Half the coronavirus deaths per head of population, less Norovirus closures last winter, better staffing ratios, no care home inspection failures, and coronavirus assessment centres protecting GPs – what can the Herald staff do? How about this? Gotcha Sturgeon! In the Guardian today: ‘The tests will also be offered to the families of key workers, and it is expected that the devolved administrations will follow suit.’ But in the Herald only this: Currently, Scotland is prioritising tests for NHS staff and has yet to announce any expansion of testing to key workers. Neither asked this question and perhaps I’m being stupid here … Continue reading Why does this Herald report miss out key information?

Quite a few readers disagree with me on this. To my mind, no media outlet owned by a corporation can ever be trusted to tell the truth about radical constitutional change, which corporations, by their nature, dislike. Here are some earlier signs: Today’s story is, however, only the latest in signs of their own unconvincing performance. See these: The limited commitment of the National: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/04/12/the-limited-commitment-of-the-national/ The National and a Dundee prof’s dodgy statistics feed the Unionist press, Boris rants and that AngusTory MP on QT last night:  https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2019/11/08/the-national-and-a-dundee-profs-dodgy-statistics-feed-the-unionist-press-boris-rants-and-that-dundee-tory-mp-on-qt-last-night/ Should the National have denied the BMA the chance to spread anxiety about NHS Scotland? … Continue reading Another wee reminder that the Corporate National is not entirely with us

I can repeat what I said last year about Davidson: Gina Davidson fails to disclose her close affinity with the Scottish Labour Branch but has left it in her Linkedn cv: ‘More recently I have worked in policy and PR for the Scottish Labour Party’s parliamentary group within the Scottish Parliament, which included speech writing for the party leaders.’ https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gina-davidson-7889b810 The point about Swinney’s comments are that he is principled enough to stand up for the maintenance of standards when, sometimes, a well-meaning teacher who has worked daily with a pupil, tries to get an award for them, which the … Continue reading Labour spin-doctor and fake news-journalist condemns John Swinney for trying to maintain standards in schools

Today the Scotsman has the above headlined. Bossy? That old ‘Nippy sweetie’ accusation? Only three days ago, they had this faked and creepy image. I’m no psychologist and not a proper trained propagandist but what on earth are they suggesting here? Mind you the Record had an unusual shot too: What strikes me most is than none of these reflect the openness and healthy attitudes clear in interviews such as that with Channel 4 yesterday: https://www.channel4.com/news/how-to-get-out-of-lockdown-scotland-sets-out-its-plan 4:35 in. Continue reading The Scotsman’s not-so-subtle use of Nicola pics

On Wednesday, Jackie Baillie MSP and Depute Branch Manager asked this parliamentary question: To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to ensure that every residential care home is provided with adequate personal protective equipment so that staff can continue to provide care to their vulnerable and at-risk residents. Jeane Freeman: A holding answer was provided. https://www.parliament.scot/S5ChamberOffice/WA20200422.pdf Perhaps I can save everyone some time here. Ms Baillie, ask the care home owners! See if they have any plans given the huge profit margins they have. See this: Care home operators are making up to £1.5bn a year in … Continue reading Jackie Baillie doesn’t know where to turn!

This ‘snap’ survey of twitter-followers of the pro-Indy @ProfJWR suggests that 96% of pro-Independence respondents believe that private care home owners are mainly responsible for the outbreak of multiple deaths and not the Scottish Government. Is this another example of pointless research by ivory bungalow retired academics? The care home owners charge the patients, make huge profits, and are responsible for recruiting and training the staff in, for example, infection control and out of their profits they are expected to provide protective clothing for the staff. Who on earth does @ProfJWR think would be responsible? Sheesh! Probably the best comment … Continue reading 96% of survey respondents believe care home owners and not the Scottish Government are responsible for covid-19 deaths

Scotland as a centre of violent crime still survives in the minds of writers and comedians, some Scottish ones too, and in the minds of UK politicians. Things have changed in the last ten or more years of SNP-rule. All forms of violent crime are now less common in Scotland than in England. A Guardian review of University campus safety report in 2019 found that all Scottish university campuses, including Glasgow, were safer from crime than even the most safe of the English ones. https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/preparing-to-go/staying-safe-at-university/how-safe-is-your-city/#Scotland From BBC UK yesterday: Knife crime in England and Wales increased last year to a … Continue reading Leading academic calls for hard border with England to keep out knife crime as it soars to twice the level of Scotland

The steady flow of briefings by the First Minister for Scotland seems to be having an impact. In recent opinion polls she is approved of by a majority of voters for all but Conservatives. Today at 1 and 6pm, two prominent female broadcasters could barely conceal their admiration for her leadership qualities. Later that night, Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy was clearly surprised and charmed by the way she engaged with his questions. Last night, the BBC UK website too, seemed to recognises that her speech on how we might begin to come out, if only a little, of lock-down, was … Continue reading BBC UK recognises leadership qualities in this time of crisis

It’s really striking hearing all that from Nicola Sturgeon. Even though she’s saying don’t expect anything to change swiftly, she is putting it out there. She’s addressing the topic. Yeh what is fascinating is the four nations of the United Kingdom have been really working together on all of this but when it comes to communication, there have been some differences and I think Nicola Sturgeon standing there saying she wants to have a grown-up conversation with people is inevitably going to put pressure on the UK Government because they are very much sticking to the stay at home message. … Continue reading BBC 1 News can’t hide their admiration for Scotland’s First Minister and Reporting Scotland don’t entirely disagree!

Thanks to a parliamentary question yesterday from the often challenged James Kelly MSP (Labour), we are able to be reassured that our Fire & Rescue staff are ready and able to respond. From Humza Yousaf: As at 1st April 2020, there were no members of staff self-isolating due to their age. 79 members of staff were self-isolating due to underlying healthconditions. This may be due to a family member having an underlying health condition. This represents 1% of staff. 42 of the 79 were working from home. https://www.parliament.scot/S5ChamberOffice/WA20200422.pdf Continue reading James Kelly MSP reveals fewer than 1% of Scottish Fire and Rescue Staff unable to work because of covid-19