Typically selective from BBC Scotland throughout this morning: Council employees will start lodging equal pay claims for what a trade union says us a discriminatory pay agreement. The GMB union alleges those working in traditionally male dominated roles are paid substantial bonuses which aren’t available to those working in jobs commonly done by women. Glasgow City Council had a similar dispute and was forced to pay half a billion pounds to settle thousands of claims. Would that have been an SNP Council, do tell? Labour maybe? Did the GMB actually negotiate the discriminatory deal in the first place? No? Some … Continue reading Discrimination Yes, but negotiated BY a trade union WITH a Labour Council

The London School of Economics, eh? They sound impressive. Trusted independent intellectuals who say that independence would hurt the Scottish economy more than Brexit. Oh, well, that’s it I suppose. We’ll need to give up. Oh wait, is it possible they do research and get the results that suits whoever funded the research or whoever can influence their bids for future funding? No, surely not. Hmmmm. In 2008, Libya paid LSE £1.5 million for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (the elder son) to have his plagiarised PhD thesis passed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSE%E2%80%93Gaddafi_affair#:~:text=In%202008%2C%20the%20LSE%20granted,%2Dwritten%20and%2For%20plagiarised. In 2005: Kids Company has suffered further media criticism after it was … Continue reading The LSE’s Scottish research cannot be trusted

Economic renewal – let’s do it again!  Challenges to be faced – with aspiration not trepidation. By stewartb Much has been written on the demise of the oil & gas industry operating on the continental shelf of NW Europe. This has been expressed in different ways at different times: ‘we’ve passed peak oil’; ‘production costs are too high to attract investment’; ‘the fall in oil price makes the province uncompetitive’. And more recently there is this: ’for the climate, we must leave the oil & gas in the ground’. For the latter, advocates range from wanting an end to production … Continue reading ‘Now we know what the level of England’s oil import dependency will be when Scotland is an independent nation state’

In the Herald today: The number of patients who became infected with Covid-19 while already in hospital has hit record levels, figures show. According to Public Health Scotland, the first full week of January, ending January 10, saw 219 hospital patients catch Covid-19 while on a ward for treatment unrelated to coronavirus. Record levels eh? Let’s see: Looks bad at first sight doesn’t it but we’ve learned to be wary of graphs haven’t we? What percentage are we looking at here. Well the NHS Scotland report tells us: 113 (0.8%) were reported as probable hospital onset (first positive specimen on days 8 … Continue reading Hospital infections up but still far fewer than in NHS England

On December 22nd 2020, the 7 day average infection rate was 945. For more than a month now it has risen and stayed above 1 000. It was even above 2 000 for a week in early January 2021. In the last 24 hours it fell to 991. Still too high but getting there after peaking at 2 323 on the 7th January. The death rate has fallen painfully but is now 54 after apparently peaking at 60, around January 27th. Though lagging behind infection levels, hospital admissions too are falling, after peaking at 2 016 on the 27th January. … Continue reading Lowest infection rate since December 22nd

Statement by Mike Russell Problems for Scottish companies ‘multiplying’ in first four weeks.The scale of the damage caused to Scottish businesses as a result of the UK Government’s Brexit deal has been set out by Europe and External Affairs Secretary Michael Russell. In a statement to parliament Mr Russell said companies had been left ‘toothless’ following the UK Government’s move to make itself – deliberately and permanently – a third country with a more distant, more expensive and less advantageous trading arrangement with its former EU partners.Mr Russell said the Scottish Government would continue to do all it could to … Continue reading Mike Russell: Scotland’s ‘Brexit disaster’

A BBC Scotland reporter doing such a job on a UK Tory leader is a rare thing so we find it difficult to explain but it’s worth preserving here given the treatment it is likely to get at the hands of the Reporting Scotland editor, tonight. Michael Gove: Vaccination and Brexit GMS: Wednesday 03 February 2021: 08m10 Presenter: Gary Robertson Well let’s speak to the Cabinet Office Minister, Michael Gove who joins us now. Good morning to you. Michael Gove Good morning, Gary. How are you? Presenter I’m good, thank you. This offer of help in the vaccination programme, have … Continue reading Robertson vs Gove: The Full Transcript

It’s no wonder that Michael Gove would not admit to how many care home residents have actually been vaccinated when told that Scotland had done 98%. At the end of 2020 and until the 10th of January, the reported number of confirmed and suspected Covid-related deaths was actually slightly higher in Scottish care homes but then things began to change. In the week ending the 17th January, the level was the same, 1341 in England and 137 in Scotland. England has 10 times the population. However, in the following seven days there were 2 364 cases in England and only … Continue reading 2 000 dead: The price of england’s ‘world-beating’ vaccine strategy

This anonymous reported pushed into the headlines is classic tabloid journalism. If you haven’t got a story, make one one up. We read: The chief executive of Glasgow and Aberdeen airports criticised the Scottish government for not involving the industry in its discussions. Derek Provan insisted there had been “no engagement” over policies which have now “completely shut down our airports”. And only then: The Scottish government said work was ongoing on the details, and it “will obviously talk to the aviation sector” before announcing its final plans. Provan is a just a rentagob who regularly leaps or is pushed … Continue reading Scottish government says work ongoing and will talk to airports before announcing final plans

Have we made some basic error giving the vaccine to too many care home residents? I mean 98%, do they really need that much? I know, let’s send the British Army in to take blood from them, if they have any, and use it to inject younger folk in the poorer areas? I bet the Europeans haven’t thought of that! Now what other help can they give us? Well, we haven’t killed as many overall. We haven’t infected anywhere near as many. Hospital acquired infections are far lower than in England. Could the armed forces herd together infected folk and … Continue reading Can you take the vaccine back from the old folk?