From the Scottish Government News site yesterday: Milestone for publicly owned yard. The first vessel to be completed since Ferguson Marine came into public ownership has been officially named at the yard in Port Glasgow. The Helen Rice, a support vessel for the salmon-farming sector, has been lifted into the Clyde and handed over to Inverlussa Marine Services, a family-owned business based on the Isle of Mull. https://news.gov.scot/news/vessel-completed-at-ferguson-marine The sister ship MV Kallista Helen will be launched in 2020. What is it with these Helens? Are the owners helenophiles following in the tradition of the one who might have launched … Continue reading SHOCK: BBC Scotland miss launch at Ferguson Marine

From the Scottish Government News site yesterday: Equality to be enshrined at heart of government.The First Minister has welcomed progress to deliver recommendations from the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls to tackle gender inequality. The Advisory Council was established to champion gender equality and suggest where more action is needed to tackle persistent inequality, support women in work, end violence against women and girls and challenge gender stereotypes. All key recommendations in a recent 2019 report by the Advisory Council have been accepted by the Scottish Government. Since the group’s year one report was published in January 2019: … Continue reading Scotland leading the way on women’s rights

Ludo Thierry Call me naïve if you like (although my name’s actually Ludo – boom, boom!) – but I can’t help feeling that Emily Thornberry has tried to offer a genuine apology for her (rather dreadful) comments about her ‘hate’ for those Scots who uphold the principle of National Self-Determination. I rather hope she does attend the London Branch SNP Burns’ Supper with Stewart McDonald as per invite (as long as she buys a good few raffle tickets) – Link and snippets below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-51311286 Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has apologised to SNP MPs after saying she “hated” the party. … Continue reading Did she mean the BNP?

A poll of 1039 adults (16+) with data collected on 22nd to 27th January 2020 puts Yes at 51% and No at 41% after don’t knows, refused and non-voters are removed. Interesting details within the results: EU Remainers 56 to 44 in favour Women 52 to 48 in favour 18-24-year-olds 62 to 38 in favour 25-49-year-olds 67-33 in favour 50-64-year-olds 54 to 46 against 65+ 75 to 25 against No data for 16/17-year-olds though surveyed? Swing voters 51 to 49 in favour Support for Indyref2 was weak with only in ‘the next 5 years’ attracting majority support. Keeping the pound … Continue reading Less than 1 in 10 Scots trust Jackson Carlaw: Latest YouGov full poll puts Yes ahead and Better Together leaders in the bin [CORRECTED]

On Newsnight, 29th January 2020, referring to the proposed quarantining in a military base of those returning from Wuhan, the above academic said: ‘The question I have is, is the Government reacting to the actual threat posed by the disease or trying to calm a population’s fear and panic which may be disproportionate.’ Prof Wenham is not the only one expressing doubts of this kind: https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-we-should-deescalate-the-war-on-the-coronavirus/ https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-01-24/coronavirus In Scotland, Prof Robertson has pointed to a similar but even more disproportionate reaction by politicians in the case of the hospital acquired infections ‘crisis’ last year. He told us: ‘Remember, of the … Continue reading As some experts say governments are over-reacting to Coronavirus, leading academic compares it to ‘Balmoral Panic’ over Scottish hospital infections

On behalf of the poor wee health correspondents at Reporting Scotland Down and at the Herald, I’ve searched and searched for evidence of a Norovirus ‘crisis’ in NHS Scotland. It’s just not there. Even Miles Briggs can’t seem to find any for them and if he can’t no one can. You’ll see above and in several other MSM reports on NHS England and Wales, that Norovirus is rampant in many hospitals. In one case, the response was a dramatic ‘black alert’: ‘It comes as bosses at Royal Cornwall Hospital was forced to book hotel rooms for patients as space on … Continue reading SNP accused of making Scotland’s hospitals too clean for Norovirus to survive ‘deliberately’ as 600 beds are closed every day in England!

From Contrary: In The Only Game in Town 2 : The Cover Up, we are given a brief review of the investigation presented in the first documentary from 2017/18 – in 2005 a contract was signed by North Ayrshire Council (NAC) for a PPP/PFI deal to build 4 schools. The council is now paying £1million a MONTH to pay this debt, and will be until about 2038. Expensive schools. There were concerns amongst councillors about lack of transparency and procedures, so a police investigation was launched in 2006 and they ‘found no criminality’. The first documentary found enough evidence to … Continue reading What role did the First Minister’s Permanent Secretary play in the PPP/PFI scandal?

Thanks to a parliamentary question by Emma Harper on Tuesday 28th January 2020 we can reveal increases in spending, between 2007 and 2019, ranging from 52% to 876%. Details for each board are here: Click to access WA20200128.pdf Continue reading Massive increases in investment in Child and Adolescent Mental Health expenditure across Scotland

Thanks to a parliamentary question by Neil Findlay on Tuesday 28th January 2020, we can reveal that only 224 out of more than 167 000 P1-3 pupils were taught in classes of 30 or more. This is less than a third of the 757 who were being taught in this class size in 2011. Those taught in classes of 26 to 30 pupils were also fewer, down from 46 489 in 2015 to 43 410 in 2019. Click to access WA20200128.pdf Continue reading Major reduction in class sizes for younger pupils

This story is all over BBC UK broadcasts and online, but Reporting Scotland seem to be struggling to dig up a Worse Together story for you. Could this be the reason? ‘The Scottish Ambulance Service changed the way it responds to the most unwell patients in 2016 with 999 call handlers giving the highest ­priority to incidents such as cardiac arrests. An evaluation of the changes has found the system has saved the equivalent of 1182 lives. Under the new system, call handlers are taking longer on the phone to despatch paramedics and some lower priority calls are waiting longer … Continue reading Those watching BBC UK News before Reporting Scotland will be getting the message about NHS Scotland