There are five columns on this Scotsman page and former New Labour minister, Brian Wilson, with Lord McConnell’s special adviser, Susan Dalgety, make up the fifth column. These two are regular attack mutts on the SNP on an almost daily basis. Unhampered by any responsibility to offer evidence or, heaven forfend, the truth. I probably don’t need to remind of just how venal they can be but: Anyhow, Fifth Columnists: A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or nation. The activities of a fifth column can … Continue reading The Fifth Columnists?

There were around 18 000 new cases of Covid-19 in the same week as the TRNSMT festival: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases. Around 50 000 attended and according to BBC Scotland, 551 of new cases had been at the festival, though it is not clear home many picked up the infection there. Either way, that looks like 3% of all infections in Scotland or 1% of those attending – not big news. Continue reading TRNSMT transmitted a tiny 1% of cases

A long time ago, I was a fan of Kevin McKenna’s writing, appearing often in the Guardian. On issues of social justice and economic compassion, I thought him the most articulate and persuasive. Then his initial responses to the Yes movement, equally articulate and no doubt persuasive for many but, of course, just wrong like most Labour supporters of the time. Unlike George Monbiot then, he did not appear to get that this is a leftist movement or that the SNP is clearly to the left, on taxation, benefits and human rights of the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems. … Continue reading Kevin McKenna’s plot: lost or still laser-sharp?

The above claims are astonishing in the nerve or disassociation with reality required to lie on such a scale. Goebbels would be proud. RD Laing would be worried. The sick will not attend and some will die. On A&E, NHS Scotland is 26% better than NHS Wales and at least 17.5% faster than NHS England (they fiddle the data): https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/ae-activity-and-waiting-times/ae-activity-and-waiting-times-month-ending-31-august-2021/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Hospital-Waiting-Times/Accident-and-Emergency/performanceagainst4hourtargetallemergencycarefacilities-by-localhealthboard https://inews.co.uk/news/health/nhs-england-covering-up-true-scale-of-12-hour-hospital-waits-1335856 On hospital discharges, the average number of beds occupied per day is the same as it was in 2019 and Scotland has 50% more beds than NHS England: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly-figures-for-august-2021 https://www.interweavetextiles.com/how-many-hospital-beds-uk/ On staffing, Scotland has 50% more nurses … Continue reading Living a lie and the collateral damage to all of us

By stewartb It looks as if BBC Scotland has been found out once again! On 5 October btl of the TuS post entitled ‘NHS Scotland’s super-efficient surgery machine’ I asked if anyone else had heard on Reporting Scotland that evening the piece from BBC Scotland’s health correspondent. Had she really just referred to ‘thousands of cancelled operations’. No one offered confirmation. Today’s TuS blog again reveals the performance of NHS Scotland regarding surgery. It shows up a mismatch between reports. This can now be demonstrated not by recollections of an RP presentation but by an article on the BBC News … Continue reading BBC Scotland Lisa Summers lies again and again

Infection rate falls again in Scotland contrary to trend elsewhere in UK. BBC Scotland busy with Andy Murray ring crisis. Fewer in ICU than at any time since 5th September. BBC Scotland busy with Andy Murray ring crisis. Continue reading Infection rates climbing again in 3 out of 4 parts of UK

From: Jon Musgrave: Prof Christina Pagel, director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit blamed poor organisation. “In the week to 3 October, we vaccinated 70,000 children (2.4%) in England. In the three days from 1-3 October, we gave 470,000 booster doses. This is an organisational issue, not a supply issue. Scotland has already vaccinated 30% of its 12- to 15-year olds compared to our 9%. So a leading health professional is stating that the Scottish NHS and government is more than 3 times as efficient as their English counterparts. I wonder why the BBC Scotland website isn’t trumpeting this? Continue reading Scotland vaccinating 12-15 year-olds THREE times faster

NHS England no figures since December 2019 Anecdotal evidence features regularly in our media suggesting a crisis, with operations being cancelled frequently, yet the data says otherwise. From Public Health Scotland, three days ago: The total number of planned operations across NHS Scotland during August 2021 was 20,490. This represents an increase of 6.4% from 19,253 in July 2021 and is 48.1% higher than August 2020, when services were gradually resuming for non-urgent care. Of all planned operations during August 2021, 629 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital based on clinical reasons, 496 (2.4%) were cancelled by the hospital due … Continue reading 98% of surgery carried out as planned despite increased demand

John Birkett of St Andrews, serial letter writer and apparently reliant on the long-past-it, Prof Pennington as a source, insists that we cannot yet compare the pandemic management performance of the four UK governments. I can see why he might want to do that: Those bare facts are probably enough but we also know that NHS Scotland was never overwhelmed in the way that several English hospitals were, because we have far more beds and staff thanks to SNP Government, and we know from academics that Scottish Government messaging was more consistent and effective than that of the Johnson regime … Continue reading Scottish Government has done far better on pandemic control, if you just look at the data

A report in the Guardian today: Climate campaigners are worried an influx of officers from elsewhere in the UK will undermine Police Scotland’s commitment to rights-based policing of protests at Cop26. Groups planning protests around the critical November conference have told the Guardian they are concerned about the presence of officers from forces known for their use of heavy-handed tactics and that it is unclear how they will be held to account for their behaviour. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/07/cop26-activists-fear-influx-english-police-mar-friendly-approach-protest has prompted former Trump security advisor, D J Tulloch Jnr, now resident in Achiltibue, to repeat his advice to the Scottish Government on the … Continue reading Update: Policing fears prompt former Donald Trump advisor to say Scotland needs a hard border with England to keep out criminals AND police