The Herald continues to demonise the First Minister with the above connection. Two days ago, it was this: I said my bit about the demonisation of SNP leaders there: Yesterday, they had this: The transport minister was clear on Reporting Scotland – “I’m not in the room”. Those in the room, the RMT and Scotrail, were not interviewed. Continue reading Off the rails and not in the room

HE predicts a riot. Britain’s foremost money-saving expert Martin Lewis has been sending politicians increasingly desperate missives from the front line for months and now warns that energy bill rises in October could lead to “civil unrest”. The chief inspector of constabulary for England and Wales, perhaps thinking along similar lines, has urged police to use their discretion when dealing with people stealing food to eat. https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20152358.rebecca-mcquillan-will-sturgeon-johnson-carry-can-cost-living-crisis/ Rebecca McQuillan wonders the above headline. She must know the answer. She must know the answer. Going by the polls and the recent popular vote, Sturgeon is enormously popular in Scotland and Johnson … Continue reading Herald writer unfamiliar with devolution settlement?

By stewartb Standards of political journalism across the BBC could hardly be more different. The ‘big’ BBC’s coverage of Westminster falls short of the detailed, forensic and relentless analyses that are the notable ‘achievements’ of BBC Scotland when holding to account the Scottish Government! We know well how the public service process operates in Scotland. When a report is published or a statement made by a third party regarding Scottish Government policy or action, BBC Scotland is sufficiently well resourced to examine the contents in detail. It’s highly skilled staff are expert at locating a negative phrase or performance figure … Continue reading Only BBC Scotland seeks to undermine party of government

Before the pandemic in 2019, seat occupancy on Scotrail journeys was only 23%! Seats were empty for 77% of the time. I can’t find Scotrail data for 2021/2022 but UK rail traffic is at best at 70% of the 2019 level, meaning occupancy levels if we kept the same level of services would be only 18%. Sources: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-scotrail/fit-future/detailed-assessment https://www.businesstravelnewseurope.com/Ground-Transport/UK-rail-traffic-back-to-70-but-business-travel-slow-to-recover Continue reading SNP railways sensibly cut to save wasting taxpayer’s money!

By stewartb There will be many decisions for the democratically elected government of Scotland to make after independence. These will certainly involve big and controversial decisions on international relations and defence policies. And positions do change as we’ve seen over Sweden/ Finland and NATO. I spotted this ‘straw in the wind’ recently: ‘Could Spain be the first NATO State to sign the Nuclear Ban Treaty? ‘ (https://www.icanw.org/could_spain_be_the_first_nato_state_to_sign_the_nuclear_ban_treaty) ‘.. in exchange for their support on the 2019 budget, political party Podemos obtained a commitment from the Spanish government to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The … Continue reading Scotland, NATO and nuclear weapons

The Herald has been a rich seam of disinformation today but I’ll stop with this one, quickly. The Herald’s Health Correspondent writes: THE number of nurses and midwives registered in Scotland has risen by just 280 in the past year. Scotland experienced the slowest year-on-year increase in the workforce of any part of the UK, amid warnings that staff are quitting due to “too much pressure” and pandemic burnout. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20145682.scotland-nurse-midwifery-workforce-growth-slowest-uk/ But doesn’t seem to know about this very important context: Scotland has far more nurses and midwives per head of population. Something the readers should know? Continue reading Yes, but NHS Scotland already has far more nurses and midwives!

I worry over Iain’s thing about ‘Nicola’. For a reminder, try these: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=Macwhirter He knows about Finland and Sweden applying to join NATO? He knows they’ll be welcomed? Is he alright? Continue reading Somebody remind Macwhirter about Sweden and Finland?

The Herald is not entirely opposed to independence and working hard to deceive its readers on that issue. Most of its ‘big beast’ old male writers are, of course, but the editing is more anarchic. I’ve noted McConnell’s work before. On the ferry ‘scandal’ he writes LEADING global fund manager James Anderson recently highlighted his belief that a very large state investment fund in Scotland, matched with private sector money, could enable the nation to achieve major successes. His suggestion had one critical caveat – there would have to be an “absolute acceptance” that much would fail in such investment. https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/20146163.ferguson-marine-sniping-signals-scottish-goldfish-bowl-politicians-not-grown-up-enough-ian-mcconnell/ … Continue reading SHOCK: Good Herald writer clears up ferry situation

Helen McCardle, offers us the above data and writes: FOURTEEN patients with autism or learning disabilities have died since 2015 while detained in psychiatric facilities in Scotland, figures reveal.  The statistics were released for the first time by Public Health Scotland (PHS) following a parliamentary question by Scottish Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett, who has campaigned to end the “national scandal” of otherwise healthy people being locked up for months or years due to a lack of community-based support.  https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20145645.death-toll-autism-learning-disability-patients-revealed/ No doubt Burnett was disappointed with the above data and, perhaps, took solace in a one-year increase at the end, but the trend is … Continue reading Death toll of autism and learning disability patients revealed as FALLING

Why is the First Minister pictured here? Why is it not the Transport Minister, the Scotrail Chief Executive or the RMT union leader, who are clearly directly involved? Back in 2011, Alex Salmond was recognised as having been demonised, by Iain Macwhirter in the same newspaper, writing: In the past week the First Minister has been compared to the Zimbabwean dictator, Robert Mugabe. He has been cast as a “Jekyll and Hyde”  https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13039618.demonisation-alex-salmond/ In 2014, my own research noted the same phenomenon in the run-up to the referendum. I wrote: Later that year, the Huffington Post agreed: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alan/snp-alex-salmond-has-been-demonised_b_6174718.html Since she … Continue reading Demonising SNP leaders