Tag: news

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Beyond the media circus – evidence the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has on Scotland’s pandemic response and outcomes

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By stewartb – a long read We can only speculate what profile the UK Covid-19 Inquiry will end up giving to different sources of evidence on the Scottish Government’s response to the pandemic. How will the Inquiry weigh what it receives from dispassionate experts in comparison to what is favoured by the politically partisan? Will the Inquiry’s reporting major on WhatsApp messaging and alleged political motivation as its public hearings in Edinburgh appeared to do, at least according to media coverage? Regardless of what emerges, will BBC Scotland still trawl the Inquiry’s findings for that precious phrase which will deliver … Continue reading Beyond the media circus – evidence the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has on Scotland’s pandemic response and outcomes

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BBC Scotland ignore Oxford University expert saying Scotland’s contribution to hosting displaced people is 50% greater than England

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From BBC Scotland today: Home Secretary James Cleverly has urged the Scottish government to use a cruise ship and other large sites to accommodate more asylum seekers. Mr Cleverly said that for dispersal and initial accommodation alone, Scotland houses eight asylum seekers for every 10,000 people. This compares to nine in Wales and 16 in England. This morning, at least 12 hours earlier, on BBC Radio Good Mourning Scotland, we hear from Peter William Walsh of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University: The Home Secretary criticises the Scottish Government for not taking enough asylum seekers. So asylum seekers are those … Continue reading BBC Scotland ignore Oxford University expert saying Scotland’s contribution to hosting displaced people is 50% greater than England

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NHS new building on pause – a trade union convenor is not an ‘independent expert’

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Headlining early today for the Labour Party on Reporting Scotland, we see a Fife Labour councillor condemn one wee GP surgery building, specially chosen for their campaign. On the BBC Scotland website and, no doubt, on longer broadcasts, we read: Independent experts warned it was unlikely NHS Scotland would “survive” without extra funding this year. Basic journalism standards require that both the independent experts and the word ‘survive’ will re-appear in the full text below. Neither do. The only comments are from Donald Campbell, chairman of the Kincardine community council and from Dr Iain Kennedy, chair of BMA Scotland. The word … Continue reading NHS new building on pause – a trade union convenor is not an ‘independent expert’

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Rabidly anti-Scotland journalism in coverage of the latest report on anti-Semitism.

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By stewartb I have no wish to underplay the awful impacts of discrimination, abuse and acts of violence against individuals and their communities that are motivated by religious or ethnic prejudice or hate. Nor do I wish to appear complacent. However, those seeking to address serious issues involved in sustaining community safety and respectful co-existence are IMHO not well served by ‘misrepresentation’ of statistics or worse. I offer the example of the Scottish Daily Express (15 February) which has been exhibiting its all too familiar rabidly anti-Scotland journalism in coverage of the Community Security Trust’s (CST) latest report on anti-semitism. Express … Continue reading Rabidly anti-Scotland journalism in coverage of the latest report on anti-Semitism.

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Sarwar’s non dom tax might increase medical appointments by less than 1%!

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Once more, Labour have trouble with their sums. From STV today: Scottish Labour would use the money raised from closing the non-dom tax loophole in the UK to slash NHS waiting lists in Scotland, Anas Sarwar will pledge. The Scottish Labour leader will tell the party’s conference in Glasgow that the policy could fund 160,000 new NHS appointments a year. Scottish Labour’s three-day conference begins on Friday at the Scottish Event Campus and will end on Sunday. Keir Starmer said in October that £1.5bn raised by scrapping the loophole would go to funding more NHS appointments. Scottish Labour said that … Continue reading Sarwar’s non dom tax might increase medical appointments by less than 1%!

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Deadly measles travelling into Scotland despite 96% vaccination rate

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From Public Health Scotland, yesterday: Public Health Scotland is aware of five cases of laboratory confirmed measles in Scotland since October 2023, all of which have been linked to travel. The latest two cases were confirmed today, 16 February 2024. PHS is encouraging the public to take up the offer of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Having two doses of the MMR vaccine is the best way to be fully protected against measles. Anyone who hasn’t had two doses of the free MMR vaccine is encouraged to visit the NHS Inform website to find out how to arrange … Continue reading Deadly measles travelling into Scotland despite 96% vaccination rate

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Scottish student nursing applications at nearly twice the level of England due to SNP Government initiatives

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Another desperate (no ”) attempt by the Scotsman to turn a problem being tackled by the Scottish Government into a crisis in which their actions seem to be invisible. Nowhere in that front page do you see this important piece of evidence, of the Scottish Government’s efforts. On top of free tuition, in Scotland only: The Bursary The bursary is for the normal duration of the course that you are undertaking. If you are taking the four-year honours nursing degree course and you are eligible for a bursary, you will receive the full bursary rate for years 1-3 and a … Continue reading Scottish student nursing applications at nearly twice the level of England due to SNP Government initiatives

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Reporting anti-semitism in Scotland badly

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that’s according to Jewish charity the Community Security Trust. It says 68 incidents were recorded here in Scotland. Reporting Scotland, once more headlining a worry about life in Scotland that the website does not feature: Once more, numbers with no context. UK-wide, the CST reported 4 103 cases. With one eleventh of the population, all things being equal, you might expect Scotland to have had around 370 cases but had 68, just over one-sixth of the level. Might that be newsworthy here? What were the Scottish examples in the report? One example of a mass-produced evangelical leaflet sent to a … Continue reading Reporting anti-semitism in Scotland badly

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Is there no BBC Scotland reporting immune from omissions to favour the Union?

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By stewartb The initial purpose here was to comment solely on a divergence of view between the National Farmers Union in Scotland (NFU Scotland ) and the Tory Party. The difference became evident in responses to the First Minister’s speech to NFU Scotland’s annual conference in Glasgow on 9 February. But reading the coverage of the same speech on the BBC News website’s Scotland page, additional noteworthy aspects emerged! The FM was setting out the Scottish Government’s future funding plans for the agriculture sector as necessitated by the transition away from the EU Common Agriculture Policy, post-Brexit. Responding at the … Continue reading Is there no BBC Scotland reporting immune from omissions to favour the Union?

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More than 50 English hospitals still have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow

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In November 2023, we could write for the period July 2022 to June 2023 : More than 50 English hospitals have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow Today, we can repeat a similar tale for the period October 2022 to September 2023. The funnel plot below, and previous examples reported here, comparing predicted deaths with actual deaths, shows two things in particular: The funnel plot below for NHS England shows two things in particular. Continue reading More than 50 English hospitals still have worse mortality outcomes than QEUH in Glasgow