In an extended piece on vaping by children, on a Saturday morning when, for some unknown reason, BBC Scotland staff get a lie-in, we hear the above and this: Will BBC Reporting Scotland badly, mention this when they wake up for their tea-time broadcast? We also hear that they don’t have enough trading standards officer anyway in England, after cuts under the…who is it again….oh yeh, the Conservatives. The BBC Scotland website has nothing on this currently and on 20 January 2023, made no mention of registration or training being required in Scotland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64336216 Continue reading You have to pay attention if you want the latest news on child vaping in Scotland – try BBC UK instead

Modestly presented away from the main website page and, as far as I can see getting little coverage elsewhere, the above report is a classic piece of grudging, ‘aye but’, Scottish cringe, in response to another fine piece of SNP legislation aimed at protecting the vulnerable here from the harshest winds of Tory austerity. We get, straight-off: A diverging income tax system means higher earners in Scotland will pay a lot more than they would in England, while Scottish welfare benefits get more generous. The Institute of Fiscal Studies says the poorest households will be £580 better off than they … Continue reading Scottish families with children in bottom 30% of income gain over £2000 a year

How many times have images of the above trans women headlined and dominated BBC Scotland’s daily output? Today, out of eleven reports, four items concern trans offenders, one is about a non-trans rapist and two more concern murder. The leading story for some days now is: Nicola Sturgeon’s gender conundrum: Is Isla Bryson a man or a woman? Really? Is this ‘the news’ from a public service broadcaster with a duty to inform? Not even close. Here is something important that they, of course, don’t like the look of and seem unlikely to cover: The @scotgov‘s income tax and benefit … Continue reading BBC Scotland titillating with trans hysteria and death to suggest failure in Scotland and its leader just as SNP makes real news in reducing poverty and inequality

From the Telegraph, moving Starmerwise fast, today: The exclusive, large-scale MRP poll of 28,000 people found that if there were an imminent general election the Tories would be left with fewer seats than the SNP. Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, would be the Leader of the Opposition. The figures, from pollsters Find Out Now and experts Electoral Calculus, report Labour winning 49 per cent of the vote and the Tories down to 23 per cent. MRP polling means results in individual seats can be calculated. The polling forecast that Labour would gain 306 seats, taking its total number of MPs … Continue reading An 85% win is surely enough for independence

From SNP Media today: The SNP has called out the staggering hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats for turning their backs on Europe while highlighting the issues of recruitment as a direct result of a Brexit they now support. The Liberal Democrats brought two debates in Parliament today (Wednesday) on NHS dental care and social care – sectors which have been acutely affected by workforce shortages since Scotland was dragged out of the EU against its will. Gillian Martin MSP said: “The Liberal Democrats have scored an embarrassing own goal after highlighting two sectors facing workforce crisis because of a Tory … Continue reading Lib Dumbs live up their name again, on Europe this time

Ed: I’m telling you this is a must read. Our Rev Stewart is too modest for such a claim. By stewartb Keen to shed light and not generate more heat on issues around reform of gender recognition legislation, in what follows the objective is to offer information which helps give context and perspective. The aim is also to avoid the polemical – well almost! 2021 Census data for England and Wales The last Census in England and Wales was held on 21 March 2021. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has begun to publish findings, including responses to the question: … Continue reading A must read: Gender recognition – pouring FACTS on flames!

Kurdish majority areas. The earthquakes The Indian Army has arrived but the Turkish Army, active in the area fighting Kurdish rebel groups has not. Thousands remained trapped under rubble after the earthquake and millions spent the night outside in freezing winter conditions while many areas have not received assistance and the government is being criticised for not using the military. “Thousands of people have died. AFAD [the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency] is not here; the state is not here. We have been abandoned,” Y# https://balkaninsight.com/2023/02/07/turkish-emergency-services-fail-to-reach-key-earthquake-hit-areas/ Continue reading The Kurdish areas, the earthquakes and the ‘absent state’

BBC Scotland, right at the end this morning, after supposed Council funding, nurse training and pedestrian death crises, some of us are shocked to hear: than elsewhere in Britain. And £580 per year higher than they would under the system in England & Wales. It will be interesting to see if this story survives throughout the day or is modified in the light of the last bit below: It’s called ‘repressive tolerance’, whereby a biased media is not always biased so that it can claim balance. Here the balancing positive (about Scotland/SNP) element tends to be after a string of … Continue reading Poorest £580 per year better off under SNP? Aye but…