Talking-up Scotland

 

Open wide, you’ll feel much worse, I mean better, sorree, after this kicks in.

Reporting Scotland mental health nurse, Graham Stewart, administered today’s pro-anxiety dose at 06:27am, using the new Scotanx from Rechem. Scotanx is an exciting new product based on the Sovietanx psychotoxin used by Pravda and tailored to the needs of many of Reporting Scotland’s older viewers.

BBC Scotland Audience Counsel heads for Pacific Quay (c) cartoonsnap

Based on practice by BBC Charge Nurse McRatched, Scotanx has been found to be most effective when delivered in the early morning to reinforce the effects of the stress hormone cortisol.

Today’s dose has been increased in response to four recent sub-polls suggesting a surge in your SNP pressure reading. UK pollsters have been asked to monitor things carefully.

The dose consisted of 10-30ms of:

1. The Brexit crisis continues. Contraindications: Patients should not be allowed to read or watch anything by SNP Brexit Minister, Professor Mike Russell.
2. Continuing financial problems for Scotland’s police service may inhibit its ability to adopt new technology. Contraindications: Patients should not be allowed to read Dr Robertson’s: Police Scotland more than fifteen times better at clearing up robberies than English forces! or BBC Scotland with Tories INSERTS LIES about ‘systemic problems’ as Police and Fire reform leads to actual and major benefits
3. Sepsis kills more than 50 000 people each year in the UK. Contraindications: Patients should not be allowed calculators to work out what the headline would be for Scotland or to read Dr Robertson’s: Scottish Tory finds massive 21% reduction in deaths from Sepsis under SNP
4. College lecturers on strike four times already: Contraindications: Patients should not be allowed to read or to watch: ‘EIS members accept improved teachers’ pay offer as strike averted’ by Jamie McIvor BBC Scotland education correspondent at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47720300

 Some earlier reports from the Scottish Journal of PsychOps on BBC Scotland’s ‘We’re doing well out of the status quo so just vote No’ campaign:

The Power of Early Morning Nightmares: The consequences including even death at home for expectant mothers of BBC Scotland’s reporting of one stillbirth

The Power of Early Morning Nightmares and Expectant Mothers: BBC Scotland callously undermines the morale of midwives, their patients, expectant mothers and their relatives, with highly selective and un-contextualised information

The Power of Nightmares: Waking up to early morning bad news on BBC Scotland and fearing the unknown

 

 

Typically, Anglocentric, the Telegraph, in May 2018 missed any variations within these islands. A TuS reader prompted this report. See:

The two graphs tell the story clearly but what could explain these contrasting trends? The Telegraph was in no doubt:

‘Experts said a lack of basic checks was leading to hundreds of deaths in Britain, two in three of which could have been prevented with the right care.’

See this for evidence on treatment plans including regular tests:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs25/documents/briefing-paper

Scots asthma sufferers seem significantly more likely to have a treatment plan in place than those in England. The situation in Labour Wales is very bad with less than a third being treated properly. What other factors might there be? See this:

Are some asthma sufferers in England choosing to eat rather than treat? The Express seems to think so:

The Express does not of course suggest that its readers stop voting Tory.

 

 

 

 

http://www.fdf.org.uk/news.aspx?article=8114

The above report: ‘UK Food and Drink Exports growth slow to a crawl in 2018’,

does not mention Scotland but the map below from the same site does, to dramatic effect:

http://www.fdf.org.uk/exports-2018-q4.aspx

Only the mostly rural South East compares. Every other part of England has a deficit.

With regard to growth, in Insider on March 15^th 2019:

‘Value of whisky exports rises 7.8% as Scotland’s food and drink sold abroad brings in record £6.3 billion. Total exports increased by £293 million in 2018, a 4.9% rise, according to HMRC. Food exports have grown by 125% since 2007.’

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/value-whisky-exports-rises-78-14134882

Total UK food and drink exports for year ending 2018 were worth £16.4 billion.

http://www.fdf.org.uk/exports-2018-q3-data.aspx

So:

Return of the meme! 8% of the population but 38% of the food and drink exports. How would Scotland survive?

 

 

 

Yesterday’s Herald shunting the old ‘Scotrail is failing and the SNP government is failing to do enough about it’ story going. There is, of course, a wider, sunnier, picture and there are more up-to-date data. See, for example this, showing very high levels of reliability with 98.6% of all rural trains running and around 98% of all trains across the network running.

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets/download_ct/web_upload_p12.pdf

With regard to punctuality, the real, current, news is one of improvement and not of supposed ‘chaos’. See this:

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2019/02/scotrail-performance-reaches-new-high.html

 

Measles outbreaks increasing globally

We know it’s a monstrous story with measles outbreaks in the USA and falling uptake of the MMR vaccine in England heavily reported a big on BBC 1 News but in Scotland, important news is missed.

Despite ongoing controversy (see below) NHS Scotland has achieved 96.6% adoption of the one-dose MMR vaccine by 5 years-of-age and has now beaten the 95% target for ten years. The uptake in England is only 91.2% and falling.

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Child-Health/Publications/2019-03-26/2019-03-26-Childhood-Immunisation-Summary.pdf

Though some might worry about vaccine overload (see below), for BBC Scotland, I’m sure a target is a target and failure to hit any target is a crisis in NHS Scotland.

Note: There is almost 100% support for the MMR vaccine among professionals. See: https://www.nursinginpractice.com/article/%E2%80%98children%E2%80%99s-immune-systems-are-being-overloaded-all-these-vaccines%E2%80%99

 

SNP at 45% so not quite as good as the two sub-polls from Opinium (13-15 March) with SNP at 51% and from Ipsos MORI (15-19 March) at 50% but pretty much the same as Opinium (20-22 March), at 46%, and still significantly up on the previous six, consistently putting them at 41%.

400 sampled giving SNP support at between 45% and 51% so well on the way to recouping many losses?

Interesting to note only Opinium suggesting Tories up at 25/26% in sharp contrast to YouGov and Ipsos MORI putting them at only 17% and 15% respectively.

By YouGov for the Times with 181 adults for 24^th to 25th March:

• Conservative   17%
• Labour             18%
• Lib Dems         8%
• SNP                  45%
• UKIP                3%
• Greens            5%

 

By Opinium for the Observer with 118 adults for 20^th to 22 March:

• Conservative   26%
• Labour             17%
• Lib Dems         4%
• SNP                  46%
• Greens             1%
• UKIP                6%

 

By Ipsos MORI with 91 adults for 15^th to 19^th of March, for all respondents:

• Conservative   15%
• Labour             16%
• Lib Dems         10%
• SNP                  50%
• Greens             1%
• UKIP                 2%

Looking only at those certain to vote:

• Conservative   12%
• Labour             15%
• Lib Dems         8%
• SNP                  55%
• Greens             2%
• UKIP                 1%

 

 

By Opinium for the Observer, 13^th to 15^th March, with 110 adults, online and with The Independent Group included:

• Conservatives              25%
• Labour                         8%
• TIG                               4%
• Lib Dems                     4%
• UKIP                            6%
• SNP                              51%
• Green                          2%

 

Footnote: Still no sign of any pollster asking Scots how they would vote in Indyref2.

 

 

Drug rehab centre near Edinburgh

In the period from 1st October to 31^st December to 31^st December 2018:

• 6 105 people, 94.4%, waited less than three weeks for alcohol treatment;
• 4 445 people, 93.1%, waited three weeks or less for drug treatment.

The target is 90%.

In Scotland’s prisons 97.8% were seen within three weeks or less.

Click to access 2019-03-26-DATWT-Summary.pdf

For context, in England:

 

‘Only 3 of the country’s 42 senior football teams are in favour of clubs being punished for the misbehaviour of their fans.’

That’s the headline and above that, the results, when you ask the clubs if they think that they should be punished for the behaviour of those who have paid to get into property they own. Hmmm, let me think, how will they react? What’s that phrase about turkeys and Xmas, again?

We don’t know what the majority (25) think so we cannot say anything about them. We certainly can’t say, just to trigger feeling of righteous indignation, that only 3 are in favour. One or more of the others might be in favour but afraid that the big clubs hear of it.

This is research of uber-dummkopf quality with a hopeless research question, a useless response rate and simply daft conclusions. If two Access to Journalism students, say McLaughlin, B., and McLaughlin, B., on day-release from BBC Scotland, had come to me with this as a proposal for their group project, I’d have said in kindly tones:

‘Sorry lads, you’ll need to think again.’

As for my headline, I don’t have the evidence but my thesis is that they’d say:

Scottish football clubs think fnnn Reporting Scotland should stop fnnn wasting licence-payers’ money on fnnn stupid surveys?

Maybe there’d be more fnnns?