour have ‘blasted the SNP for ‘dragging their heels’ over dangerous cladding programme. https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-blasted-dragging-heels-over-29368512 Here’s why Scotland’s tower blocks do not require new cladding to avoid a Grenfell event. From BBC Scotland, 7 March 2026, … Continue reading London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations