The above is headlining on BBC UK. It’s not being covered by Reporting Scotland, though you can be sure they’re scouring for a dirty Scottish beach as I write, but in December 2021 from SEPA: Only 1 out of 85 sites failed, 1.17%. The 32 excellent sites is the highest in the past six years and nearly twice the 2015/16 number. *1 site failed, in 2021, a massive improvement from 17 down to 1. In the same year, DEFRA claim for England, 93% excellent or good, up from only 28%, 30 years ago, compared to only 67% in Scotland. Why … Continue reading Pollution warnings at 40 ‘British’ beaches but only 1* in Scotland

Only on Reporting Scotland tonight: Ministers are accused of ‘dragging their heels’ in replacing Grenfell-style cladding in Scotland. The bulk of the removal work is earmarked for 2025 and the programme was initially expected to be rolled out this year. More than 100 public buildings are believed to have the highly flammable material. Scottish Labour says the Scottish Government is not moving fast enough on the issue. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone This is, of course, just another feed from Scottish Labour and an opportunity for BBC Scotland to fulfil its duty to platform Unionist parties uncritically. Regular readers will have moved on by … Continue reading For the umpteenth time, there can be no Grenfell in Scotland

I stumbled across this – Educational achievement in English-speaking countries: Do different surveys tell the same story? – from 2004. It’s getting on a bit but seems unlikely to be off the mark given the trends in England over the past decade and the move there toward greater inequality across the board. The first graph, above, which combines data from England and Scotland, reveals the UK (GBR) to have a larger attainment gap (dispersion), between those getting the lower scores and those getting the higher scores, and to have below median achievement overall. In the same top-right quadrant (unequal and … Continue reading Scottish education revealed as more equal

There are around 15 000 doctors in Scotland. BMA Scotland only got responses from 3 100 and, of those who cared enough to respond, 78%, 2 418, indicated they were prepared, on paper, were to go on strike. 2 418 is only 16% of 15 000 and there may be more than 15 000 doctors in Scotland. This is another trade union survey based on a self-selecting, ‘squeaky-wheel’, thus unrepresentative, sample. It would fail an S4 Modern Studies project on its methodology. Continue reading 84% of doctors not prepared to strike

Paraphrasing the Daily Express header ‘Drug death figures ‘a badge of shame’ for Nicola Sturgeon as second highest total recorded‘, last month, I draw attention to an emerging scandal and dramatic shift in the relative drug deaths in Scotland and in England & Wales. Drug deaths among both the 15-24 and 25-34 age groups are climbing in England & Wales to a record high in 2021 (see tables below). Media attention has been light and no blame has been directed toward Kit Maltouse, a regular critic of the Scottish Government, above. In sharp contrast drug deaths among both the 15-24 … Continue reading Drug death figures among younger users ‘a badge of shame’ for Conservatives

Helpful researchers at the Office for National Statistics have provided me with drug deaths data that can be directly compared with those for Scotland. In 2021, there were 11 deaths in this group in Scotland, down from 12 in 2020. Click to access drug-related-deaths-21-report.pdf The figures for England & Wales are below: England & Wales have 11 times the population of Scotland and so, all things being equal, could be expected to have 110 drug deaths but have 240 or 160 depending on whether you count ‘all‘ or only ‘drug misuse‘ deaths, more than twice as many or nearly 50% … Continue reading ONS researchers confirm drug deaths among 15-24 year-olds far lower in Scotland

BBC Scotland will be reporting this all day today. ..by the union sat they’d be willing to take industrial action and more than half say they’d be likely to leaved the NHS. The BMA has around 154 000 members across the UK. BMA Scotland membership is not listed but can be assumed to be around 15 to 16 000. According to the Daily Record, the sample was 3 100 in Scotland. Leaving aside any doubts about how real that is, it represents only 20% of members in what is a self-selecting sample. So that ‘half planning to leave‘ is only … Continue reading 90% of Scots doctors planning to stay in their jobs!

By stewartb It’s possible to conduct a near like for like assessment of how the publication of school exam results is covered by news outlets. This can most readily be done by comparing and contrasting the BBC News website articles on this topic which appear on the date of results publication. BBC NEWS UK PAGE:First para: ‘The proportion of top A-level grades in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has fallen since 2021, BUT REMAINS HIGHER THAN IN 2019.’ (my emphasis) Note the immediate, countering ‘but’ to give a positive. Later: ‘This year’s A-level marking system has been adjusted, so that … Continue reading BBC England Wales make ZERO political comment on falling exam grades

See the complete absence of mention across the eleven big newspapers here: Newspaper headlines: Soaring inflation and UK has the worst rate in G7: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-62585143 Not a word. Not a photo of the Education Minister James Cleverly (sic), or the PM. But in Scotland last week: Continue reading As A-level results fall 8%, England’s media respond

I don’t know if writers get to say what the headline should be these days but the above ‘attention-grabber‘ conceals the key facts which most readers, headline-surfers, won’t see. In the article: An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP is the only major UK political party to see a rise in membership income last year. “Although our overall membership fell by 1.5%, that’s dwarfed by the mass exodus of 18% of Labour members and 25% of LibDems last year.” https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20668426.snp-loses-almost-fifth-members-just-two-years/?ref=twtrec Note: Many of those leaving seem to have done so only to save money during a tough time. Continue reading A real people’s democratic party: Only SNP sees membership income increase as others suffer ‘mass exodus’