From stewartb: There is a powerful and toxic combination of forces at play: – the partial/misreporting by BBC Scotland of the efforts of NHS Scotland, Scotland’s care homes and the Scottish Government; – the efforts of the BBC and opposition politicians in Scotland, notably the leader of the Scottish Tories and most especially the shadow secretary of state for Scotland to ‘politicise’ this health emergency; – the uncritical coverage by the corporate media and the BBC of trade union (e.g. RCN) statements and polls; and – the profile being afforded by BBC Scotland on the health emergency to a leading … Continue reading The callous politicising of a health emergency

Why is BBC Scotland always first up? From Summers today: We see that the Louisa Jordan Hospital’s now operational, but the current position is that it is hopefully not going to be required. Is there a danger that you might look back and say that that £43 million could have been spent in a different way? There’s been a lot of talk about testing. We don’t know what level of surveillance is going on in the community. We know that labs are not running at full capacity so could you and could the Scottish Government be spending more to make … Continue reading BBC’s Lisa Summers asks if the Louisa Jordan Hospital might be a waste of money!

An otherwise fascinating and thought-provoking piece from Common Weal begins and ends with a strangely pessimistic headline and conclusion. Not like Common Weal to be negative about the SNP, eh? Titled ‘Has Sturgeon’s pivot come too late’ it finishes with: ‘The question which may haunt the First Minister when this crisis is over is: ‘Why did I not doubt Boris Johnson sooner?’ Does anyone doubt that she has long held Johnson in complete contempt? Anyhow, here’s the gist of their argument: Last Tuesday, the FM ‘pivoted’ from the UK-wide ‘containment or delaying phase’ to talk of ‘suppressing’ the virus. This … Continue reading Will ‘suppressing’ the virus release the dream of independence?

With John McLennan and Brian Wilson, Monteith represents all that is most wearisome in the Scotsman as it tries to fight-off competition from disreputable, untrained, unprofessional social media tykes such as those at TuSC. We’re averaging 10 000 views this month. Anyone have the Scotsman figures? Thankfully protected by their paywall, we can only see these puzzling opening lines: ‘You know when a belief system has become an ideology when it is seen by those who hold it as justifying any and every decision.’ Is that not back-to-front? Aren’t belief systems more comprehensive and inflexible than than ideologies? Are ISIS … Continue reading SHOCK: Brian Monteith revealed as leader of Les Brexiteurs!

In Energy Voice today: Marcel Sunier, project director for the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm, said the 100-turbine development in the Outer Moray Firth has experienced the “knock on effect” of the coronavirus pandemic. But he claimed that despite the stoppage of some parts of the delivery works the project is “more or less on track”. https://www.energyvoice.com/otherenergy/235798/moray-east-offshore-wind-project-on-track-despite-covid-19-delays-director-claims/ Moray East was granted consent (1,116MW) in 2014 by the Scottish Government. In 2017 it won a 950MW contract for difference at competitive auction which set the price of power generated at £57.50 per MWhr. https://www.morayeast.com/ In sharp contrast, the UK flagship nuclear … Continue reading Massive Scottish offshore windfarm still on track to undercut Hinkley Point by nearly half despite Covid-19

In the Guardian today: In England, the proportion of fertility treatment funded by the NHS dropped from 39% in 2012 to 35% in 2017, according to figures published last year by the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). This is at odds with the rest of the UK, where public funding has remained stable or increased. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/19/uks-oldest-ivf-clinic-at-risk-of-closure-amid-increasing-privatisations As with my comments on coronavirus death rates, this is about talking-up NHS Scotland in an attempt to balance its daily talking-down from BBC Scotland and the Herald. New IVF treatment is on hold while the coronavirus outbreak is prioritised. This … Continue reading IVF in Scotland will return to 100% but in England more privatisation will cause more inequality and suffering.

It took me a minute or two to realise the Herald meant that Michael Gove was Scots and that he could let rip Aberdonian style. They go on to change tack and accuse him of Trump impersonation. I’m thoroughly confused but ‘Scots?’ I know, born and educated in Aberdeen with a first job at the P&J but from the age of 18, thoroughly immersed in a life saturated with the worldview of the entitled Englishman, Tory and Unionist: English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and president of the Oxford Union. Writer at the Times and Spectator Biography of Michael Portillo … Continue reading Fit like? The quintessential Union Jock

On Reporting Scotland tonight, we hear a rant from Gary Smith of the GMB: ‘It’s an absolute outrage that it has taken so long for us to get our act together and to start getting the PPE that we need arriving in the quantities that we require as well. And I would also say that were aren’t out the woods here either because if the demands for PPE increase and that is likely particularly in terms of mask and gowns em there is a question mark about how resilient that supply actually is.’ It’s just a rant. No figures, no … Continue reading Reporting Scotland give GMB leader a platform to rant on PPE

1 465 out of 40 000 or 3.6% of all the RCN members in Scotland bothered to respond. Only 70% of them, around 1 000 or 2.5% of all their members mentioned PPE. The ‘almost half’ above, 46% (674), who felt pressure to re-use PPE amounts to 1.7% of RCN members in Scotland. In England a real crisis which even the Tories have had to admit to: Then a huge delivery of PPE from China arrives in Prestwick, this morning. Later a huge delivery of PPE from Turkey doesn’t arrive in London! None of us want England to suffer in … Continue reading STV News describes less than 2% of nurses as ‘almost half’ to invent a crisis that isn’t there but is in England

From sam: Taiwan offers an innovative way to increase democratic decision making using digital sources. Is this transferable to Scotland? “Citizens help select the projects on Taiwan’s government-run “Join” e-democracy platform, which has so far hosted more than 10 million unique visitors, using a sophisticated system called quadratic voting. Each person has 99 points to award to their favorite projects based on their preferences, resulting in a more “fair, balanced, and … pro-social” outcome because it more fully captures people’s choices, Ms. Tang says… In this way, Taiwan’s government invites change from the inside out, through transparency, open data, and … Continue reading Who needs a corporate press? Taiwan offers an innovative way to increase democratic decision making using digital sources. Is this transferable to Scotland?