Does the same reporter do the headline and the main text? Headline editors are surely a thing of the past. I say that because only four lines down we read: The NHS Confederation report on the English NHS said more investment was desperately needed. Did they forget ‘England‘ in the moments between proof-reading and writing the headline or is is a deeper unconscious tendency to think it’s all the same thing? The author does not feel the need to refer to England again. Scotland gets no mention. A bit like Sir Ed Davey shouting about Scotland not being removed from … Continue reading Coronavirus: NHS ‘England’ faces pandemic ‘triple whammy’ this winter

In the Scotsman today: Just another ‘mother’ who’s first reaction is to rush to the press. Anyone ask if she’s related to, or friends with, any politicians? Anyhow, it matters not. Scotland contact’s tracers typically hit 99.7% of those they need to contact compared to less than 80% in England (maybe) and less that 50% in parts of Lancashire. They’re trained to identify risks. Ms Kelly is not. The reporter is not. How old is the boy? Eight. Was he at risk? Parents should be “reassured” Covid-19 has not caused the deaths of any otherwise healthy schoolchildren in the UK, … Continue reading Scotsman reporter finds one of the very low risk 0.3%

On Reporting Scotland at 1.30 today we hear that Richard Leonard said: The Government should have been more cautious before sending students back. The statement is accepted at face value. All day today and for several days now BBC Scotland has been repeating the accusations from opposition parties that the Scottish Government had failed to plan for these events. This morning Kaye Adams was beside herself with rage at the risks to students. Three out of the top six stories on their website dwell on the experience of the poor students: BBC England has moved on and have none: Conveniently, … Continue reading Making the most out of misrepresenting the student outbreak story

Scotland Officer David Duguid on Politics Scotland yesterday claimed: Well the (UK) furlough scheme has been one of the most generous schemes of its kind in the world. Carefully worded I suppose. I can’t be certain but maybe it is more generous than those on offer in Uzbekistan, Malawi, Peru or the USA but it’s well short of those in Germany and France which will continue for two years: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54090122 Pressed by Brewer on the calls for extension of the furlough scheme, Duguid seems to be suggesting that the Scottish Government has the powers and the resources to step in, … Continue reading Scottish Tories in ‘rather absurd position’

He does need to try something. For Westminster, Opinium had the Lib Dems on a miserable 4%, on 25th September and for Holyrood, with a full poll, Survation had them at 7%, on 7th September. Tony Blair’s Third Way collapsed in the early 21st Century as imperial wars, jihadi terror and corporate greed jolted much of the world back into the awful reality that gurus like Francis Fukuyama thought we could leave behind when the Berlin Wall fell. Willie’s Third Way seems to have been inspired by Canned Heat’s 1960’s anthem ‘Let’s work together.’ In terms of the constitution it’s … Continue reading Willie Rennie’s Third Way leads only to blood and toil

From premieroneuk: Here are the figures for the last 8 daysFrom 19/ 9 to 27 /9New infectionsScotland 3106 i.e.565 / million England 32297 i.e.582 / millionSo England has pro rata 3.1 % higher infectionsBut their testing is in utter chaos and as time passes the divergence will explodeAs Scottish tests are highly focused and targeted NEW DEATHS Scotland 5 i.e.1/ millionEngland 194 i.e. 3.5/ million So England pro rata 217 % higher deathsNow as it is impossible to extrapolateICU & Hospital admissions for EnglandI must compare Scotland with Whole of UKICU new admissions Scotland 2 i.e. 0.3 6/ millionUK 124 … Continue reading Covid hospital admissions 50% higher in England

How the Herald sees the city it once represented. A story, it might once have told: The Covid-19 death rate in Greater Manchester is THREE times higher than in the Glasgow area. There has been a total of 430 deaths in Glasgow, the two Lanarkshires, the two Dunbartonshires and the two Renfrewhires from Covid-19 since the pandemic began: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/coronavirus-infection-rates-cases-deaths-19004284 In Greater Manchester, there have been 2 153 deaths since the pandemic began: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/new-coronavirus-deaths-greater-manchester-18751786 There are 1.7 million living in Glasgow and the surrounding six areas, above. There are 2.8 million living in Greater Manchester. The death rate in the Glasgow … Continue reading ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them’

In a typically blinkered report, the obvious responsibilities of the universities themselves for creating these mass covid outbreaks and the obvious similarities with outbreaks across England were ignored in an attempt to ambush the Education Secretary and to blame to Scottish Government for events they had little part in. The universities are autonomous institutions. They decided to pressurise first-year students into taking up residence on campus and allowed ‘fresher‘ events, though they had known for some time that classes would be online because they wanted the money they get from exorbitant accommodation fees of around £700 per month. Why were … Continue reading Did BBC Scotland groom one student to ambush Swinney

In the last 24 hours, Scotland was the only part of the UK to have no deaths caused by Covid-19. No Scottish media have noticed it though they have noticed that Scotland’s infection rate, for the first time ever, was higher than England’s. That WAS THE news. Is the above map a fluke? No. In the last seven days, Scotland had far fewer deaths per 1 million population: What about the whole period of the pandemic? Other than Northern Ireland fortunately separated by sea, Scotland has had the lowest death rate and far lower than in England. I know, the … Continue reading Could this be THE news?

Another sub poll, 5 days after YouGov put SNP support at 60%, has the SNP at 55% with the Greens at 3%. The poll by Opinium, with 18+ respondents only on 23rd to 25th, has approval of the First Minister by large majorities among supporters of Labour (63 to 12), LD (49 to 9) and SNP (98 to 1) with even 27% of Con supporters approving of her performance. In sharp contrast Boris Johnson is approved of only by Con supporters. In Scotland, 70% disapprove of Boris Johnson. Only there and in London (51%) do more than 50% disapprove of … Continue reading Poll puts pro-independence parties at 58%