– Ofcom reveals dominant nature of complaints about the BBC By stewartb The UK communications/broadcasting regulator Ofcom has just (22 June) published the latest results in its review of ‘the BBC’s performance and our future regulation of it’. There are some notable findings based on Ofcom-commissioned research. See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2022/bbc-must-transform-the-way-it-serves-audiences Key research findings 1) In total, 11% of UK adults had cause to complain about the BBC in the last year. This is the highest level among broadcasters (6% for ITV, 4% for Channel 4). However, ‘around two thirds of UK adults who have cause to complain do not go on … Continue reading BBC more ‘biased and misleading/dishonest programming’ than ITV revealed by Ofcom

The largely similar Express and Scotsman attempt, once more, to undermine the SNP Government with a scare story devoid of meaningful evidence that readers might use to properly understand what is happening. Missing: First, there are already fewer ‘cops’ today but there can reasonably be fewer because there is far less crime: So, in 2008 crime was at the level of 725 per head of population and in 2021 was only 451, much, much lower, yet there were still as many cops? Second, on comparative staffing, from stewartb in 2021: By stewartb The House of Commons Library (HoCL) has just published a briefing paper entitled ‘Police … Continue reading Far less crime yet nearly as many officers and far more officers than in England

I make no excuses for Patrick Grady. He inappropriately touched a young member of staff. He should be punished but the Scottish MSM feasting on the case is also inappropriate, in the light of frankly more serious cases, where party leaders, it seems, need not resign: Continue reading Double standards: How on earth are Starmer and Johnson still in a job?

You’d think the bigger corporate-owned care homes would have invested in the safety of these lucrative customers but they didn’t. From the BBC based on a Care Inspectorate report in 2021: The rate of residents dying from Covid was higher in larger care homes than smaller ones, new data reveals. Care Inspectorate figures show there were 2.1 virus deaths per 100 places in care homes with up to 20 beds. This contrasts with 12.6 deaths per 100 places in facilities with more than 80 beds. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2021/05/26/large-private-sector-care-homes-had-six-times-more-covid-deaths/ The privately-owned homes and in particular those owned by offshore corporations maintained maximum capacity, … Continue reading Deadly business model for rip-off care homes

By stewartb A factor for those in Scotland hesitant about voting for independence might be how well, or otherwise, smaller independent nation-states manage to protect their citizens at times of crisis. In this second part of an examination of the capacity, competences and resilience of the Nordic countries during a global pandemic, the focus is on public health measures and outcomes. A complementary objective is to provide international perspective to counter a prevailing narrative of the corporate media and the BBC in Scotland of UK/England ‘exceptionalism’. This is linked, explicitly or by implication, to the notion that wee Scotland as … Continue reading Resilient in global crises – the example of Nordic countries (Part 2)

By stewartb The First Minister launched the campaign to secure self-determination for Scotland by providing relevant, useful international perspective. If other countries not too different from Scotland can succeed as independent nation-states then why on earth not Scotland too? In this context, it is appropriate to draw attention to a recent (7 June) report published by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It examines how the economies of Denmark (population c.5.8m), Finland (c.5.5m), Iceland (c.345k), Norway (c.5.5m) and Sweden (c.10.2m) have coped with the Covid-19 pandemic. It details specific government interventions – in what were extremely challenging circumstances for all countries … Continue reading Resilient in global crises – the example of Nordic countries (Part 1)

In the Telegraph today, we read that the SNP Government has plans to redirect the money for a £400 energy rebate, to second home owners in Scotland, and toward those who need it most: Scottish Labour loves to accuse the SNP of not being left-wing, redistributive, enough in its policies but time and time again, the evidence is that they, beholden to UK Labour, sit to the right on a range of economic policies. In 2001, SNP MP Allan Dorans listed seven ways his party have tackled inequality. You can read the detail at the link below: What is Labour’s … Continue reading Scottish Labour humiliated as SNP act again to make Scotland more equal, more fair

In the Guardian today: A record number of abortions took place in England and Wales last year in a trend experts said was driven by financial uncertainty caused by Covid-19. There were 214,869 terminations during 2021, the highest number since the procedure became legal in Great Britain through the 1967 Abortion Act, the latest annual abortion statistics published on Tuesday show. Numbers have been going up every year since 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/21/record-number-of-abortions-in-england-and-wales-amid-financial-insecurity From Public Health Scotland in May 2022: The rate of terminations in Scotland in 2021 was 13.4 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 (13.5 in 2020). The number of terminations undertaken in … Continue reading Abortions in England and Wales surge to shocking 42% higher as SNP Government actions hold back poverty increases

Last night’s STV and Reporting Scotland coverage of the UK rail strike had much in common but notably, STV had two elements making theirs much more balanced. In interviewing passengers, STV repeated for us this sort of reaction: ‘hasn’t been so bad’ on using buses, ‘quite simple’ ‘not a big deal’ While Reporting Scotland preferred: ‘It’s mad’ ‘Not fair on customers’ More significant though was this stark contrast making the STV report far more balanced. While Reporting Scotland did briefly add: Scotrail staff are not directly involved STV had: There is growing frustration here in Scotland that we’ve been caught … Continue reading STV only report ‘growing frustration here in Scotland caught up’ in UK rail strike

Keen, as always to misrepresent statistics to suggest things are bad in the country they pretend to report the news on, BBC Scotland simplify to disturb. The graph below reveals a one-year increase in water deaths, especially in those parts of the UK, Wales and Scotland, where water-based activities attract visitors from across the UK to their colder and deeper waters. So, a one-year change which is not evidence of a newsworthy trend and the simple consequence of a surge in staycations triggered by the pandemic constraints on foreign travel. Not the news. Continue reading 2020 staycation surge led to one-year spike in accidental drownings