Both the Herald and the Guardian have the same approach to this story, blaming the First Minister for something to cannot do and which Scotland cannot do: The Guardian has a similar headline to the Herald above with: Humza Yousaf accused of ‘failure’ over children’s rights delays in Scotland Here’s the ‘accusation’: In one of his final interviews before he steps down from the role after six years, Bruce Adamson accused Scottish ministers of “heartbreaking” delays, lack of transparency and “constant broken promises”, after the supreme court ruled that initial attempts at incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of … Continue reading UK Supreme Court denies Scotland again but for their media it’s another ‘Humza failure’

Let’s be clear the MV Pentalina which ran aground yesterday was built in the Philippines and the MV Arnold which ran aground last year was built in Vietnam, because cheap labour and lower standards enabled a cheaper deal than you’d get on the Clyde, for private company Pentland Ferries. The Scottish Government could not intervene to encourage their building in Scotland. Despite the above clear facts, BBC Scotland allow this: Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston, who is from Orkney, said the incident exposed the “pitiful lack of resilience in Scotland’s ferry network”. He said: “The Pentalina was only summoned … Continue reading BBC Scotland find way to blame SNP for failed privately owned ferries built in Philippines and Vietnam

From BBC Scotland this morning: Orkney ferry runs aground after smoke in engine room A ferry has run aground in Orkney with 60 people on board, including a baby. Smoke was detected in the engine room of the MV Pentalina before it became grounded near the village of St Margaret’s Hope. Emergency services are at the scene as well as lifeboats from the RNLI. Ferry company Pentland Ferries said all 56 adults, three children and an infant on board were safe. “The safety of our passengers is, of course, our first priority,” it added. Pentland Ferries sails across the Pentland … Continue reading Ferry fiasco as second ‘foreign’ ferry runs aground

From the Scotsman on 28 April: Baroness Goldie said the activities of Russian vessels suspected of gathering intelligence will be watched closely. Earlier this month, a joint investigation by European broadcasters claimed a Russian ship called the Admiral Vladimirsky was part of an operation to map undersea infrastructure. https://www.scotsman.com/news/defence/uk-vigilant-over-alleged-russian-spy-ships-in-scottish-waters-4124222 Reassured? Only if things have improved in terms of the UK armed forces capabilities, in the last six years under more Tory mismanagement, so probably no? In 2017, pre-Ferrygate this was the situation: How could an independent Scotland protect its waters without the Royal Navy? Just the same? December 21, 2017 © … Continue reading Calmac ferries to get guns and sonar but further delayed

In the wake of a refusal to reveal party membership and despite easy access to the full letter of complaint from two constituency Labour groups (below), BBC Scotland has chosen to omit the more critical comments and to soften the scandal with this headline: Formal complaint made over Scottish Labour selection process https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65436301 In the BBC Scotland report’s text, some of the letter’s more mundane, descriptive, content has been used but the very challenging, apparently suspicious of a right-wing Party HQ’s intentions to exclude leftist non-Starmerites, direct questions have been ignored. In particular: You can see what they’re worried about … Continue reading Scottish Labour accused of lack of transparency again, over candidate selection

In the Times Education Scotland yesterday but as with so many positive reports, not making the MSM unlike the alleged under-reporting of bullying: A major piece of research into how well Scottish universities are preparing teachers for the profession has found that the system “as a whole is generally healthy, and there is definitely no ‘crisis’”. The project ran for six years – during which teaching graduates in Scotland were tracked from 2018 to 2022 – after concerns had been raised about how well teachers were being prepared for the profession. Now – as the Measuring Quality in Initial Teacher … Continue reading Teacher Education as a whole is generally healthy, and there is definitely no ‘crisis’

Reading between the lines in this BBC Scotland report, it looks like SFA is actually happening for the obvious reason that the Navy don’t operate wee ferries. Now if you wanted your car taken by landing craft and dumped on a muddy shore or if you were happy to be helicoptered off an assault ship, we’re talking! We read: An assessment is ongoing over whether military help is the solution for Highland Council’s Corran Ferry. There has not been a car ferry on the five-minute crossing of Loch Linnhe in Lochaber for three weeks due to issues with the main … Continue reading Navy worried that they might crash a ferry just like the Army crashed ambulances?

This was posted today on the Scottish Government’s announcements website. It took me five minutes to think what I would say. I’m a 71.9 year-old volunteer. None of our professional ‘journalisms’ is on this story yet. Will they be, later? I suppose it can be hard for someone young and vigorous to find and read a website, especially one hosted by their enemy, that SNP. Anyhow here’s what the Ukraine Statement says, in brief: Title of Policy Change to the residency criteria for access to tuition fee and living cost support- UK nationals and their family members who have fled … Continue reading SNP Government today – Ukraine and Afghan refugees to get free tuition and living cost support

By stewartb The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has just published this: ‘Healthy people, prosperous lives: The first interim report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity’.  The Commission was established to ‘test one central hypothesis: that a fairer country is a healthier one, and that a healthier country is a more prosperous one’. The report is here: http://www.ippr.org/research/publications/healthy-people-prosperous-lives This is the UK! The report paints a very negative picture of life for many in this precious Union. After more that a decade of Tory governments in Westminster – rejected by a majority of Scotland’s electorate, as usual … Continue reading UK is clearly very far from OK!

As the opposition parties bray for SNP transparency while refusing to be so themselves, the Labour branch revealed its membership in February 2021 to be under 16 000, less than a quarter of the SNP currently at 74 9000. The UK Lib Dems claim 73 000 but I doubt that gives the Scottish Lib Dems 7 300. The Conservative Party has 172 000 but I even less doubt that the Scottish Tories have 17 000, half at best? Continue reading SNP membership only more than FOUR times higher than that of Labour Party’s Scottish Branch