I hope I don’t offend with too-basic arithmetic here but I’m going to keep this simple. England has ten times the population of Scotland and so, all things being equal, might be expected to have 5 610 admissions but has 6 395. Wales has two thirds of the population and so, all things being equal, might be expected to have 360 admissions but has 390. Northern Ireland has just over one third of the population and so, all things being equal, might be expected to have 190 admissions but has 326. Add to this, Scotland has 50% more nurses, 20% … Continue reading Scotland has lowest Covid hospitalisations

The confident grasp of virology and epidemiology held in almost hostelry in the land never fails to astound. The Kings Arms Fenwick has launched into social media with an appeal to ignore government guidance and just keep on eating and drinking, happy to bray/spray, in crowds from all parts. Do they not believe profs Sridhar and Bauld? Do they just not like thae smart alecs roon here? Do they not care about the loss of life. Some things are more important than life? Continue reading On the first day of Xmas my true love brought to me a lethal virus?

In the Scotland today, the FM is accused of dishonesty by pub and club owners as she works to save lives again and to maintain Scotland’s lower-than UK average death rate. In Wales, nobody accused Labour FM Drakeford. Indeed, he accuses members of the public for not getting jagged. In England, PM Johnson is accused but only by his own extremists in the Conservative party. No pub-owner would ever be front-paged to accuse him of ‘lockdown by stealth.’ Northern Ireland’s FM, Paul Given, has not been accused on anything since 2017 when he was accused of favouring the unionist and … Continue reading J’accuse?

Above Scotland’s ‘quality’ press take the perspective of club and pub-owners, utterly unqualified to criticise pandemic control measures, and accuse ministers in a manner, unique in these islands, and that should sicken. On the Herald website, this: Hospitality sector accused of trying to impose infection and death with help of media? This is not happening in the UK/English media where the Tory revolt last night dominates. No hospitality ‘industry’ rep is platformed in Northern Ireland or Wales. In Blackpool, where hospitality is all, the Gazette has 56 stories on their website and not one about the supposed ruin of the … Continue reading Scotland’s media are uniquely twisted

England has 10 times the population of Scotland so the sums are easy. In the last 24 hours, England had 53 093 new cases of Covid, almost twice the rate, per head of population of Scotland at 3 117. The 12 week trend in Scotland remains fairly flat despite the new variant but is climbing in England. Over the course of the pandemic, England had around 200 000 more cases than it would have, had it Scotland’s rate. No doubt there are many and complex factors for this difference but one is clear – lack of leadership and consequent inconsistency. … Continue reading 30 000 avoidable Covid deaths in England

From Public Health Scotland today: There was a 23% decrease in the total number of NHSScotland complaints received in 2020/21 (24,905) compared to the previous year. NHS Board complaints decreased by 29% to 17,333, while NHS Primary Care Service Contractors complaints reduced by 5% to 7572. Independent GP Practice contractor complaints increased by 14% to 5326. The total number of complaints that were closed in 2020/21 by NHS Boards went down by 31% (15,963).  https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/annual-report-on-complaints/annual-report-on-nhs-complaints-2020-to-2021/ Continue reading Massive fall in hospital complaints

The FT’s line graph of new infections, 7 day average worked out daily, covering more than a year – wow! WTF! Run for the hills? Here are the same data: From Travelling Tabby, for just one month. Stretching the bottom y axis makes anything seem less dramatic and squeezing it can create a tsunami. Starting the x axis at 0 makes things look greater too. Seriously, is that fall from 10th, cautious cause for optimism? Is better face covering holding Omicron back quite well? Sources: Scotland Coronavirus Tracker Continue reading The scaling of the pandemic

Reporting Scotland 1.30pm today, tell us the above on drug deaths in 2021. 4%? A ‘slight fall’ when compared with the same period last year. Wrong. From the report: 4% does not appear anywhere in the report. BBC Scotland’s website has no mention. 10% is more than significant and certainly not slight.. No comment from Jackie Baillie? Continue reading Reporting Scotland lies about significant drug deaths reduction

‘You’re all just pissin’ in the wind. You don’t know but you are. And there ain’t nothing like a friend who’ll tell you just pissin’ in the wind‘ Neil Young I did not expect that. 70% of Tus readers approve of Kevin McKenna? It is a small sample of 5 944 twitter followers but I must accept it. 12 commented: Ouch. Just in case they haven’t read him: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=McKenna Continue reading Wow!

By stewartb The independent research organisation, UK IN A CHANGING EUROPE has just published (11 December) an article – what it terms an ‘in depth exploration of an important topic’ – entitled ‘The British general election of 2019 and the future of British politics’. This is an organisation whose output I follow and generally regard as high quality. The title sounded interesting and the article worth a reading. Its take on this subject ended up triggering these reflections. Source: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/long-read-pdf/?postid=47621 The context of the 2019 General Election We are reminded that: ‘It is two years since the United Kingdom went … Continue reading ‘The future of British politics’ – Scotland’s democratic deficit justifying indifference?