From BBC Wales this morning: As lockdown restrictions have eased ambulance staff are having the busiest summer of their lives. Some have said they were “broken” by spending so much time queuing outside A&Es unable to respond to new calls. According to them, it has been the busiest period in their careers. BBC Wales’ health correspondent Owain Clarke has been given special access to crews, call managers and senior paramedics. The health secretary/minister for Wales is not asked to explain this. They’re certainly not accused of any failure by opposition parties or asked to resign. They’re not mentioned at all. … Continue reading Nothing proves BBC Scotland’s bias more clearly than BBC Wales

After a long period with the second lowest level of infection in the UK after Wales, Scotland now has the lowest level. Scotland’s media show no interest in this. It was a different and clearly important story when we had the highest level: Continue reading Scotland falls below Wales to lowest infection rate in UK

By Alasdair Galloway The extent to which this report attempts to mislead is hard to take in a quality newspaper. There is no attempt to compare apples with apples, instead it’s any comparison that talks the outcome down. For instance right at the top: The 2021 National 5, Higher and Advanced rates, based on attainment at grades A to C, were 85.8 per cent, 87.3% and 90.2%, respectively. This compares with a 2020 National 5 pass rate of 88.9%” So a comparison of “National 5, Higher and Advanced” this year with “National 5” last year. For the record, National 5 is a … Continue reading The extent to which this report attempts to mislead is hard to take in a quality newspaper

The Herald and BBC UK celebrate the UK’s world-beating jag rollout as it reaches the milestone of doing 75% of all adults. England is not there yet, on 74.5%. BBC Scotland is saying nothing in case anyone notices that Scotland hit the 75% figure yesterday: Wales hit it on the 16th July! Will they be invited to help the UK Government or send Welsh soldiers in? Continue reading Yesterday

This morning we read from Green MSP Ross Greer: The onslaught of de-facto exams after Easter wasn’t a necessary requirement, it was the result of a near-total failure to plan for the effects of Covid disruption earlier in the school year. Greer’s melodramatic claims seem unfounded judging by the word from the classroom. Deep in a BBC Scotland report today, we read Senior pupils sat a series of assessments in May following disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers then decided their grades and informed students before the end of term, and these grades were made official on Tuesday. Katie … Continue reading Ross Greer contradicted by pupils who know what actually happened in schools

By Leah Gunn Barrett: Ian Murray (Scotsman, August 5th) slavishly praises the British State broadcaster, the 2014 Project Fear cheerleader that lost any remaining trust it had in Scotland and has done nothing since to win it back. The BBC is burnishing its Unionist credentials because it fears the Tories will deprive it of the license fee, a funding model that is a highly regressive broadcasting poll tax. Pensioner poverty is exacerbated now that over-75s are required to ante up for the £157 fee. It’s no surprise that Scots are short-changed by the BBC, paying in more than they get … Continue reading The BBC has had more than 90 years to ‘get’ Scotland

I haven’t, of course, read the above. I never do. Like most, I read the headline only and, sometimes, rebut it. The conflation of the PM and the FM is a regular thing as, in desperation at her ratings, the Scottish media comically try to suggest Scotland is doing no better on outcomes in health, crime or education. I won’t revisit their sad delusions again here. So, just on the environment: Scotland has been catapulted to the top of the tables in Europe for countries who produce electricity from renewables – with latest available figures placing Scotland into the top … Continue reading Scotland’s leader denied rightful place at COP26

Note how the Herald picks out the Ross Greer’s criticism first? SNP ministers and the country’s exams body have been urged to apologise for causing school pupils needless stress and anxiety as they receive their official grades today. The Scottish Greens blamed the Government and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) for exacerbating problems being caused by the Covid pandemic. In the current power negotiations, is Greer going rogue? Has he been denied a cabinet role? He features in the BBC Scotland report too with the hysterical: The onslaught of de-facto exams after Easter wasn’t a necessary requirement, it was the … Continue reading SNP praised for handling of school assessments during pandemic

In the Guardian today: The Institute of Economic Affairs has lost a two-year battle with LBC radio presenter James O’Brien over claims the registered charity is a politically motivated lobbying organisation funded by “dark money”. The IEA complained to media regulator Ofcom that the radio station had made a series of inaccurate and unfair suggestions that the organisation is a professional lobby group of “questionable provenance, with dubious ideas and validity” staffed by people who are not proper experts on their topic. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/09/lbcs-james-obrien-wins-ofcom-battle-with-institute-of-economic-affairs There is no mention of the IEA’s activity with regard to the campaign for Scottish independence but they have featured many … Continue reading We know all about the Institute of Economic Affairs in Scotland

By Alasdair Galloway If we abjure violence, then there is a creative issue of what can be done by the wider community. Much of course, is already being done – blogging, various Yes organizations already exist. But do these two things not themselves point to weaknesses? How much of the former involves independence supporters talking to each other (and sometimes falling out)? With regard to the latter is a plethora of organizations a sign of strength of a sign of dispute and division? What can be done about them? First, blogging is an essential and valuable quality of the independence … Continue reading No referendum till after May 2023?