Starting on 14th December, care home residents and staff in Scotland were the first to receive the Covid vaccine. By today, 90% of care home residents had received their first dose of vaccine. A number of health boards have now given the first dose of vaccine to 100% of their care home residents. The Scottish Government followed the JCVI advice on this and the vaccinator teams achieved this despite logistical problems with the Pfizer vaccine. The Health Secretary for England has claimed 50% of care home residents there have been vaccinated though the Guardian today reports that the figure is … Continue reading Conservative Government’s vaccine strategy kills more than a thousand in care homes, again

Above, the Herald ‘take’ on the fall in case numbers. Below, the trend 1 165 cases in the last 24 hours is the lowest since the 28th December and less than half that of the peak of 2649 on the 7th January. The 7-day average death, though still tragic is also down at 57.3 on the13th, to 50.4. In the First Minister’s briefing, but not likely to feature much elsewhere, this clarification of the situation in care homes: However, as of today, I can report that more than 90% of care home residents – the top priority group – have … Continue reading Infection level falls for 12th day to lowest this year

I wrote this some time ago but couldn’t get it published. A friend asked for a copy yesterday. I thought someone who wasn’t ‘following’ me then might not know about it and might be interested. Continue reading Dogged determination

At 6.64%, Northern Ireland has vaccinated the most, England is 2nd at 6.25% and Scotland is third at 4.85%. The floors at Tory HQ and Pacific Quay are slippy with drool but…. The most important point to make here is that the Scottish Government strategy to prioritise the care home residents and staff is that which was clearly and firmly advised by independent experts at the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Despite the logistical challenges imposed by the Pfizer vaccine, Scotland had 80% completion in care homes last week and is approaching 100% completion as I write. The … Continue reading Ahead of the curve that matters

I’ve been badgering Scotland-based profs Bauld, Sridhar and Reicher, who often say positive things about the First Minister, to go a bit further and to tell the whole truth on the BBC. They seem nervous. Prof Bauld shared the above today but, though based in Edinburgh and funded by you and me, she didn’t think to tell us where Scotland sits in regard to that graph. In my amateurish way, I’ve updated it for your information: You can see that the original version conceals the horror of England’s suffering under Johnson and the relatively better situation in Scotland. You don’t … Continue reading No, ‘we’re’ not and you’re the kind of expert we’re paying to tell us that

From Opinium based on 169, 18+ Scots on 14th and 15th January 2021: Which of the following are the most important issues facing the country? Please select up to three options. In the midst of a pandemic lockdown, the economic disaster that Brexit is becoming and all the understandable concerns about the economy, crime, housing, education and public services that may be directly affecting peoples’ lives on a day-to-day basis, 25% of Scots were prepared to list Constitutional Issues / Devolution in the top three most important issues facing the country. In no other part of the UK did that … Continue reading Who says Scots wouldn’t prioritise independence during this combined crisis?

It’s only a sub-poll of 104, among a sequence putting support usually around 50%, but it’s the most recent and worth keeping in mind for subsequent polls as the Brexit disaster news emerges more fully. Based on 104, 18+ adults on the 14th -15th January, with the Opinium results from 6/7 January and 16/17 December in brackets: Con: 27% (31, 27) Lab: 9% (13, 21) Lib Dem: 0% (1, 3) SNP: 62% (52, 43) That’s only 3 sub-polls but there’s at least a bit of a trend there. Continue reading Opinium poll puts SNP up at 62% and Lib Dems sheepish at ZERO!

At times like this, The British Broadcasting Corporation likes to remind British subjects, living in Scotlandshire, of what they owe to ‘our boys.’ Telling the same story, the Herald, to be fair, called them ‘The Army.’ No doubt, I’ll be accused of over-reacting. Choosing to refer to them as the ‘British Army‘ as you would if they were in Afghanistan as opposed to Alford, doesn’t mean anything, does it? Researchers have shown that our unconscious makes decisions before our consciousness can think and that it then often rationalises the choices retrospectively. So, calling it the ‘British Army‘ when it operates … Continue reading British Army sent into Scotland to help deliver vaccine!

I rarely predict anything but this is, I think, a special moment in the history of the Labour Party in Scotland. There was a real Scottish Labour Party once. R B Cunninghame Graham, a strong supporter of Scottish independence, was its first MP, having defected from the Liberals in 1888, but by 1895 it had dissolved itself and most members followed Keir Hardie into the British Independent Labour Party. In 2019, Monica Lennon, above, defied the whip and abstained in a vote on a second Scottish independence referendum. She is thought to be, at least, in favour of the proposal … Continue reading Will Scottish Labour Do or Die?

This report opens with: Doctors (sic) leaders say the British Medical Association in Scotland said then claiming that the supply has been ‘patchy.’ Reading carefully, you find only one man’s experience, Dr Buist himself, is the basis for the claims. He is not ‘Doctors‘ nor is he ‘British Medical Association in Scotland.’ No doubt, in his position, he has been contacted by other GPs but had that been a flow of any size, surely he’d be able to tell us just how many had contacted him. That he wasn’t able to say his inbox was full, with 123 emails or … Continue reading Where is the evidence for this claim? Nowhere