From the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report on fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2019/20, in the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald: NFU Scotland has welcomed the news that the number of farm deaths dropped from 13 to 2 in 12 months, but insists there is still work to be done Yesterday (Monday, July 20) marked the start of Farm Safety Week, which sees NFU Scotland work with the Farm Safety Foundation, and other stakeholders, to promote the importance of proper health and safety practices. To coincide with Farm Safety Week, the Health and Safety Executive … Continue reading 85% drop in farm deaths in Scotland

You could make this up but invite a lot of sniggering. This is all true. It’s not one of my daft spoofs. Seriously! Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, and Director at the Center for Global Policy in Washington has popped up twice in two days, in the Scotsman, seven years after famously warning Scots, in 2013, that only the Royal Navy could save us from Russian subs penetrating our waters. Honorary US Army officer, Prof Ibrahim, set-up the anti-independence group, the Scotland Institute, with Jackson Carlaw, Jo Swinson and Alistair Darling in 2013. Was … Continue reading NOT a spoof: US Army professor and founder of Scotland Institute damns Salmond and hurts my feelings!

From The 2020 Safecation Report: As lockdown restrictions began to be eased, and the government announced people would be able to travel around the UK again, bookings for staycation holidays surged in popularity. Holidaymakers can be a tempting target for criminals. Even minor incidents can spoil your holiday, so our Staycation Nation report has revealed the safest new and traditional destinations in the UK to ensure your holidays are plain sailing.  With the lowest crime rates, the report reveals that Scotland is the UK’s safest region for a staycation. Out of the top 10 safest new staycation destinations, half of the holiday … Continue reading Scotland’s low crime makes it safest place for staycations

As of yesterday, England’s Covid 19 death rate was 634 times higher or 63.4 times, per head of population, higher than that in Scotland. The PM will visit somewhere in Scotland not dominated by SNP support to argue that the ‘might of the UK union‘, or the UK’s willingness to borrow billions for the furlough scheme and expect Scotland to share the debt, and not the careful lock-down and clear messaging from the SNP Government so praised by academics and commentators across the UK, is responsible for the achievement of the lowest death rate of all countries with reliable data … Continue reading PM Boris Johnson says UK taxpayers ‘took it on the chin’ to help Scotland get lowest death rate in world

In the Scotsman today, self-styled strategic policy expert, Azeem Ibrahim revisits his ‘only the Royal navy could save Scotland from Russian invasion‘ thesis from 2013. Leaving aside the hopeless inadequacy of the RN these days with only a handful of frigates operational at any one time, this story is right at the ‘wet your pants’ end of the laughter spectrum. Ibrahim appears, like the SiU lot, with no mention of his membership of an anti-independence group, the Scotland Institute. The SI was founded by, don’t snigger, Ibrahim, Jackson Carlaw, Jo Swinson and Alistair Darling. They are incredibly unproductive and appear … Continue reading SHOCK: Sturgeon to let Russian submarines take over in Clyde bases after Indy!

As creepy commentators desperate to hang on to Scotland’s traumatic start to the pandemic, more recent figures reveal a triumph for our people, all of our workers and our government. In the above comparison of 14 ‘advanced’ nations with reasonably reliable data, Scotland is one of the least infected of all. Only those small independent countries, not tied to a neighbour’s maniacal political leadership, Norway and Ireland have done better, but not significantly more so. With similar populations, they have 7 day averages of 6.7 and 10 cases per day compared to our 12.3. Scotland’s figure was recently around 7 … Continue reading Scotland amongst the least infected and with the lowest death rate in the world

After our previous report on McArdle’s mean, grudging report in the Herald, we took time to have a look at the original research, from where our headline comes. The word ‘surprise’ does not appear anywhere: https://online.boneandjoint.org.uk/doi/pdf/10.1302/2046-3758.17.BJO-2020-0077.R1 In the Herald, McArdle writes: The findings from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow are understood to have surprised surgeons, who were expecting mortality this group of patients – who tend to be elderly – to be much higher than normal. There is no quote with the word surprise. ‘Are understood to have surprised surgeons?’ Ah, investigative journalism at its most unconvincing. Is … Continue reading NO surprise that Covid peak deaths among elderly hip patients were 3 times higher in New York hospital than in Glasgow

In the Herald today: BUSINESS leaders have warned that the diverging paths that the UK and Scottish governments are taking over easing lockdown restrictions for companies could lead to job losses as Scottish firms are “caught in a vice” between two policies. While the Scottish Government has been hailed for its handling of the crisis north of the border there has been disquiet in some quarters after differences between timings for reopening businesses emerged between Scotland and England. Readers will not be surprised to find little evidence of the ‘disquiet in some quarters’, actually presented here. All the writer really has is Stuart … Continue reading Business leader admits he ‘hasn’t a scoobie’ as to whether Scotland’s public health prioritising will be good or bad for businesses

In a masterpiece of mean, grudging reporting, the above headline and report from the Herald’s health correspondent describes how: a study of patients admitted to Scotland’s largest hospital with hip fractures over a five-week period at the height of the Covid pandemic found there was no difference in death rates or complications compared to the same period in 2019. and: The study also found that mortality rates among the Covid positive hip fracture patients operated on at the QEUH – at 20% – was lower than that seen in other countries. Studies from Spain at New York, where hospitals faced … Continue reading Glasgow super-hospital and health secretary praised for unique international success in preventing covid-19 deaths among elderly hip fracture patients

In the Herald yesterday: NICOLA Sturgeon warned that Scots are in “danger of dropping our guard”, after the number of new Covid cases exceeded 20 for the third time in four days. and further down the page: It comes after 21 cases were reported on Saturday and 23 on Sunday – the first time since June 21 that cases have topped 20. The Herald makes regular requests for financial support from the public for its journalism yet it regularly fails to inform, choosing often to try to shock in the manner of the gutter press. The clear implication is that … Continue reading Basic arithmetical limitations in Herald reporting could cause undue panic