Only 10 years ago, the RMT leader in the Express and the Daily Mail. His death at only 52 was put down, by some, as partly due to endless media hostility and intrusion. Who is the ASLEF leader in the current dispute with Scotrail? It’s Kevin Lindsay. That’s him. See him much in media coverage? You’re more likely to see the First Minister: The saturation daily coverage of the pay dispute which is not even a strike yet with images of SNP politicians rather than ASLEF or even Scotrail reps, is classic media war by proxy. Glasgow University research in … Continue reading Rail Unions: From ‘most hated’ to useful against the SNP

The BBC reports carefully focus on the cuts, hide ASLEFs claim and omit to give Scotrail’s reaction to the claim. What is the actual ASLEF Here it is: Why does the BBC coverage omit this important fact and the Scotrail reaction to it? Because it might shift the reader into siding with them and by association the Scottish Government? In contrast with the above article in Insider, BBC Scotland take ASLEF’s side: ScotRail and the train drivers’ union Aslef have said they will return to talks in an ongoing dispute over pay. About 700 daily services were cut on Monday … Continue reading Hiding the facts to politicise the dispute

Scotland on Sunday headlines research from Keele University hypothesising significant public disorder due to the breakdown of the social contract beginning with the Dominic Cummings case and exacerbated by the PM’s apparent escape from punishment. This is just another attempt by those of a Unionist disposition to make Scots think they are no different from England and to predict social unrest against the popular Scottish Government regardless of a lack of meaningful evidence. We know from previous experience that the Scottish Government, unlike the Conservative UK Government, will act to mitigate the worst of the consequences of the cost-of-living crisis. … Continue reading There will be no ‘significant civic disorder’ in Scotland

Herald writers at work. Above, the First Minister, not the Transport Minister, not the Chief Exec of Scotrail and not the ASLEF union leader, is identified as the person somehow to blame for the cuts made due to industrial action by union members. The Herald’s leading stories (note correct use of apostrophe unlike above) feature the FM pictured three times, the railways twice and the ferries again. Two days ago, we had this headline story: And two days before that, this one: I said my bit about the demonisation of SNP leaders there: Continue reading Herald’s feeding frenzy on First Minister

The former rail chief appears not to have read the UK Government’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report on the above accident in August 2020: A former rail company director has raised concerns over the continued use of the model of train involved in the Stonehaven crash, calling for speed limits to be introduced for the trains until they are removed from service. Former Network Rail maintenance director John Carson, who was also connected to the Paddington inquiry, has raised safety issues over the continued use of the High Speed Train locomotives and carriages like those in the Scottish derailment. … Continue reading Former rail chief attempts to shift blame for Stonehaven crash onto SNP Government

The Herald Health Correspondent wonders: Why are we locking up people with learning disabilities and autism? https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20152543.locking-people-learning-disabilities-autism/ My immediate reaction would be ‘to be protected ‘ or ‘to protect the public? Out of sample of 2458 prisoners across the UK, only 106 (4% as opposed to 1.9% across Scotland) were in Scotland. Only those assessed as being a risk to themselves or to others have been placed in residential units. A unknown number have placed in psychiatric wards. England with 10 times the population, appears to be incarcerating far more than the 1 060 you expect if all things were … Continue reading Scots with autism less likely to be ‘locked’ up’ than those in England

By stewartb The BBC makes starkly different editorial choices in its news coverage for different parts of the UK. This is a phenomenon well known in Scotland to readers of TuS. As we know, one exemplar of this is the BBC’s coverage of A&E waiting times in the NHS. It’s become almost boringly repetitive to present evidence of this in relation to Scotland. So let’s look at evidence today of BBC double standards to the disadvantage of Wales. Just published on the BBC News website’s ‘Wales’ and ‘Wales Politics’ pages is an article under this headline: ‘NHS Wales: Emergency waiting … Continue reading BBC is ‘protecting’ the A&E performance of NHS England

In the above BBC Wales report, 1 646 words and not one criticism (0%) from the opposition parties is reported. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-60913799 In the BBC Scotland report, only 598 words and 137 (23%) of them from the three opposition parties: Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These worst ever A&E waiting time figures are simply atrocious. They are a damning indictment of Humza Yousaf’s time as health secretary and ought to shame the SNP government.” He said that excess waits inevitably lead to needless deaths. “It’s now more than six months since Humza Yousaf’s patently inadequate Covid recovery plan … Continue reading BBC Scotland politicising the NHS

Today, we can read: Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS has described the latest NHS Wales performance statistics as “devastating” and likened the First Minister to “Nero fiddling as Rome burned”. The data released today confirmed that in April the NHS experienced its third worst-ever month for A&E waiting times and ambulance waiting times, while NHS treatment lists increased for the 23rd month in a row. https://nation.cymru/news/first-minister-likened-to-nero-fiddling-as-rome-burned-as-new-nhs-performance-stats-are-published/ BBC Wales, above, have ignored a damning statement about NHS Wales, from a Conservative leader. Imagine BBC Scotland with that material. For years now BBC Wales have protected the Welsh Labour … Continue reading First Minister (of Wales) likened to ‘Nero fiddling as Rome burned’ as new NHS performance stats are published