100% of Scotland’s care home residents have been fully vaccinated for some time now. NHS Lanarkshire completed the task in March 2021. 97.6% of staff have had the first vaccination and 94.4% have had the second dose. Two doses do not of course confer full immunity so it is important that staff are also 100% vaccinated. In England, the situation is less reassuring, despite the PM’s claims of a ‘world-beating’ rollout. 98.5% of residents have had both jags in English care homes for the elderly but only 78.4% of staff are fully vaccinated. This is a very disturbing figure. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/ Continue reading Residents still at great risk in English care homes for the elderly

Drug deaths rose on Thatcher’s watch but she did not admit the toll was unacceptable TuS can reveal that within a few years of the Thatcher government’s ‘restructuring’ of Scotland’s economy with sudden heavy industry shut-downs leading to mass unemployment, drug deaths, primarily in those communities where the young had no prospects, began to soar: These data show a doubling between 1992 and 1993 and a near ten-fold increase toward the end of the decade. The Conservative Government response was further criminalising of drug abuse victims. By 2002 after 5 years of New Labour, deaths had doubled to 280 per … Continue reading THATCHER’S DRUG DEATH SHAME AND TORIES ARE TO BLAME

BBC Scotland will be dwelling on Scotland’s drug deaths for some time and the press such as the Herald below will be digging up multiple attack lines. None will be exploring the roots of the spike in Thatcherite policies from the 80s but will that matter anyway? I’ve mentioned before, that after a very difficult time coming off opioid painkillers myself, my empathy for drug addicts has been much intensified. I genuinely want to see increased efforts to save lives even if it means tholing the hypocrisy of the Tories but how widely shared are my views? Will the accusations … Continue reading Will blaming the SNP for drug deaths be even slightly damaging?

BBC Scotland seem to have lost interest in Covid infection levels these days: For some reason, they seem to think the public needs a real dose of the nasties with possible accusations that the SNP Government is failing. Back in March, Scotland’s infection rates were all the rage at BBC Scotland HQ. What’s changed? Ooh, look at that map. It’s just like the one of SNP MSPs. When you see that, maybe a hard border makes more sense? Northern Ireland looks like a satanic budgie. And, look at this: Scotland has the lowest infection rate in the UK, just below … Continue reading Covid in Scotland: Where are the latest cases? Eh well, not so much in Scotland at all

That the discharges of patients from hospitals into care homes did not cause outbreaks or deaths in those homes and that the over-use of agency staff and failed infection control in, especially, the larger privately-owned homes, did is now settled. Today, with the assistance of Conor Matchett, Highland councillor John Gordon (Independent) will try to shift the blame onto the Care Inspectorate who, for obvious reasons, reduced inspections during the pandemic. We read, mouth dropping as we do: He said: “I think that a lot of the problems that care homes are facing and what we have experienced during the … Continue reading Another attempt to shift the care home deaths blame

I agree fully that we should do all we can, now, to reduce drug deaths. Isn’t it encouraging that the SNP is supporting a Tory bill to do that even though they won’t support the safe injection strategy proven to be effective in hundreds of studies. But, this ‘crisis’ may be burning itself out. See these graphs: In a BBC Scotland report from December 2020: The National Records of Scotland statistics are six months late after a huge backlog in processing toxicology results and delays due to Covid-19. They show that two-thirds of those who died were aged 35 to 54. The … Continue reading Is the drugs death crisis deepening or coming to an end naturally?

The Herald gives the wee Lib Dems the platform to accuse that SNP Scottish Government of causing an exodus of teachers and sacrificing the futures of our weans or bairns. It’s true, more left in 2020 than in the previous years but, hey, here’s a thought, maybe the ‘SNP’ has replaced them all and more? In December 2020, the Scotsman’s Scott McNab, no SNP supporter he, revealed: Teaching numbers in Scotland’s schools have risen to their highest level in more than a decade, official figures show. It comes after hundreds of additional teachers were recruited to address concerns over burgeoning … Continue reading But the Scotsman said ‘Scottish teacher numbers hit highest level in over a decade’

Leaving aside the dubious extent to which this can reasonably be called a ‘carrier strike group’, why is the UK attempting to project power nearly 12 000 miles away by sea with a massively expensive but dated, 20th Century technology, in an area where the enemy is equipped with 21st Century ‘super weapons?’ Only at the end of the BBC report, do we read: China has recently embarked on a major uplift in its nuclear ballistic missile arsenal, building new launch silos in the remote Xinjiang region. It has also been developing Hypersonic Glide Vehicles, high-velocity missiles that can reach … Continue reading Projecting power with last century’s technology in a world of 21st Century ‘carrier killers’

News can be a bit here today, gone tomorrow, and if its the kind of thing which they might use to cast a squint negative light on that SNP Scottish Government, Scotland’s media will want longer lasting coverage. So, predict it’s coming, report it over at least two days and then bring it back for further days by getting people in to talk about it more. In August 2020, BBC Scotland managed to run with the SQA exam results story for 7 days! One day after the similar but far bigger ‘fiasco’ in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and both … Continue reading How to get the most out of SNPbaad News

BBC Reporting Scotland has contracted out it’s pandemic reporting after the latest viewing figures suggested they were in deep doo doo after years of telling fibs. TuS has stepped in to present the official figures any fool can access. If we can… Anyhow: Scotland has vaccinated more of its population than other parts of Rumpuk: 2. Lowest R Number thus lowest risk of spread 3. Lowest infection rate now and overall: And, finally, second lowest deaths because N Ireland cheated by being on a different island: Nuff? Continue reading BBC GB: ‘Scotland ahead on vaccines, behind on R Number, infections and deaths’