The UK Parliament voted by 318 to to 71, yesterday, to allow the blocking of the Scottish Parliament’s gender reforms bill. 184 Labour MPs including the Shadow Secretary of State, Ian Murray (above) sat on their hands. Olivia Blake (Labour – Sheffield, Hallam)Ben Bradshaw (Labour – Exeter)Richard Burgon (Labour – Leeds East)John McDonnell (Labour – Hayes and Harlington)Charlotte Nichols (Labour – Warrington North)Kate Osborne (Labour – Jarrow)Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour – Streatham)Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour – Brighton, Kemptown)Zarah Sultana (Labour – Coventry South)Nadia Whittome (Labour – Nottingham East)Beth Winter (Labour – Cynon Valley) https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1449 Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, was unavailable for … Continue reading Murray sides with Union Jack as only 11 out of 195 Labour MPs vote to defend devolution

The above is from BBC Scotland today. Lord Hope said a UK government document outlining its reasons for blocking the Scottish reforms was “devastating”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64315517 He doesn’t mention: From Lewis Graham: Lessons from Lord Hope’s Diaries: judicial ideology and panel selection in 2020: Any reader hoping to find grand exigencies on the nature of justice will be disappointed by the fact that Lord Hope’s Diaries are, by and large, a supremely mundane affair. In the fifth volume, his Lordship complains about a hen party “screeching and larking about” on his plane (p.279), balks at his colleagues’ rejection of morning dress (p.213)  and … Continue reading On GRA block, BBC Scotland consult ‘supremely mundane’ former judge (85) ‘suspicious of SNP’

stewartb Glad that one interviewee on C4 News tonight confirmed that the UK already accepts GRCs from countries that operate a self-ID procedure! See: HM Courts and Tribunal Service – Guidance: Gender Recognition Certificate: list of approved countries and territories (Updated 21 December 2022) ‘If you’ve HAD YOUR GENDER PREVIOUSLY RECOGNISED IN ONE OF THE COUNTRIES OR TERRITORIES IN THIS LIST, you’re on the ‘overseas route’. this means YOU DO NOT NEED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL REPORTS when applying for gender recognition in the UK. ‘If the country or territory is not on this list or you do not have a … Continue reading UK already accepts GRCs from all these countries

In an unscripted moment, Laura MacIver referred the FM, technically correctly, as ‘our leader.’ OMG A wee slip I guess but nowhere near enough to make up for Sarah Smith’s clear bias in the other direction: Gerry Hassan has tweeted with mastery of understatement on Sarah Smith’s latest reveal: The spin of @BBC Scotland Editor Sarah Smith on the independent #HamiltonReport completely clearing Nicola Sturgeon saying this “will allow her to claim she has been vindicated.” Not a good look from the BBC or Smith. Mean, grudging, foul-smelling, I’d say. Anyhow, I make this the 7th offence in just over a year. She keeps … Continue reading BBC Bias in favour of Scotland: Laura MacIver: 1, Sarah Smith: 7

In the Herald today: Really? See this from January 2022: Continue reading Douglas wrong on gender reform approval

In February 2021, Savanta for ITV News reported at 4% lead for Yes. By the end of December 2022 they had reported 15 leads for No, no more for Yes and 2 tied. On 21 December they broke a run of 7 leads for Yes by other pollsters, with a 2% lead for No, on behalf of the Scotsman. In another run of Yes leads by other pollsters in mid March to mid April 2021, only they, for the Scotsman, returned a tie. Survation had 1 for Yes and 6 for No, which, though with a smaller sample, does look … Continue reading If you want a ‘No’ for independence go to Savanta or Survation for your poll

Like you, I too wish Bosnia and Herzegovina all the very best after gaining independence from the oppressive Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I’m not suggesting for a minute that Scotland’s recent experience of domination by a neighbour compares with the horrors inflicted on Bosnia in recent times but independence from any union has to be a right. Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton, Alicia Kearns, doesn’t seem to agree: Adding to the irony, Rutland too has had a struggle for independence: In 1060 Edward the Confessor bequeathed Rutland to his wife Edith. Rutland is the smallest county in England, approximately … Continue reading Conservative MP for independent Rutland applauds one breakaway republic but not Scotland

This is not the news. The BBC Scotland website does not cover it, because there is not enough to bother with. It’s just another feed for Reporting Scotland from a friend of Pacific Quay, representing a partisan trade union position, based on no actual statistical evidence, to undermine the SNP in government. Regulars here know this but as always, just in case you’re new here. He’s not a ‘leading medic’, like someone managing a cutting edge team in a hospital or a researcher in a university medical school, he’s jus the depute convenor of a trade union. Patient safety? I’m … Continue reading The most nurses, doctors and beds and the fastest ambulances, yet BBC Scotland report this today:

I’ve never liked the Flooers o the Forest either – not chippy enough to my mind. Anyhoo, here’s my intensively researched proposal. My nomination is…..wait for it……. McFadden and Whitehead’s ‘Ain’t no stopping us now.’ McFadden? Whitehead? Scottish ancestry clearly. The words fit and the tune is uplifting. Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now!We’re on the move!Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now!We’ve got the groove!There’s been so many things that’s held us downBut now it looks like things are finally comin’ aroundI know we’ve got, a long long way to goAnd where we’ll end up, I don’t know. But we won’t let nothin’ … Continue reading ‘Ain’t no stopping us now!’ A positive anthem for Scotland and Lord McConnell?

In the often otherwise very good Conversation on 13 January 2023, we read: Over the past decade, an average of 5% of the country’s electricity has been imported, helping to reduce the amount it needed to generate itself. However, net imports swung to net exports in 2022 for the first time in 44 years. https://theconversation.com/britain-is-a-net-electricity-exporter-for-first-time-in-44-years-197506 They illustrate with this graph: I can’t see what the surplus for export is precisely but it looks like 3 or 4 TWh. Where might that have come from? The word Scotland only appears once in: ‘To put 24 TWh in context, this is broadly … Continue reading Britain’s ‘first time’ electricity surplus to export is almost ALL due to Scotland