In the Guardian today, we see this very gloomy graphic:
Needless to say, there is no reference to differences within the parts of the UK such as Scotland and so no sign of the dramatic growth of Scottish energy production which will have been a major part of the Q1 surplus and without which the Q2 deficit, due in part to lack of wind, would have been even more worrying.
These statements give an idea of Scotland’s massive over-production of energy:
- 9% energy of consumption
- 82% of oil production
- 50% of gas production
- 25% of coal production
- offshore renewables resource estimated at 206 GW – 30 times peak demand
- 29% of electricity exported to the rest of the UK
- renewables capacity at 7 gigawatts well on way to meeting our baseline target of 100% of gross annual electricity demand by 2020.’
- currently meets 100% of indigenous demand from conventional sources, mainly nuclear, coal and hydro
Sources:
https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources
www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/oilgas1617
Talking-up Scotland 
This is why we are “Better Together” ……. from a selfish Westminster perspective and from a totally numpty tribal Scottish Labour attitude.
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Reblogged this on seachranaidhe1.
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Apologies for going off topic Prof but thought this might be of interest. Both yesterday and today BBC Scotland television text pages have reported that police overtime has cost more than £1 billion and that this could have financed an extra 10,000 officers to offset their falling numbers. This is repeated on EVERY Scottish regions text page to give the impression SNPBAD to unwary Scottish readers who are given the misleading impression that this is a purely Scottish problem. The report does mention the Home Office and therefore it should relate only to England and Wales as policing in Scotland is a devolved matter under Holyrood jurisdiction yet there is no mention of this for clarification. By contrast this report appears on only a few of the English regional text pages. No wonder BBC Scotland has people protesting its bias outside Pacific Quay!
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One area of Scotland’s energy revolution that gets very little coverage in the MSM is that of Community Sustainable Energy Generation Projects. Scottish Housing news site carried info from SPICe showing the sector is starting to gently motor away with the continued support from the SNP Scottish Govt. Now that is GOOD NEWS:
Community-owned renewable energy projects up 62% in Scotland
13 August 2018
The number of community-owned renewable energy projects in Scotland has increased by 62% since 2011, with over 450 local communities now benefitting from green power initiatives.
New figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) reveal that there were 456 communities benefitting from wind, solar, hydro, heat pump and biomass projects across the country as of summer 2017.
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Good healthcare news for our friends and neighbours south of the border carried on the beeb Health page – but curiously absent from the beeb Scotland pages.: see snippet below – at least beeb Health correspondent recognises NHS Scotland’s good work in this area:
Bowel cancer screening in England is to start earlier, at age 50, Public Health England has announced.
It said evidence showed that screening people at a younger age would allow more bowel cancers to be picked up at an earlier stage.
Currently, men and women in England are first invited for screening at the age of 60 and sent a home testing kit.
The change brings England in line with Scotland where bowel screening is automatically offered from 50.
An independent committee of screening experts recently recommended that bowel cancer screening in England should begin 10 years earlier than it does now.
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has now agreed to the change, and NHS England and Public Health England are deciding how the plan will be rolled out.
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Fantastic to see Mike Dailly of Govan Law Centre (together with other interested players) using the principles of Scottish and European Human Rights law to take the legal battle right to the Westminster Home Office and SERCO re. the ‘lock changing’ policy against the 300+ Glasgow Asylum Seekers. Mike Dailly recently made public his own personal journey from No to Yes and is putting into practice the types of Scottish legal principles that we all want to see being widely applied in the New Scotland:
Govan Law Centre (GLC) has commenced additional legal proceedings at the Court of Session on behalf of an Iraqi asylum seeker threatened with a “DIY eviction” by Serco.
The proceedings are against Serco Group plc, Compass SNI Ltd, and the Home Secretary.
The new action concerns a woman told to leave her home by Serco after her husband’s asylum application was unsuccessful, despite having further legal options.
GLC plans to argue this case together with its current Court of Session action for an Iranian national threatened with a lock change eviction by Serco.
Mike Dailly, Govan Law Centre principal solicitor, said: “Following the successful European Court of Human Rights case of Panyushkiny v. Russia [2018] H.L.R 7, we believe an asylum seeker at risk of eviction has the right to challenge the proportionality of that eviction before an independent tribunal as a matter of human rights law.
“GLC believes Serco’s Move on Protocol is unlawful and incompatible with the 1998 Human Rights Act, and it is incumbent upon Serco to place its entire policy on hold in Scotland, pending Scotland’s Supreme Court having an opportunity to consider and rule on this issue”.
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Interesting moves afoot at the Herald and Sunday Herald. See snippet from HoldTheFrontPage:
A regional publisher could merge the editorial teams of a daily and a Sunday newspaper in a move which may also see the latter’s brand scrapped entirely, it has been claimed.
It is understood Newsquest is considering the changes at Glasgow-based titles The Herald and the Sunday Herald.
The Guardian has reported that Sunday Herald staff were informed last week that they will now also be expected to work for The Herald too, with claims the former title could also be rebranded as the Herald on Sunday.
Another option apparently under consideration is to extend The National, Newsquest’s pro-Scottish independence daily, into a seven-day operation.
Worrying times for employees of the Newsquest papers. Here’s hoping Newsquest decide to extend The National into a 7-day operation – but what’s the betting that they’ll merge the Herald and Sunday Herald? We’ll wait and see – but not with bated breath.
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One has to conclude the Westminster Home Office is now simply ‘trolling’ Scotland – or one would if one didn’t see, at times, equally damaging behaviours being applied across the board (to the non-Scottish parts of the UK as well). The Westminster Home Office is simply out of control and its Ministers are out of their tiny minds: see snippets below:
SCOTLAND’s reputation as a global arts venue could be seriously damaged if the problems some overseas artists have in obtaining visas worsen after Brexit, the director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival has warned.
Nick Barley said some of the writers due in the Scottish capital had been “humiliated” by the measures they had to go through to get permission to enter the country.
Then – to further add to the embarrassment:
The family of Nelson Mandela have missed appearing at an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this evening after being stopped by security officers at Heathrow airport. The event, which was due to see the great grandchildren of the former South African president quiz their grandmother, Zindzi in a family-friendly talk at 5pm, has been postponed until tomorrow morning.
A statement issued by the Edinburgh International Book Festival said: “The Mandela family were stopped at Heathrow security & missed their flight so won’t make the event at 5pm. The event will now take place tomorrow at 10.15am. A full refund will be given to anyone who can no longer make it.”
The Westminster model of ‘democracy’ is unfit for purpose. We have to remove ourselves from its malign influence before we suffer yet further damage.
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Saw this bit of info re. Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos moving residency to Monaco on RT. Strangely, given that Mr. Ratcliff is a well-kent figure in Scotland (Ineos being a significant player in the Scottish petroleum refining/chemicals field) beeb Scotland seem not to have been broadcasting this story much – if at all:
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest person and a leading business cheerleader for Brexit, is to leave the UK for Monaco to save tax on his £21bn fortune – despite previously saying Britain would thrive outside the EU.
Ratcliffe, the boss of petrochemicals company Ineos, which has sales of $54bn, is making preparations to upsticks and move to the tax-free principality of Monaco to avoid UK taxes on his sizeable wealth – estimated at £21bn, reports The Guardian.
In an interview with Business Insider in 2016 he insisted: “My confidence in the UK has not diminished following the June 23 vote in favour of Brexit. Quite the contrary, I feel the climate for growth and business is very favourable…Britain is a good location to ensure both of these goals.”
The tycoon, who in the last couple of months has been knighted by the Queen for “services to business and investment,” seems to have changed his tune on Britain’s prospects after leaving the EU bloc in March 2019.
In an interview in April this year with the Sunday Times to celebrate his success as “Britain’s most successful businessman,” Ratcliffe said: “What’s the reason to invest in the UK? Our skills are not great. We’ve got to deal with unions. We’re isolated from Europe. We’ve got logistical costs.”
It’s not the first time Ratcliffe has quit Britain. He relocated Ineos to Switzerland in 2010 in protest at the then-Labour government imposing a harsher tax regime for corporations. The move saved an estimated €450m (£405m) in tax. When the Conservatives returned to power and cut corporation tax from 28 percent to 20 percent, Ratcliffe moved the company back to the UK in 2016.
Ratcliffe was named Britain’s richest person in May after he contacted the Sunday Times editor of the rich list to complain that his wealth had been dramatically underestimated.
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THE Japanese government says it has paid for Tory MP Ross Thomson to visit Tokyo because he in an “opinion leader”.
WHIT? – I reckon the Japanese Govt. needs to have a really serious conversation with its Scottish consular staff.
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Thank you for the news items Ludo, I was beginning to think there might not be any good news this week! (Those retirees slacking off *rolls eyes* perhaps). That last though is astonishing! Do you think we could export him? How much do you reckon we could ask the Japanese for him?
Very interesting to see Serco getting taken to court, I hope it’s successful! Very frustrating having no control of things in your own country eh?
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As an aside, I’ve made a second contribution to supply Indy Kits to yes groups:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/indy-kits-for-yes-groups-security-community#/
They don’t seem to be picking up a lot of contributors, and I feel that it’s one of the few ways to counter the constant misinformation from the media – that, and I am unlikely to be one of the people out there doing the hard campaigning work so giving a bit of money eases the guilt a bit. They will get a funding match up to £8000, which always sounds like a good deal. Thought I’d put the link here, just in case folks have missed it, rather than it’s just unpopular!
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Hi Contrary – given the Japanese nation’s noted skills in business dealings I reckon they’d charge us plenty if we asked them to hang on to “opinion leader” Ross Thomson MP.
Well done re. the donations to the Indy Kits to YES Groups campaign – Confess I was unaware of this project myself – Like you I try and contribute financially to things as my time for direct campaigning can be impacted badly by my poor organisation of my work and other commitments. I’ll need to up my game considerably for Indy Ref 2.
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Hi John – hope you’re enjoying a wee bit of ‘holiday’ time. Not sure who’s around but will post some news snippets anyway!
Beeb Scotland website seems to be allowing itself to carry some positive coverage of the Baby Box first anniversary – edit below:
An average of 1,000 baby boxes per week were delivered to parents of newborns in the first year of the programme.
The Scottish government said 52,065 baby boxes had been gifted to date, with an 85% uptake by parents.
The boxes contain items including clothing, a play mat, books, a towel and a sling carrier – and the box itself can be used as a sleeping space.
The projected cost of the initiative was £8m for 2017-18, rising to £8.8m for each of the following three years.
The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh has announced that one of the boxes is to be exhibited in the museum from next year.
Sandra Martin, history curator for Edinburgh’s Museums and Galleries, described the boxes as a “great equaliser”.
The majority of parents (62%) said they had used or planned to use the box as a bed.
The Royal College of Midwives recently backed the introduction of a similar scheme for the whole of the UK.
PS Well done to the History Curator from Museum of Childhood for successfully placing the concept of the Baby Boxes into context in a manner that the beeb crew seem incapable of doing.
The positive vibes regarding the Baby Box first anniversary extended to the Courier as well – a really excellent piece was carried – edit below:
A Dundee couple have described receiving the 50,000th baby box ever delivered as a “special” moment.
Anna, a researcher at Glasgow University, added: “Receiving it actually made me feel like I was in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
“It was like winning the golden ticket. The message inside just wished us all the best and welcomed our child to the world.
“It was perfect. I want to say thanks to the Scottish Government for making this even more special.”
Gary said: “There’s something special about knowing so many other people are receiving these same gifts.
“For some people I do think during a time like this they can maybe feel isolated.
“This just brings some support and a feeling of community.
“I definitely think other countries should consider doing the same – down south for example.”
Last week, the Royal College of Midwives announced that it supports the universal provision of baby boxes in the UK.
Anna added: “There are so many useful things in the box and lots of things I just would never have thought of.”
(I love the way father-to-be Gary slips inn the clever comment about the benefits of expanding the scheme 2..down south for example” – superb stuff Gary!!)
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Knowing it is the quiet season for news the beeb Scotland site clearly felt emboldened to permit wee bits of good news regarding the Scottish economy to be carried. See below an edit of their piece on the official revised estimates on Scottish growth figures for Q.1 (2018) and also for the relevant 12 month period released today:
Scotland’s economy performed better than previously thought at the start of the year, according to official figures.
The country’s chief statistician said the economy was now estimated to have grown by 0.4% in the first three months of the year.
That is an increase from the 0.2% that was previously estimated.
It is also higher than the 0.2% growth in the UK economy as a whole over the same period.
The revised figures mean that Scotland’s GDP grew by 1.3% between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2018.
This was marginally higher than the 1.2% growth in the UK economy over the year.
The figures also estimated that the value of Scotland’s onshore GDP was £156.5bn in total, or £28,797 per person, in the financial year 2017-18.
This rises to £170bn in total, or £31,367 per person, when a geographical share of the UK’s oil and gas industry is included.
This good news must have been released through gritted teeth by the beeb head honchos one imagines!
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Interesting piece on beeb Scotland site re. a potential significant development in Scotland’s economy involving (licenced) large scale kelp harvesting: see below:
A company has proposed harvesting tonnes of wild kelp in commercial operations on Scotland’s west coast.
Ayr-based Marine Biopolymers Ltd would extract natural polymers from the seaweed for uses in foods and pharmaceuticals.
It has published a scoping report as part of its work towards applying for one or more five-year licences.
Under the plan, the amount harvested would rise over the years from about 1,300 to 30,000 tonnes wet weight.
The kelp would be processed at a plant in Mallaig in the west Highlands.
In the report, the company said it would avoid sensitive marine environments, and areas of seabed would not be re-harvested within a given time period to allow the seaweed to recover.
Obviously the relevant authorities need to consider sustainability (hence licences) – but it sounds like a promising development.
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Also good news re. June revenue stream into Revenue Scotland from LBTT carried in Scottish Housing News – haven’t seen carried elsewhere:
A seasonal upturn in property market activity has delivered a £57 million boost to Scottish Government revenues, generating the third highest monthly return since the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) was introduced.
According to the latest figures reported by Revenue Scotland and analysed by the Scottish Property Federation, revenues from LBTT in June 2018 hit a total of £57m, which is over £14m more than May’s total and more than £13m up on June 2017.
The largest increase in revenue came from the commercial property sector, which in total generated £21.8m. This is £8.1m up on May 2018 and £10.7m up on June 2017.
The residential element of LBTT generated £24.1m in June 2018 – a rise of £4.7m on May’s figures and £0.8m up on June last year.
The additional dwelling supplement continues to play a strong role in the overall figures and increased in June to £11m.
The Scottish Government’s draft budget expects that LBTT will generate £588m in total during 2018/19, an increase of £25m (4.5%) on the 2017/18 LBTT revenue total.
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Reuters carrying an update re. the Court action at Scotland’s Court of Session to challenge Westminster govt. assertion that article 50 request (brexit) can’t be pulled once tabled:
Reuters Staff
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Pro-EU campaigners seeking to establish legally that Britain alone could stop the Brexit process took an appeal to Scotland’s top court on Wednesday.
They want judges to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to clarify whether Britain could choose to remain in the world’s biggest trading bloc without permission from the other 27 members. That would require Britain’s parliament to first decide that the final Brexit deal, if and when it is reached, was not good enough.
The Edinburgh Court of Session hearing, backed by British and Scottish MPs, is an appeal against a June ruling. Judges then said they could not refer the matter to the ECJ because Britain had not decided to overturn Brexit, and the case was therefore hypothetical.
The Scottish court’s decision, which can be appealed at the Supreme Court in London, will be announced in the coming weeks, a court spokesman said.
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Another step forward in the long struggle (against Westminster intransigence) to bring the Western Isles potential for sustainable energy generation to fruition – edit from beeb Scotland site:
A “final needs” case for a subsea cable linking renewable energy projects to the National Grid has been submitted to regulator Ofgem.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has been planning the link for more than 10 years.
The company has proposed a single 600MW subsea circuit from Arnish in Lewis to Dundonnell in Wester Ross.
The cable would then be connected to SSEN’s Beauly substation, near Inverness, via underground cables.
If authorised by Ofgem, the Western Isles Radial Connector could be laid by 2023.
Dave Gardner, SSEN’s director of transmission, said: “Today marks a significant milestone in providing a transmission connection to the Western Isles.
He added: “There are still many hurdles to overcome, not least the requirement for sufficient volumes of renewable generation capacity securing a Contracts for Difference contract to underpin the investment case.
Western Isles local authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, has welcomed the latest development in planning for the subsea cable.
Donald Crichton, chairman of the comhairle’s sustainable development committee, said the project could allow large volumes of electricity generated by commercial and community-owned schemes to access the mainland electricity market.
He added: “But we cannot be presumptuous – SSEN have made clear that, if Stornoway Wind Farm and Uisenis Wind Farm do not secure Contracts for Difference in next year’s price support incentive auction at present generation volumes, there will be no investment case for network reinforcement and the radial connector project will be cancelled.
NOTE how Scottish and Southern and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar spokespeople BOTH lay the case for the Contracts for Difference decision being essential to this major project. The Contracts for Difference decisions are made by that crackpot crew down in Westminster – so here’s hoping logic (rather than prejudice) prevails at long, very long, last. (If only there was some way Scotland could make these decisions for herself – now there’s a thought).
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Lots of great news pieces there Ludo, thank you for taking the time to post. I hope John is okay and just taking a break, he knows that we just start taking over when he isn’t keeping an eye on us 🙂
I would have got more involved in the take-over bid, but had a funeral to go to today – it went well though is always a sad occasion, but it is also always nice to see the wider family. Unfortunately it was a terminal illness so not wholly unexpected – asbestos exposure in his younger years. On that note here is some good news, in the same vein, from STV news,
Hospital death rate falls by more than 9% in four years
https://stv.tv/news/politics/1427178-hospital-death-rate-falls-by-more-than-9-in-four-years/
There is apparently a standardised mortality figure for hospitals that the Scottish government wanted reduced by 10%, and 11 hospitals have managed better than that already. So there is a plan in place and hospitals are implementing that plan.
Think what a Scottish government, working for the people of Scotland, could do if they didn’t have to spend so much time and effort mitigating Westminster policies on destroying society?
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It is always interesting when seeing what the BBC website reports compared to how radio Scotland reports – they were still trying to portray the baby boxes as evil the other day. Education was taking a hammering – unfortunately I missed most of the phone in this morning that had John Swinney MSP on answering questions – I am sure he held his own, and it was good that they had him on the show.
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Hi John – hope you are enjoying your days off? – Am joining Contrary in throwing in a few more news snippets in meantime – hope that’s OK?:
Good to see that the Unison membership voted so heavily (94%!!) to accept the SNP Scottish Govt NHS Scotland 3 year pay deal. (Royal College of Midwives also accepting). Interesting to note that Unison are calling for Scotland to come out of the UK joint pay review body and operate on a Scotland basis instead – that’s what INDY countries do – Highly encouraging to see Unison adopting this stance ((Edit from beeb Scotland site below):
Thomas Waterson, chairman of the Unison health committee, said: “Today I am pleased to announce that 94% of Unison members have voted to accept a pay deal which will put an additional £400m into NHS workers pay packets in Scotland.
“This deal delivers real increases of between 3% and 27% for NHS workers in Scotland.
“The strong endorsement by Unison members makes it clear that we do not need to wait cap in hand for the pay review body. This institution as it stands is dead in the water.”
He added: “Eighteen months ago some people said that we couldn’t negotiate a separate pay deal for NHS workers in Scotland. Then they said that we couldn’t negotiate a better deal for Scotland.
“The Scottish government should commit now to develop negotiating structures in Scotland and allow us to self determine on pay.”
The union consulted almost 60,000 NHS workers in Scotland in a four-week ballot.
The Royal College of Midwives in Scotland (RCM) has also accepted the pay deal
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Interesting. That unison – a uk wide trade union – would decide that. Very interesting; as you say Ludo, the more institutions and companies that treat Scotland as independent, he more we are so, and also, the easier the transition period will be. What actually really needs to be sorted after we express our desire for independence? I think all our essentials will carry on running as they are – NHS, police, fire brigade, justice system – I suspect this is why the SNP like the more conservative approach of keeping the GBP in the short term, you don’t have to fumble about with changing those structures that can be updated at a later time (smoother transition). So we would need a treasury and transfer the taxes to going into Scotland’s pocket, immediately I’d hope, but how would you untangle that tax mess the UK has? Not easy, I should imagine, and I reckon that would be the biggest hurdle?
What about exports? I take it we could just start building the infrastructure for physically exporting goods, and likely fairly easily get transition deal with the eu until we decide our level of membership while our transition with England is happening. Defence – do we need something set up early, or can that wait? It would be great to have a few navy ships of our own – ah, maybe get some started getting built early to ensure we retain ship building skills. But where do the defence personnel come from?
Sorry! Off on a tangent, and just musing out loud. But it would be quite useful to know what needs to be done first, when, in relation to what other things. You know, a plan, or more of a procedure, just a general outline – which parts do we rely on negotiation with others for, are there systems we need to put in place before other things happen, etc. I suppose seeing the unaccountable mess that so-called politicians are making of Brexit is making me realise that (a) a very swift exit from the uk would be very desirable (procedures put in place can make things go so much faster) and (b) you can’t negotiate when you don’t know what your goals are! And maybe (c) you don’t want do do an overarching transfer of laws and rules (e.g. for taxes) but at the same time you don’t want to get bogged in itty bitty detail. I would like to see a carefully choreographed dance. But I’m getting ahead of myself, obviously we need a majority of people in Scotland to decide on independence, and the opportunity to express that desire, first. Ah well.
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Labour’s (extremely) shadow ‘Scotland’ Secretary (apparently she’s called Lesley Laird – No – me neither) is finally stepping down from her Fife Council seat so there is a Fife by-election due.
Another by-election so another scuzzy ‘Scottish’ tory scandal candidate: see snippet below from Fife fm news:
There are calls for the Conservative candidate in the Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing by-election to stand down over inappropriate comments made on social media.
The remarks appear on the Facebook page of Dave Coleman and are dated April 2010.
One makes reference to a derogatory term for a disabled person, while another calls people shopping at supermarket chain Lidl “chavs” and “pikeys”.
There are now calls for Mr Coleman to remove himself as a candidate from the council by-election.
The election is being held on Thursday the 6th of September, to replace now-shadow secretary of state for Scotland Lesley Laird.
Do we imagine The Col. will act to clean out the byre? – no – we don’t.
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Lesley Laird. There are a whole bunch of alliterative super heroes. Labour is hoping she is one of them. Sadly for them, super heroes are fiction. Just like a labour manifesto!
Labours Lesley Laird loudly laments Labours loss of legislative libido, leaving lithesome, loose-limbed Leonard loathing libertarian likings, lots.
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Haha! Gavin, you get a gold star for alliteration 😀
(After John’s approval, of course)
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Interesting to note that the Bank of England is shifting currency reserves into Euros in advance of brexit. They couldn’t know something the Westminster tory Govt (and Corbyn too) haven’t managed to work out yet could they? – see snippet from The Sunday Times below:
Treasury shifts cash into euros ahead of Brexit
Tommy Stubbington and Caroline Wheeler
August 12 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
The Bank of England has ploughed billions of the Treasury’s foreign currency reserves into euros since the Brexit referendum, in an apparent vote of confidence in the single currency.
Figures from the Bank — which manages stocks of foreign currency on behalf of the Treasury — show that Britain now holds more euros than dollars in its reserves, reversing the position of June 2016.
Campaigners for a fresh Brexit referendum seized on the numbers as evidence that the government was betting on the stability of the euro even as ministers push for a clean break with the EU.
Come on Scotland – let’s cut ourselves adrift from this sinking shipwreck of fools.
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