Talking-up Scotland

(c) http://socialbusinessstrategy.com

When I decided to put down the BBC attack dog after it kept biting me and adopt a friendly Pointer that would spot well fed Scottish wood pigeons for me, I thought it might be more difficult than it has been. I apologise for that astoundingly bad though dogged metaphor. Seriously, it has been remarkably easy to find good news about Scotland if you just don’t look in the mainstream media, especially BBC Scotland, for it. Today, it’s back to oil and gas with some surprisingly very optimistic stuff from the industry and its communication wings, posted daily. If I can find it then why can’t or don’t…..?

North Sea oil and gas is on the crest of a “third wave” in its evolution following a series of major deals worth more than $6billion (£4.8billion), energy professionals have claimed.

I had though Shell’s recent £3billion sale of North Sea assets to Chrysaor meant more evidence of declining expectations but it’s not at all.

According to Energy Voice, on 13^th February 2017, the above sale: ‘is expected to be a catalyst for more mergers and acquisitions in the UKCS following the resurgence of oil-focused equity capital market investment……In the last six months £4.9billion worth of North Sea assets have changed hands, including last week’s £993million acquisition of Ithaca Energy by Israeli-based Delek Group.’

One of the benefits of the above deal will be the extended life of the Armada field which had been expected to be shut down.

Pinsent Masons’ head of corporate finance, Rosalie Chadwick said:

‘The Shell-Chrysaor deal will prove to be the tipping point which leads to the third wave of the North Sea’s evolution and a number of other significant transactions in the months and years ahead. More availability of funding, a stable oil price, better alignment of price expectations for both buyers and sellers, and a fresh approach to decommissioning responsibilities, means that all the chess pieces are lined up with the North Sea poised for a period of productive M&A activity.’

So the change of ownership and sales by large corporations may look at first sight like signs of uncertainty but is in fact evidence of this ‘third wave’ as: ‘well-capitalised new blood enter the sector and embracing new technologies, which make smaller recoveries in the more mature fields economically viable.’

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/131460/north-sea-crest-third-wave-evolution/

Scotland could become a world leading exporter of oil and gas field extension and decommissioning solutions, according to government ministers.

Also from Energy Voice on 12^th February 2017 we see the above claim from Scottish Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse, made at the opening of the new the Oil and gas Technology Centre in Aberdeen.

The claim was made as North Sea industry heads met at the launch of the new Oil and gas Technology Centre in Aberdeen. Wheelhouse said:

‘This is a sign of confidence in the industry from both governments, saying we’ve got faith in the future of the oil and gas industry. We are not at the end of the road, far from it.’

 https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/131400/scotland-become-world-leader-decomm-field-life-extenstion/

Industry body Oil and Gas UK has hailed the Scottish Government’s multi-million pound backing of a decommissioning fund as a major boost for the struggling supply chain.

Finally, from Energy Voice again, on 8^th February, we can see the Scottish Government is right behind these developments. The headline is a bit OTT for the amount, £5 million, on offer but hey. You can find what Labour and the Tories thought, yourselves.

Oil and Gas UK chief executive Deirdre Michie said:

‘The First Minister’s announcement today of a new £5 million fund to support Scottish companies looking to take advantage of decommissioning sector opportunities is encouraging news for the many supply chain companies still struggling in the downturn… Our forecasts suggest an average of £1.7 billion will be spent on decommissioning in the UK each year over the next ten years and so it is helpful that we should support the UK supply chain to develop its capacity to compete effectively.’

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/decomm/131148/scot-govs-decomm-fund-welcome-boost-supply-chain/

Like me, many of you will be strong supporters of the expansion of carbon-free technologies. I’m reporting this because in the fight for independence, I think we still have to counter the endless negativity about the North Sea and the associated implication that it somehow puts an end to Scotland’s future viability as an independent nation.

13^th February 2017

Today’s good news report begins with the mouth-watering prospect of making UK Environment Secretary, Andrea 'Scotland is full of subsidy junkies' Leadsom, eat her own words about Scotland. Her plan to boost UK food and drinks exports by £2.9bn in the next five years is a complete non-starter if we can get out of the Union before then.

The Scottish drinks industry has another cause for celebration this Burns Night as new government figures reveal that beer and gin exports are catching up with those of ‘guid auld Scotch’

This is from The Drinks Business on 25th January, 2017:

‘HMRC overseas trade statistics revealing that Scotch exports are currently shipped at a rate of 34 bottles every second….With two-thirds of the UK’s gin produced in Scotland – accounting for more than half the world’s total exports – and a record 22 breweries opening last year – bringing the total number of breweries to more than 100 for the first time in more than a century – the demand for traditional Scottish drinks shows no sign of slowing.’

“Scotch whisky is a driving force of the UK food and drink industry, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all our food and drink exports each year,” Leadsom said.

I think she might have more accurately said ‘the driving force’. We make most of the gin too? That’s a bit of a tonic.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/01/scottish-drinks-industry-receives-burns-night-boost/

Readers will probably already know that Scotch whisky is a big part of the UK’s export trade. You won’t be surprised to hear that it creates almost £5bn a year for the UK economy and that it supports more than 40,000 jobs across Britain.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-4157184/Scotch-whisky-creates-5bn-year-UK-economy.html#ixzz4YYdutbqH

I didn’t know, though, that in 2015 it was the biggest net contributor to the trade in good s by the UK.  For those like me requiring a definition of ‘net contributor’, it’s: ‘excess of selling price over variable costs per unit’ or ‘profit margin?’

 https://www.allbusiness.com/barrons_dictionary/dictionary-net-contribution-4958982-1.html

So, unlike arms sales, for example, we can sell Scotch and gin for far more than it costs to make them. I have serious doubts about the net contribution from the sales of advanced weapons. Leaving aside the ethics and I know there have to be some reservations about alcohol sales too, the profit margin on an F16 fighter is allegedly 11%. It’s 60% for Scotch. Also, I doubt that the profit margin on the F16 takes into account government grants and development costs. The development costs for the F35, which the UK hopes to buy for its aircraft carriers, have risen from 233 to 379 billion dollars! Those costs will have to be recouped in the sales.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2015/07/government-told-to-intervene-in-scotch/

https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/17/fighter-jets-2016-who-makes-the-10-top-sellers-and.aspx

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/04/f-35-stealth-jet-fighter-uk-faces-billions-extra-cost

Potential £750M boost to Scottish food industry

On 10^th February 2017 foodmanufacture.co.uk reported enthusiastically on a new Scottish Government initiative:

‘Scotland’s food and drink industry could get a £750M boost, as the government plans to make public-sector catering contracts more accessible to Scottish businesses.’ 

At the moment only 48% of food contracts for schools, hospitals and other public-sector organisations are supplied by Scottish businesses. Rural economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing wants to see this figure increase. Obviously, preferential treatment is not allowed but a public contracts website that businesses sign up to will, it is hoped, ‘bring the whole supply chain together’ and ‘increase local sourcing’.

http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Business-News/Scottish-food-and-drink-industry-could-see-750M-boost

Scottish fund to support organic conversion opens

Farmers Weekly on 12th February 2017 announced:

‘Scottish farmers who want to convert to organic can apply to the Scottish government for support under a new scheme. Farmers have until March 31 to apply for the five-year agreements which will start in 2018 and are guaranteed for the full five years. The payments are front-loaded for the first two years to support conversion, with reduced support available for a further three years.’

According to Scottish government figures there has been an 11.7% increase in spending on organic food in the last year. The total spend was £57.8 million. Crucially, home-grown supply is insufficient to meet demand and so there is a big domestic gap to be filled.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/business/scottish-fund-to-support-organic-conversion-opens.htm

Reader figures are falling after my abandonment of the ‘attack dog’ strategy but I’m still feeling better so…..

©nes.scot.nhs.uk

12^th February 2017

Maybe two of these four reports had some passing, perhaps grudging, attention in the mainstream media at the time but we need to be reminded of them to maintain confidence in the best NHS in the UK and beyond.

More GPs recruited for hard-to-fill posts

We hear regularly of a coming crisis in GP recruitment especially in remote and rural areas. But on 17-October-2016, there was reassuring news when NHS Scotland announced:

‘Results from the latest GP trainee recruitment round show that 15 junior doctors have been recruited to ‘hard-to-fill’ posts, out of a total of 37 trainees altogether. This year, a total of 276 new trainee GPs have taken up or accepted a post in Scotland – a 15 per cent increase on 2015.’

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/newsroom/media-releases/more-gps-recruited-for-hard-to-fill-posts.aspx

Scottish Government funding supports refugee doctors to re-train to work in NHS Scotland.

This more recent (8.2.17) story in particular warmed me. Last time I looked, Scotland with less than 10% of the UK population had taken 40% of the Syrian refugees. Again just the facts from NHS untainted with media or political grudge:

‘Trained doctors who have come to Scotland as refugees are to be given support to re-enter the medical profession in Scotland via a project run by the Bridges Programmes in partnership with the BMA and NHS Education for Scotland, and Clyde College and the City of Glasgow College. Funded by £161,692 from the Scottish Government, the New Refugee Doctors Project is unique in the UK in supporting medically trained and qualified refugees to achieve medical registration and contribute their skills to NHS Scotland, as well as offering a long-term package of support. The funding will help suitably qualified refugees access training, language support and professional mentoring to help them meet the standards for professional registration with the General Medical Council and practise medicine here in Scotland. As part of the funding, the doctors have committed to working for NHS Scotland.’

It’s difficult to see why they would train in Scotland then want to move and work in the now only ‘so-called’ NHS England

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/newsroom/media-releases/refugee-doctors-programme.aspx

NHS dentist numbers get the all-clear

This one from 3^rd October 2017 has two unusual phrases for such announcements. Can you spot them?

‘Scotland’s increasing demand for NHS dental services are expected to be more than matched by an increase in the number of dentists, according to latest projections. While the aging population and people generally visiting the dentist more should increase demand over the next decade, this is expected to be outweighed by dentists entering or re-entering NHS practice.’ 

‘More than matched?’ ‘Outweighed?’ What’s going on here? Have we trained too many dentists ‘in the teeth of the harsh winds of Tory austerity?’ Will the surplus have to re-train as something else? Suggestions?

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/newsroom/media-releases/nhs-dentist-numbers-get-the-all-clear.aspx

‘No reason’ for an independent Scotland not to be accepted into EU, says European Commission representative

This came up in the Google list after one of my pretty basic search terms ‘good news Scotland’. It also found a list of obituaries. I didn’t look. People’s deaths’ mostly, shouldn’t be considered ‘good news’ by one of those notorious algorithms. This Independent newspaper report on the 11^th February 2017 quoted Jacqueline Minor, the European Commission’s head of representation in the UK, speaking on GMS, saying:

‘The country would already be aligned with the EU requirements and that is it would be starting from a different point that any other countries applying for the EU membership process. Speaking on BBC’s Good Mourning Scotland radio show, Ms Minor was asked whether an independent Scotland would be able to enter the EU.’

I don’t know who asked the question but I bet they had a face like fizz when they heard this:

‘I think, had Scotland achieved independence, there would be no reason why it would not be accepted into the normal accession process,’ she said. Although Ms Minor did not say that an independent Scotland would have priority in gaining EU membership, she hinted the process could be made easier.’

I did a bit of in-depth research into GMS, in 2014. Such was the trauma, I haven’t listened since.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/no-reason-independent-scotland-accepted-eu-membership-european-commissions-jacqueline-minor-a7575266.html

Don’t forget what I said in:

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/02/10/ive-been-thinking-again/

Professor Nesbit, Dean of Life Sciences

(c) dailymail.co.uk

I’ve searched and searched and can find no answer to this question. I know from personal experience that there are lots of English-born students and staff in Scottish universities but keeping stats on this seems to be a no-go-area – anti-English?

I did find that Edinburgh Univahrsity (where else) might be taking too many and especially rich ones:

‘A “Greedy” Scottish university is offering more places to English students than Scots for the first time in its history. The prestigious Edinburgh University has been accused of treating English students like “cash cows” after charging £36,000 for a four-year degree – more expensive than England’s most elite institutions.’

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/04/29/greedy-scottish-university-offers-more-places-to-english-students-than-scots/

Someone did try a Freedom of Information request but the links to the supposed answers don’t work:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/english_students_in_scottish_uni?unfold=1#incoming-692297

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/283088/response/692297/attach/5/foi%20response.pdf

Let me know if you can get anywhere with this. In the end, I settled for sharing this entertaining exchange from a student chatroom:

Barborazel: I’m ecpecially interested in University of Glasgow. I’m from the Czech Republic and I wanted to apply for university in england but because of money I applied to Scotland. So I would at least want to spend time with some English students.

Barborazel: Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against scottish people but I’m a little scared of scottish accent (actually I don’t really like it but I love english accent).

Ambusrocks: I would say there will definitely be english students at scottish universities  Dont worry  Im from Ireland and I have an unconditional offer from Edinburgh Napier . You should apply here as well and you can spend some time with an irish student 

Clannem: I am Scottish and go to a Scottish uni and to be honest, there are a whole host of different accents in the universities here. You can’t really predict how many people will come to the uni from a specific place. But, as far as I’m aware, there are “quotas” that have to be filled with Scottish students so there is always going to be a large proportion of Scottish students. On my course, most students tend to be Scottish or from outwith the UK, there are definitely many students from Europe.  And the Scottish accent actually isn’t scary. It’s just more broad than the different English accents. If you’re honestly going to choose a university based on the accent of the people you’ll study with (and I’ll just add, accents vary all over England and Scotland and even some of the English accents aren’t very appealing at times) then you probably shouldn’t apply if you don’t feel like you want to be around many people with Scottish accents when you’re applying to go to university and move to that country!

Jneill: See you, Jimmy!  There is no single “English” accent. Similarly there is no single “Scottish” accent.

THE END

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3662165

Czechs are scared of Scottish accents? After World War II?

(c) floridaprescriptionaddictionhelpline.com

THIRLAGE

Thirlage tae codeine
Pruives nae prophylactic ‘gin
National anguish

– Struan McAteer

Contravening my happy happy edict but good, I’d say.

(c) http://pcwallart.com

I keep finding ‘more’ of things when I search for good news of Scotland. That must be good. You know I’m finished attacking the MSM but they always seemed to find ‘less’. I wonder why?

Surveys record highest numbers of three dolphin species in Hebrides: SNP take credit

Here’s an excerpt from the report from the conservation charity, Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, in its marine research expeditions in 2016:

‘From the trust’s specialized research yacht Silurian, volunteers and scientists recorded 2,303 individual common dolphins, 42 bottlenose dolphins and 94 Risso’s dolphins – the figures for all three species being the highest ever recorded in its annual survey seasons. Average annual figures documented over the previous 14 years were 463 individual common dolphins, 14 bottlenose dolphins and 12 Risso’s dolphins. For common dolphins, these records range from 0 individuals encountered in a couple of the earlier field seasons to 1,862 during the 2007 season.’

A short film about the surveys can be seen at https://youtu.be/M_3r-GKfh8o.

https://voluntarynews.org.uk/news/2017/02/surveys-record-highest-numbers-of-three-dolphin-species-in-hebrides/

Suspecting, naturally, that SNP marine policies might be responsible, I did a quick ‘SNP dolphins’ search and found what looks like confirmation in:

Genome-Wide SNP and Population Divergence of Finless Porpoises at: https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/5/4/758/589369/Genome-Wide-SNP-and-Population-Divergence-of

I’ve not had time to read the article but the title seems clear. I suppose another explanation might be a softening of the ‘Wee Free’ kirk’s disapproval of having fun in recent years? Or, could Donald Trump’s policies be driving them away from Florida to a country with a more positive attitude to migrants?

Royal Bank of Scotland offers a boost to Scottish small businesses growth

(c) dailymail.co.uk

This is just what we always wanted them to do isn’t it? To put it mildly, they’ve been more prone to ripping-off and busting small businesses in the past but hey, maybe they’ve changed? It’s ‘entirely free.’ Here’s what they’re promising now:

‘The Boost programme will offer a digital source of support, and access to a team of Business Growth Enablers servicing every region of Scotland. Through a dedicated digital portal, small businesses can get access to valuable business insight and be connected to a team of 11 Business Growth Enablers operating across Scotland. Launched by Royal Bank of Scotland, Boost is a new initiative designed to help companies move forward by establishing the right connections between businesses and offering access to relevant experts and resources. Through a dedicated digital portal, small businesses can get access to valuable business insight and be connected to a team of 11 Business Growth Enablers operating across Scotland. The Business Growth Enablers will provide their local knowledge and networks, help businesses to connect with each other, provide hands-on expertise and training, and host regular workshops and events in their areas.’

http://www.rbs.com/news/2017/january/royal-bank-of-scotland-offers-a-boost-to-scottish-small-business.html#vyBH37CXpdMrxvcP.99

I suppose the only question is ‘CAN WE TRUST THEM NOW?’

Child Poverty Bill published by Scottish government

Read below for the basic facts of the matter, free of Dugdale, Davidson and Rennie trying to tell us the SNP should have done this before even though their own parties have done nothing about it for decades (centuries?) and the English Tories are driving England back to the world of Dickens.

‘Ambition to end cycle of poverty.

For the first time since devolution, the Scottish Government will be responsible for meeting ambitious targets to reduce and ultimately end child poverty in Scotland.

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill has been published today and will see Scotland become the only part of the UK with statutory targets in a bid to reduce the number of children experiencing the damaging effects of poverty by 2030.

The government will publish a three-year child poverty delivery plan by April 2018, which will be updated every five years and annual reports to measure progress.

Equalities Secretary Angela Constance visited Fairy Job Mother, an innovative programme that helps 16-24 year olds into work, with 70% of those completing the programme finding employment, to mark the publication of the Bill.

Ms Constance said:

“It’s utterly unacceptable that one in five children in Scotland live in poverty and this Bill sets out statutory targets to reduce and ultimately eradicate child poverty.

“Child poverty has been a systemic problem for decades. Tackling the immense challenge is an ambition all of Scotland – be that national and local government, health boards, businesses, the third sector or others – must work together to overcome.”

http://news.gov.scot/news/child-poverty-bill-published

I haven’t heard of any murders, rapes, child abuse or SNP failures for three days now. Is it safe to go outside? How’s this for lack of self-awarenesss?

‘The proportion of people who think crime has risen has seen a large increase, despite overall rates of crime falling, a survey suggests.’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8368310.stm

 

The late lovely Belle feeling car anxious.

War crimes no more

Amritsar no more, Dresden no more,

Bloody Sunday no more, Kenya no more,

Better together, don’t lie to me

For richer or poorer, I don’t give a damn.

Let them welcome our fish and our grain,

Let them come and see again and again,

But no more fear the tread of our fighting men.

(With obvious inspiration from the Proclaimers and Hamish Henderson)

The site is getting on average about 1 000 views per day. Sometimes it goes as high as 6 000. It occurs to me that the platform is now worth using a bit more widely and inclusively. So, keeping in mind the new positive, polite, respectful, constructive spirit, I thought we could have, on something to do with Scotland:

1. Articles written by any of you about something you feel needs more attention and would like to get feedback on, even from just a modest 1000 readers. Not too many articles from one person. Not too long (max 1 500 words). Spelling and grammar checked by you or your mum. I’m not doing it.
2. Self-taken photographs you want to share to make us feel something. One or two at most, with locations and times and with or without a wee comment. Up to you. No more than 100 words?
3. A poem, a verse, a quote or a short story. Again not too long. Nothing that would make me greet though. Remember I’m still a bit saft.

I’m not going to be an editor and lose what’s left of my soul. But I will ignore anything offensive or libellous. Send me them in Word doc attachments to thoughtcontrolscotland@gmail.com.

If I get none, I’ll get the gist.

I’ll do one myself in minute as a starter.

John

 

© stuffedinburgh.com

Friday 10^th February 2017

WTF is the ‘300 MMbbl Lancaster estimate’, do I hear you ask? I’ll have a go at explaining it below. For the moment, ‘MMbbl’ means ‘million barrels’ and there’s billions coming later (BBbbl?), so I’m fairly sure it’s good news but first, that Danny Boyle:

Trendspotting? Danny Boyle tells Scotland to choose life….. out of the UK.

First though, on 9^th February 2017, award-winning (I assume) film-maker Danny Boyle has told Scotland to choose life outside the UK after the Brexit vote. Begbie has been appointed Trump’s Scottish Ambassador though only after agreeing that the Consulate be moved to Leith. Boyle, an Englishman, said:

‘We had our hearts broken with Brexit, because we wanted to stay in the EU. Scotland voted for staying in the EU while England voted for Brexit. I think if Brexit still happens, Scotland will leave the United Kingdom.’

The only problem with taking Iggy Pop’s lyrics too seriously is that he also wrote, ‘I wanna be your dog!’

Seriously we could employ the Englishman Boyle to design our Independence Day celebrations to show there are no hard feelings.

https://reportuk.org/2017/02/09/brexit-broke-our-hearts-danny-boyle-praises-eu-and-insists-scotland-has-to-leave-uk/

300 MMbbl Lancaster estimate was “conservative”

On Tuesday, 07 February 2017, in ‘Offshore Engineer: The Trusted Source in Offshore Intelligence’, I read the badly jargonised but just about understandable:

‘Fractured basement reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy says its previous 300 MMbbl estimate for the Lancaster field, west of Shetland is conservative. The firm has completed technical analysis of the Lancaster, Lincoln and Warwick assets, all fractured basement assets, west of Shetland, following drilling the Lancaster 7, 7Z and Lincoln wells in 2016. 

Hurricane says a new competent persons review on the assets is being compiled and it likely to result in a “material uplift in contingent resources as well as the anticipated reserves associated with the planned early production system,” being planned for Lancaster, with a final investment decision expected at the end of 1H this year. Hurricane previously reported a flow rate of at least 14,500 Stb/day in the Lancaster 205/21a-7Z well which has now been refined to a maximum stable rate of 15,375 Stb/day using an ESP, following third party interpretation of the flow meter data.’

 I think they’re saying there’s even more oil and gas to the west of Shetland, up to more than 15 000 barrels a day, just in their field. Remember that’s just MMbbls. There are BBbbls coming next. Mind you, why are these ‘assets’ in Scottish waters called Lancaster, Lincoln and Warwick?  Is this early evidence of post –independence underwater land-grab by the rUK?

http://www.oedigital.com/engineering/itemlist/user/701-elainemaslin

There’s more, much more. I thought our oil and gas industry was in deep decline. See this in Linkedin, written late in 2016 but predicting developments in 2017

7 oil & gas projects to watch in 2017

At first sight, I thought the seven did not include Scotland, then nearly at the end of the article, I found this very encouraging evidence of further and even larger ‘assets’ to the west of Shetland:

Clair Ridge second phase finishes – North Sea

‘The talk in the North Sea in recent years has been asset sell-offs, margin shrinkages and managed declines, but it is not all bad news for the region – 75 kilometres to the west of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea is the 8.1 billion barrel capacity Clair Ridge field. Here, BP has been putting the finishing touches to its Claire Ridge facility to bump up production levels. Clair Ridge is already well serviced by a network of undersea pipes, but phase two will see this network extended with options for future seabed tiebacks if necessary. BP is targeting a production capacity of 120,000 barrels per day upon completion. What is notable about this project is that it will premier BP’s latest advanced oil recovery technology LoSal. LoSal uses water injection to de-salinize surrounding areas, which will substantially improve recovery levels. As many as 40 million extra barrels of oil could be extracted from Clair Ridge at a greater cost effectiveness during the site’s operational life. Clair Ridge is expected to keep producing until 2050.’

See those numbers? 8.1 billion barrels? 120 000 barrels per day? Producing until 2050? That’s  at least another 30 years of production after Independence?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-oil-gas-projects-watch-2017-mark-daniel?articleId=7827920884068938017#comments-7827920884068938017&trk=sushi_topic_posts

Finally, today, I stumbled across this with my undisciplined googling. It is really quite old but I don’t remember seeing much about it at the time. Apologies if you did

Scotland’s Cancer Strategy: an ambitious plan that’s good news for patients

 This is from Cancer Research UK on March 15, 2016. It’s their exact and very positive headline above. Obviously, I can’t remember anything from that far back.  I did find something from Labour’s Jenny Marra on the BBC website at the time. It contravenes my new policy so I’ve left it out.

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on a visit to the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. Credit: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0

Here’s an extract:

‘Cancer is a big issue in Scotland, and the statistics are striking. Last year the disease became Scotland’s biggest killer….. Tackling this won’t be easy. And it needs serious investment. We think strategies like this are vital. They help set priorities, and lay out where money should go to help the NHS work as best it can for its patients…..In short, asking for more money is tough, but has never been more urgent……So today’s headline announcement – of £100m over the next term of the Scottish Parliament – is very welcome news.

http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2016/03/15/scotlands-cancer-strategy-an-ambitious-plan-thats-good-news-for-patients/

Courage mes braves!

© www.pinterest.com

9^th February 2017

I just can’t decide which of those three things will do the most for Scotland and/or make me the happiest. They say pigs are happiest in mud. Are construction workers? Midwives spend time in worse fluids. I’ve seen it four times.

Anyhow, here is my talking-up-Scotland update for today.

Student numbers and funding boost for Scotland

The above headline and this below, from 1^st February 2017, is from the much-respected Royal College of Midwives so it must be true. They used exactly that picture of the Scottish flag alongside the news release. They must like Scotland, Nicola and the SNP to use that rather than, say, placenta.

‘The number of student midwives in training in Scotland next year is set to increase. Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, made the announcement. She also promised protection for student midwife and nurse bursaries, free tuition fees, and additional help for the most needy midwifery and nursing students. Mary Ross Davie, RCM director for Scotland, said: ‘This is good news for Scotland’s maternity services and for those looking to become midwives. The additional financial help will go a long way also towards supporting those from less financially well off backgrounds to enter midwifery.’

There will be an extra £3m to help up to 1000 midwifery and nursing students with dependants. The number of government-funded university places for those starting midwifery and nursing training will increase by 4.7% in 2017-18, bringing the total intake to 3360 places.

The RCM must be as happy as pigs in mud.

https://www.rcm.org.uk/news-views-and-analysis/news/student-numbers-and-funding-boost-for-scotland

12,000 new workers needed to service Scotland’s growing construction sector

Again the headline and the text below are from the robust Construction Industry Training Board on February 8^th 2017:

‘Most sectors of Scotland’s construction industry will experience growth over the next five years with 12,000 new construction workers needed to meet demand, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has forecast. According to the Construction Skills Network (CSN) report, all sectors are expected to grow with the exception of infrastructure and industrial, which will decline following record highs.’

http://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/category/news/

So, that looks good too. I don’t suppose they can wait for the output from the extra midwives though. However, they’ll be looking forward to even tastier bacon rolls.

Scottish farmers invited to name their own pig research needs

People in a wide range of professions have been calling for relevant and useful research for decades now so this from February 6^th 2017 seems a wise if a little slow response from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)

‘Scottish pig farmers are being invited by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to outline what areas of future research they would like to see developed. The focus for the producer-led research ideas programme is a pig research roadshow which is due to be held in Inverurie on February 21, as part of an initiative backed by SRUC’s pig information group.

‘Pig Information Group?’ PIG? Cleevver!

“This is a two-way process,” said college consultant, Ross Mackenzie. “Pig farmers are being invited to hear all about the current research which is being undertaken while we want to engage with them to hear what research is needed in the future to help take the Scottish pig industry forward.”

I hope you’re impressed by my highly professional reporting here – not a hint of a bad joke about pig farmers. I look forward to reading the final draft of this report which I was, for some reason, asked to review prior to publication:

Porcine, P (2017) ‘Scottish pigs shown to thrive best in mud between 15 and 25cm depth’. European Journal of Pig Farming. Vol 1: pages 1-2: Forthcoming

How many will read and share this sort of stuff, I wonder. Whatever; I feel better already for not having mentioned those fucking lying pigs at……………stop it!

 Footnote for your diary. Don’t miss it:

 The Big Pig Research Roadshow:  Inverurie: February 21