Covid mortality rates in UK nations: remarkable differences revealed in new analysis By stewartb The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has recently published its latest annual report on the extent of poverty across the UK. This is based on data rich research that has over the years gained the status of an authoritative source. See JRF 26 January (2023) UK Poverty 2023: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK.  (https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2023 ) In this report, the authors look back at the UK’s experience of Covid-19 and specifically at the differences in death rates by geography and degree of deprivation: ‘In … Continue reading Thanks to better SNP Government strategy, health care and compliance, Scotland has lowest Covid death rate for ALL social groups

From BBC Scotland today: A father has told the BBC he moved his family out of a flat complex in Glasgow after fire safety issues were found. Abhijeet Kadwe said he feared for his children’s safety after learning that the Lancefield Quay flats had the same cladding as Grenfell Tower. A 24/7 fire patrol has been put in place in the building by the Scottish government after developers failed to make improvements. It emerged that the building had ACM (aluminium composite material) cladding – the same material that caused the 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower to spread so quickly. The tragedy … Continue reading Cavity fire barriers ensure no Grenfell here but media disinformation continues to panic residents

In the Murder two days ago: Former Scotland coach Jim Tefler is still adamant his nation should “show maturity” by ditching their national anthem. The Scots will blast out Flower of Scotland loud and proud at Twickenham before their blockbuster Six Nations Calcutta Cup clash against England on Saturday. But Tefler, 82, believes it is time for the anthem to be shelved because of its anti-English connotations. He has long vocalised his desire for change for the song that was first adopted by the Scottish rugby team when he was forwards coach back in 1990. The anthem fired the Scots up before … Continue reading Should Flower of Scotland be kept not so much for our sake but for all the others Great Britain has invaded?

The RAJAR report this week suggests: BBC Radio Scotland has lost a fifth of all listeners in a year, according to the latest audience numbers. The figures published by the research body Rajar, show that nearly 196,000 people have turned off the national broadcaster over the last 12 months.  In the final quarter of 2021, 976,000 people were tuning in, but by the same time last year that had fallen to 780,000, a 20.1% drop. https://www.thenational.scot/news/23294333.bbc-radio-scotland-listeners-20-per-cent-since-2021/ What can have caused this catastrophic failure? Who can they blame for it? Judging by the torrent of angry comments I see in social media, Kaye … Continue reading Have BBC Radio Scotland audiences fallen by 20% in one year mainly because of Kaye Adams, Fiona Stalker and John Beattie?

Why is Miles Briggs looking so glum? The Herald has used the same image from their 2018: Rape Crisis Scotland slam Tory MSP over ‘intimidating’ sexual harassment probe So, a high profile case leads to an understandable surge in complaints, to local housing departments or other owners, about mould by social housing tenants and the Scottish Conservatives are platformed by Bol in the Herald to blame the Scottish Government. First, a media-fuelled surge in complaints does not mean a comparable surge in cases where there is mould at the level where it is a threat to life. Some mould is … Continue reading This is the Party of failure to build affordable homes in England, attacking the Government in Scotland, which has succeeded

The Herald likes to think of itself as ‘serious’ and informative. Here it is in the gutter, with its eyes still fixed in that gutter, not reporting reality for the benefit of its readers but constructing a dark alternative reality within which the vulnerable may be damaged. What evidence do they have? ONE whistleblower, unnamed, but in Glasgow’s east end. With the smallest respect, is that a representative sample? I think not. There are around 50 000 teachers in 5 000 schools in Scotland and they have one whistleblower? This is a classic moral panic where reports of actual deviance … Continue reading Violence in schools: Irresponsible scare-mongering and no hard evidence whatsoever

I won’t be using an exploitative image of a sad child here, as BBC Scotland have. Yesterday, they were keen to tell us: The number of people classed as homeless in Scotland hit an all-time high last year, according to the latest figures. There were 28,944 open homelessness cases in September 2022 – the highest since Scottish government records began in 2002. The figures were an 11% rise on the previous year. Housing Secretary Shona Robison said the statistics were unacceptable and concerning. She said the Scottish government had commissioned an action plan to tackle the problem. The Scottish Conservatives called … Continue reading 94% of homeless are in housing accommodation and not rough-sleeping

Leah Gunn Barrett This letter refused by Sunday Times. Michael Gove’s admission of Tory culpability six years after the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster won’t bring back the 72 people who died. The deadly blaze was caused by the lack of English fire safety building regulations, which Tory ministers would no doubt deem to be ‘useless red tape.’ After all, the Tories’ property development chums are more important than some poor residents in a tower block who would never vote Conservative. What you won’t hear from Gove is that the Grenfell disaster couldn’t have happened in Scotland. Since 2000, our building … Continue reading Grenfell: What you won’t hear from Michael Gove