According to the Herald today: The UK construction sector lost momentum in October but suffered less than most of the coronavirus-hit economy thanks to a buoyant housing market. This morning’s Purchasing Manager’s Index for the construction sector, produced monthly by IHS Markit and CIPS, showed a drop to 53.1 in October from September’s 56.8. The decline was bigger than the drop to 55.0 which economists had forecast, and is the lowest since May. The reporter seemed to have missed these two more positive stories From the Construction Index on 1st November: The findings of the new Workload Trends Survey conducted by CECA Scotland were in sharp contrast to the rest of Great … Continue reading Herald misses good news on Construction in Scotland

What the First Minister said is not the news the people need to hear. It’s why she said it. There’s a real danger that if you, over and over, personalise issues in headlines, some folk will think it OK to disobey because they come to see the policy a just a personal preference of a politician. Remember the claim? Now some may argue that they trust readers to read on to see what the evidence for the warnings actually is. Two things. One, we know that many only skim the headlines. It may be as many as 80% only reading … Continue reading It’s not what she said but why she said it that matters to readers

Well it was nice while it lasted. For more than 2 years we had more Polar Bears than Scottish Labour had MPs. Now the unbearable Ian Murray carries the same weight in Scottish society as Victoria, now our only Polar Bear. The Pandas have been a big disappointment letting the unbearable Scottish Tory MP’s outbreed them. However, I feel sure we must have more genuine wildcats than Tory MPs. There is another endangered species confined to the Northern Isles and parts of Wild Fife. I forget the name now. Is it the Lesser Libdummer? Continue reading Scottish Labour MPs now equal Polar Bear numbers!

Caledonian Court Care Home in Larbert, near Falkirk has been closed to new admissions and visiting is paused, after six residents who had tested positive for Covid-19, then died. The home had a successful inspection in January 2020 and no issues around infection control were detected then. A recent report for the Scottish Government identified size as the major correlating factor with higher Covid-19 death rates. Caledonian Court takes up to 72 residents and is thus one of the larger homes. Larger homes tend to be owned by corporations where maximising occupation levels and minimising costs is the priority. The … Continue reading 6 deaths in care home owned by corporate Tory Donors

Within the Deloitte/Reform report, today, The State of the State, the above caught my eye. It suggests that Scots are notably more optimistic that investing in renewable energy will lead to the creation of new jobs and boost the economy. Click to access deloitte-uk-state-of-the-state-2020.pdf Continue reading Scots most optimistic about renewables

In the Herald today: Grouse shooting: Scottish Government funded research ‘confirms its major socio-economic importance’. A “ground-breaking” new study has highlighted that grouse shooting delivers significant socio-economic benefits, affirming its place as a much-valued upland land use. Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the research – led by Scotland’s Rural College in conjunction with the James Hutton Institute – shows that grouse shooting sustains many jobs and delivers high levels of local and regional investment while receiving no public funding. Like many of you, I suspect, several parts of me started to twitch when I read this. The reports are huge … Continue reading Biased reading of grouse shooting research?

All over BBC Scotland today ‘a leading physician‘ warns us of a ‘perfect storm‘ and appears to be using evidence from England to do so: Scotland’s NHS is “facing a perfect storm” as staff shortages and a lack of hospital beds hamper efforts to tackle rising numbers of coronavirus cases, according to a leading physician. Prof Jackie Taylor said a “coherent strategy” for testing staff and all hospital patients was needed. She also called for more flexibility for under-pressure services to be able to reduce non-urgent procedures. The Scottish government said plans were in place to deal with peak demand. … Continue reading ‘Leading’ doc copying theatrical language and facts from NHS England helps no one here

The Times today published the details of where infections arrived in Scotland from in the week-ending October 25th. In the week ending October 25th, 481 cases of Covid-19 were associated with travel from England while only 97 appeared to come from Europe and Turkey. Given that new infections had been suppressed to single figures in July, the subsequent increases were imported. What can we, should we do? What kinds of business by salesmen and executives cannot be done on Zoom? Drivers can be easily isolated and sanitised. Continue reading In one week 481 cases from England but only 97 from Europe

By stewartb: Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking on my part, but are there more signs of the historical myths of ‘Great Britishness’ being examined and exposed? Published on 26 October, 2020 in New Yorker magazine is a preview of a soon to be published book by Stanford University historian Priya Satia entitled: “Time’s Monster: How History Makes History”. It poses the question: ‘how did the British get to be so blinkered about their own history?’ The New Yorker article is itself a good read for anyone reflecting on the ‘goodness’ of the UK in the world. It includes this: ‘The … Continue reading Time’s Monster

stewartb Having quickly read both Professor Curtice’s blog (link below) and also the relevant chapter of the report it refers to, I am left with an impression that in drafting the former and the conclusions of the latter, there may have been an attempt to emphasise the similarities between attitudes in England and Scotland – it would be remarkable if there were none – but to minimise or underplay the differences. In the ‘Overview’ section of the main report, this is stated: “People living in Scotland tend to be more social – democratically minded than people living in England.” And: … Continue reading Is Scotland More Egalitarian than England?