From the Guardian today: Thousands of children face an increased risk of catching deadly diseases in England, and significant outbreaks are likely, child health experts have warned, as “alarming” figures show vaccination levels have plunged across virtually all jabs. The NHS Digital report found 89.2% of children at 24 months had completed their first dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, a drop from 90.3% in 2020-21. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/sep/29/thousands-of-children-at-risk-as-vaccination-rates-fall-in-england?CMP=share_btn_link In London, uptake was only 74.8%! https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/2022/06/30/londons-nhs-launches-new-childhood-immunisation-campaign/#:~:text=Data%20published%20on%20Tuesday%2028,by%20the%20age%20of%205. Measles can be deadly. In Scotland, 94.4% of children had the first dose of MMR vaccine by 24 months of age. This rose to 95.9% for … Continue reading Serious risk of deadly measles outbreaks on Scotland’s border

In 2014, former football presenter, Archie McPherson campaigned for No and used a complete lie about pensions to scare voters. Astonishingly, he got away with suggesting that Britain’s 65 million people were helping to pay for Scotland’s pensions and that we’d be unable to pay for them ourselves. The mind-boggling confusion was not exposed by the MSM at the time. Today, we hear that UK pension funds were put in peril of insolvency by the recent Con Government budget and that the Bank of England had to intervene to save them. Will McPherson (85) be out again to explain this? Continue reading Pensions: Will Archie McPherson explain why the Bank of England had to save them?

Much is being made of the latest YouGov poll for the Times, putting Labour a massive 33 points ahead of the Cons but, in Scotland, the picture is different. In this one sub-poll of 147 Scots, Labour have surged a bit to 38% but are still behind the SNP at 44%. So, what can we take from this? It’s only one poll. For Scotland, it’s a sub-poll far too wee to mean much on its own. It’s a poll of Westminster voting intentions and so means little for Holyrood voting. It seems to reveal that Scottish Labour are far weaker … Continue reading Poll: *Labour remain far weaker in Scotland than any other part of UK

From stewartb Fascinating detail from Anonymous about South Korean shipbuilding and the Clyde – thanks! And academic researchers are still discussing this link! Tenald et al (2021) International Transfer of Tacit Knowledge: The Transmission of Shipbuilding Skills from Scotland to South Korea in the Early 1970s. Enterprise & Society , Vol. 22.2. ‘This article analyzes the transfer of tacit knowledge between countries and continents, based on a case from the shipbuilding industry. The South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) was established in the early 1970s and had by the late 1980s become the world’s leading shipbuilder. ‘Aided by foreign … Continue reading More on South Korean shipbuilding and the Clyde

By Anonymous Anent South Korean shipbuilding: this really only got underway in the 1970s, when the South Korean Government financed the building of an entirely modern yard in what was then a small fishing village called Hyundai. Since they were venturing on something entirely new, with a local workforce that was largely unskilled in modern shipbuilding techniques, they bought such expertise in. They bought the entire design portfolio of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, which had had the plug pulled on it by the Heath Government c1973. One of the reasons given, for the UK decision was that the Clyde yards were … Continue reading How Korean shipbuilding was based on the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders expertise

There’s no mention of Radio Scotland in the above Guardian report describing her performance as ‘disastrous.’ Today, Scotland’s Daily Record, in a piece absurdly headed What Liz Truss said to EVERY BBC radio station during car crash round of interviews there’s no mention of Radio Scotland either. Just as well, I’m thinking. If they’d been expected to interrogate Truss, one or two would have fainted. They save their scalpel for SNP leaders and prepare warm baths for Unionists. I’m reminded of a report I did for Newsnet, in May 2014, on Good Morning Scotland’s coverage of the Yes and No … Continue reading Just as well, Good Morning Scotland didn’t interview Truss, then?

In the Herald today: THE NHS “is crumbling and patients are being failed”, according to the new leader of the BMA in Scotland. Dr Iain Kennedy, a GP based in Inverness who took over as chair of the trade union earlier this month, said doctors are more worried now than they have ever been about a looming winter crisis. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/22828740.new-bma-leader-says-patients-failed-staff-shortages/ GP practices collapsing? The headcount of GPs in Scotland is 5,195. This is a rise of 74 GPs compared to last year. Prior to 2018, the headcount of GPs had remained fairly constant at around 4,900 since 2011. After 2018, the … Continue reading Grim fairy tale from trade union leader on GP staffing

Mental health needs not being met….suicide….midwives going on strike…..soaring energy bill…delays in solar panel installation….and now the weather…rain. The menu today with more regular doses throughout the day, from the media outlet with the biggest audience, Reporting Scotland Down, reminds me of earlier pieces here under the heading ‘The Power of Nightmares.’ Today, the RSD editor selects from the many stories out there, the above list of worries for those with mental health concerns, the suicidal, the pregnant and, well, most of us. Why does it matter? I’m going to generalise a bit here. There’s a strong correlation between heavy … Continue reading The power of nightmares in the run-up to a vote

To repeat and summarise the comments from reader Tom Hodgens in June 2022, as the Scottish media feast daily on ferry meat: The expertise developed in building the delayed gas-powered ferries will pay off handsomely in the years to come as LNG-powered ships will account for 60% of new orders by 2025: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/asia/lng-powered-ships-account-60-new-orders-2025-korean-study and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-51114275.amp Scotland is leading the way, and the Scottish Government’s investment in Ferguson Marine, has also given the Port Glasgow based shipyard a head-start in the construction of LNG ships in the UK Full piece by Tom: Continue reading Thanks to Scottish Government investment, Port Glasgow has head-start on LNG ferries

From Alasdair ‘No relation’ Galloway Gordon Brown’s review of the current constitution, including the Union, is promised by Keir Starmer to be a “fresh and tangible offer” to voters who had “turned away” from the party, especially to the Scottish National party in Scotland and the Tories in the north of England. The report was initially leaked on Thursday in the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/22/labour-considering-abolishing-house-of-lords-if-it-wins-next-election-leaked-report-reveals).  You might have missed it with the hoo ha about Kwarteng’s amazingly stupid whatever it was other than a budget (you might have noticed no red case – it means OBR won’t comment on it. Just as … Continue reading The Gordon Brown Report