In the Herald today: MINISTERS have lost over £60m in public money through trying to salvage the shipyard company at the centre of Scotland’s ferry-building fiasco, the Herald on Sunday can reveal. New financial papers have revealed that £36.1m of the £50.1m of public funds the Scottish Government has tried to reclaim after Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) fell into administration in August, 2019 will not be recovered. https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19529636.revealed-ministers-lose-60m-public-funds-bailout-ferguson-marine/ Note the amount, note the intention to save jobs and remember the yard is still open. Two years ago in England, note the same factors: Labour has claimed transport secretary Chris Grayling‘s … Continue reading Scottish ministers try to save jobs but in England….

BBC Northern Ireland report on the disastrous surge in cases, 3 months after it begins, 1 month after they surpassed even England and 3 weeks after the latest steep climb began, taking then to almost twice the UK average: Notice that after a month well below that of England and Northern Ireland, the rate in Scotland has climbed fast to now equal that of England. BBC Wales continues to ignore their more recent surge and BBC UK/England rarely report their high levels. BBC Scotland is quiet but how long will it be, if Scotland surpasses England, before Reporting Scotland and … Continue reading Ready, Reporting Scotland?

In the last week, Scotland delivered 21% more vaccinations than England or Northern Ireland and twice as many as Wales. In May, when Wales was ahead, BBC Wales gave credit to their own folk: Tidy. When Scotland first surpassed Wales in July, to top the vaccination chart, BBC Scotland had other things they thought you need to know: Sad. Continue reading Scotland streaking ahead with jags

Not for the first time, I’ve had to modify the unnecessary gloom at the Herald. For the first time in 7 days, the number of new Covid cases has fallen, from 3 613 on Thursday, to 3 464 yesterday. There were three deaths, down from 9 on the previous day and the lowest for 5 days. Hospital admissions have now fallen every day since the end of July. I thought you might like to know. Continue reading Covid Scotland: Cases and deaths fall

My gub did drap. The Scottish Labour branch office sneering at an independent political party is a good one but it’s the notion that coalitions mean loss of principle that really tickles. What, like if a party committed to egalitarian values were to do a deal with one utterly opposed to them, like these ones? Or East Lothian? Or the Labour/Lib Dem coalition under Jack MacConell? Continue reading O, wad some power the giftie gie Labour to see themsels as others see them

Howling fearfully, in a chorus of lies, two of ‘our’ gutter press, cannot hide the fear surging through unionism today, as a pro-independence coalition cements its majority over the motley crue. They hate each other, the Tories, the Lib Dems and Labour. Their coalition will not hold as they fall apart on issues such as welfare, Europe and the environment, to name only three. The choice of headlines is no evidence of conspiracy. They just think that way and parrot the lines from those they admire, like Tory chief whip Stephen Kerr. Continue reading The Coalition of Curs

From Alasdair Galloway: Some thoughts on some consequences of Covid An article on the BBC website just caught my eye – “Covid Cases: This summer compared with last” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58281664. It reports that comparing 20 August with this time last year, there were 37,314 this year, compared with 1,182 a year ago. Or put another way, there were more than 31 times the number of cases this year than last year. The author of the piece seems remarkably untroubled by this. They write “The numbers admitted to hospital or dying are also both higher than last year. However, this still reflects … Continue reading There is nothing wrong with whistling in the wind, but…

From BBC Health today: Nearly 100 members of the Army have been brought in to help four ambulance trusts in England look after patients. High demand and staffing shortages mean they are being used to work alongside NHS staff. Ambulance services in the South Central, South West, North East and East areas of England are being supported by the military. The union, Unison, said it was a “sign things are not right” within the ambulance service. The pressures on the ambulance service are not just down to the pandemic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58281665 The report does not mention Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, far … Continue reading Scottish Ambulance Service does not need military support.

By Alasdair Galloway As has been well rehearsed in many places, yesterday (18th August) was GERS day, when the undead, sorry Unionists emerge to condemn not just independence but the futility of even seeking independence. Needless to say, and as pointed out elsewhere, the Herald was all over this. There was the usual one-eyed nonsense from Tom Gordon, but also a piece by the former Adam Smith Professor of Economics at the University of Glasgow (no less), the interestingly named Ronald MacDonald (now Research Professor). As is well known, the Prof is a dyed in the wool Unionist who will … Continue reading The Big Mac

From SNP Media: A former Tory Scotland Office minister has claimed that the UK government’s Scotland Office ‘serves no real purpose’. Speaking to the Institute for Government, Lord Ian Duncan said that there ‘wasn’t much to do’ during his two-year spell as a Scotland Office minister and he never spoke to Theresa May or Boris Johnson once during his tenure. Previous reports have found that spending at the Scotland Office soared last year to £8.5million – a £1.2m increase on the previous year. Lord Duncan was also scathing of Boris Johnson’s denial of Scottish democracy and said the Prime Minister … Continue reading Scotland Office ‘serves no real purpose’.