I’ve written twice already on this outlier poll conducted by an Italian pollster, new to the scene here and advised only by two Tory activists. You can read about it at: In the Record on the 1st July: A new independence poll has found the majority of Scots are against breaking up the union. The survey conducted by Techne UK asked 501 people between Wednesday June 29 and Thursday June, 30 from across the country the question: ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’ When ‘don’t know’ answers are included the poll found that 39 per cent of people would vote ‘Yes’ in any future referendum, … Continue reading Only Daily Record daft enough to accept Tory poll results

Yesterday, I drew attention, prompted by Bill Cruickshank, to the above poll outlier suggesting far stronger support for No (6%) than the Panelbase poll at roughly the same time, which had No 1% behind Yes. Prompted again (I need that) by readers Scott and pd0930, I scrolled down the TechneUK website to find that their 4 Italian senior staff, had only these two UK consultants: DR SPENCER PITFIELD OBE​ Spencer served as a Hertsmere Borough Councillor between 1999 and 2007. Across these two elected terms he was both Portfolio Holder for Waste & Recycling and Planning & Infrastructure and also served … Continue reading Little surprise as new Italian pollster advised by two Tory politicians emerges, as campaign begins, to find less support for independence

The ever-alert Bill Cruickshank’s tweet has reminded me to comment on the above poll with a larger-than-usual lead for No and a surprisingly small level of support for Yes across the UK. As Bill points out, techneUK have come from nowhere with no track record and no transparency on ownership or funding. This smells strongly of fakery and propaganda and, hopefully, most will recognise it as both suspicious and unreliable. Let’s see what our MSM make of it. Expect more now that we have a date with destiny. On the second point, as recently as 30 May 2021, the Herald … Continue reading Dark forces behind the latest poll on Scottish independence and English interest in it

During the 1837 General Election, voters in Hawick attacked Tory supporters and threw 11 of them in the river. The pro-Liberal crowd then besieged Tory supporters in a tower and bombarded them with stones. The Liberal candidate then won the seat by only 44 votes. Violence at UK elections was common throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 20th Century: Clement Attlee, speaking at St Andrews University in April 1947, was showered by pepper released from a box which had been installed directly above the platform by a group of students……The catalogue of British political assassinations stretches back to … Continue reading No evidence that next election will be any more nasty

Ed: My metaphors are murder? By stewartb I didn’t watch BBCQT from Inverness but did catch comments and clips on twitter. Looks to have been a more balanced audience – if not panel – with pro-indy voices making good points, coherently and eloquently. However, one clip I watched was of the contribution of a Tory ‘activist’ in the audience and it triggered this comment. It concerns the constantly repeated Unionist refrain: ‘Scotland’s failing education system’. This is an only too obvious tactic. It’s well know from psychology that repeating something many times reinforces the message and – unless contrary information … Continue reading Inverness Tory tries to ‘gaslight’ Question Time audience with volley of diarrheal comments

In the Herald today, Ema Sabljak, clearly not one of the pro-Union big beasts like Gordon, Wilson, Monteith or McWhirter: Mistakes made at the outset in the construction of two ferries delayed by over five years saw money “effectively wasted” on rebuilding units, the chief executive of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) said. Kevin Hobbs claimed that the issues were down to a “catastrophic failure” of management, not a failure of the workforce. https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20246475.cmal-boss-claims-money-effectively-wasted-mistakes-ferry-fiasco/ Further down we read: Management, eh? Remind me who was the person whose butt was located where the buck stopped? Jim McColl? Yeh that’d be the … Continue reading McColl blamed for ferry fiasco

Scottish Labour clearly has trouble recruiting researchers or Anas Sarwar, fully qualified dentist, doesn’t care about the facts. Both? Repeating myself again, but to get a quick response in, see these posts from June 7th: The key initial Quality Performance Indicators for Melanoma Cancer, have been met in 2020/2022, for more than 96% of those referred. This is up from 91.5% in 2018/2019 and beats the 90% target by some way. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/melanoma-cancer-quality-performance-indicators/melanoma-cancer-quality-performance-indicators-patients-diagnosed-between-july-2018-and-june-2021 And from June 28th: Leaving aside the fact that ‘Sturgeon’ is neither the responsible head of a health board nor is she the Health Secretary, the Herald report … Continue reading Sarwar ‘dividing’ Scotland with fake news

In a report on action by police officers and covering the First Minister’s responses to Douglas Ross, married to a serving officer, that response is edited, summarised and placed in the 20th paragraph, as: She said officers in Scotland were paid more than in the rest of the UK, there were more police officers per head of population in Scotland than in England, and the policing budget was due to rise by £40.5m this year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62001386 Here’s what she actually said: Policing clearly is a priority for this government. It has been for every day, month, year that this government … Continue reading BBC burying the First Minister’s answers

He’s accused of groping other MPs in a private members’ club and he’s called Pincher? And he whips the backbenchers into line? No. You’re having us on. From BBC UK today: Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher has resigned from the government, as a newspaper alleged he groped two men at a private members’ club. In his resignation letter, he told the PM he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people”. Witnesses told the BBC he was seen “extremely drunk” at the Carlton Club, the Conservative Party members’ club in London on Wednesday night. The BBC has … Continue reading A tale of two Westminster whips – one SNP and one Tory

In response to an earlier piece on the Herald’s misrepresentation of Greater Glasgow and Clyde setting aside funds to defend cases of alleged failures in childbirth cases. By stewartb It’s my view that ‘whataboutery’ is a very different thing from pointing to relevant evidence from elsewhere in order to obtain context and/or perspective. When a ‘big’ number is used it is reasonable – indeed logical – to seek to ascertain whether the number is indeed ‘big’, and by implication ‘bad’, relative to an appropriate comparator. In a peer reviewed paper in the British Medical Journal in 2020 entitled ‘Clinical negligence … Continue reading NHS England paid £2.4BN in clinical negligence cases