Talking-up Scotland

Readers will remember with a shudder the above advertising, betraying Scotland in 2017. Supposedly it was to attract sales in Japan where they supposedly have a passion for ‘British goods.’ Yeh, yeh, like the ones I met on Islay who had supposedly come because of their passion for peaty British whisky!

In Insider today:

Goals Soccer Centres today confirmed that former chief executive Keith Rogers and ex-finance officer Bill Gow are being investigated as part of the company’s probe into alleged fraud. Gow, from Glasgow, left Goals in July last year and has since January been listed as finance director of Thomas Tunnock, the maker of world-famous tea cakes. According to reports the two former directors have strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this month Goals said “improper behaviour” by a number of individuals had been uncovered in a revelation that means it will have to leave the stock market. The discovery – believed to be a VAT underpayment of at least £12 million – means there is now significant doubt over the accuracy of the group’s accounts stretching back many years.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/goals-names-bosses-finance-probe-18914677

He writes so much and in different places, that you don’t know where you are with him. One minute he’s the indignant defender of Catholic family values. The next he’s bashing the SNP on anything he can make up. Then he’s knifing the Tories with a well-crafted sentence. I suppose he is just a professional (mercenary) journalist who writes for an audience any audience.

Anyhoo, he wrote in the Independent yesterday, in defence of the idea of a Wings Party to hoover up the list MSP seats that the SNP are denied by the system. He did use the opportunity to have a tilt at the totalitarian tendency he perceives in the SNP, but I couldn’t help but like some of what he wrote:

The analysis of a new Wings party’s prospects of success can wait. In the meantime, let’s all just bask in the cartoon horror of those who recoil at even the merest possibility of the Reverend Stuart Campbell MSP. This was the Scottish Tories’ reaction last week: “Wings Over Scotland is the most reprehensible extreme of the independence movement. The organisation would be far and away the most despicable participant ever to have sought involvement in Holyrood.”

When I saw this obloquy for Campbell, a wee shard of jealousy pierced my soul. Imagine having that on your gravestone or even your CV. Imagine the joy of being able to proclaim that the Tories hate you so much that they think you are a reprehensible and despicable extremist. I don’t know if the Reverend Campbell is a Christian but imagine being able to face St Peter, the old celestial bouncer himself, with that one when your earthly sojourn has reached its end.

“So, what makes you think you’re getting in here then, sunshine?”

“Well, the Scottish Tories think I’m the most despicable character ever to have darkened the doors of Holyrood.”

“Come right in sir, the VIP lounge is on the second floor. St Francis, get that man a glass of the Chateauneuf.”

https://www.thenational.scot/news/17834889.kevin-mckenna-39-s-wings-scotland-party-vote/?ref=twtrec

Forget it’s him. Imagine someone else wrote it. Good? But, more important, he writes:

If Campbell and any other members of his party were to make it to Holyrood via the list system, then it’s extremely unlikely that this will be at the expense of SNP places. The Holyrood list system, let’s face it, has become a lifeboat for party hacks and local placemen among the Unionist parties. I wouldn’t expect the SNP to be over-enthusiastic about the prospect of the Reverend Campbell at Holyrood, but they should probably call off the hounds. He’s not going to hurt them.

I agree. I’m ready to step up the plate to represent WOSP in SW Scotland if the Rev will have me. I’m also ready to be Defence and Foreign Policy Spokesperson and give Nicola laldy if she enthuses about Hilary again, or any other pro-War figure, for that matter. Grousebeater for Environment Spokesperson, Wee Ginger Dug, Spokesperson for Animal and Human Rights, Craig Murray for Deputy Leader, James Kelly for Finance and Strategy, MSM Monitor for PR, Bugger le Panda for………ideas?

Footnote: Lesley Riddoch agrees! I like her thought processes.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/17837608.lesley-riddoch-wings-party-kick-snp-greens-need/

 

‘Caring Conservatism?’

Tories change leader to ‘sunlit uplands’ Johnson – but continue to recruit failed, retread candidates from the same extremist britnat Better Together slime pond that Davidson forever haunted. Link and snippets below:

https://www.grampianonline.co.uk/news/conservatives-select-holyrood-election-candidate-181620/

A north-east secondary school teacher has been adopted by the Scottish Conservatives to contest the Aberdeenshire East constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

Stewart Whyte, a former Turriff Academy pupil who went on to teach history in Aberdeen, Fraserburgh and Aboyne, will contest the seat currently held by the SNP’s Gillian Martin.

The 48-year-old was the Conservative chairman of the Better Together Aberdeenshire alliance during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

Mr Whyte said: “I will be standing for a ‘fair share’ for the north-east.

What Stewart Whyte (and the ‘Scottish’ tories) should have mentioned – but chose not to – is his controversial history of obnoxious views regarding food bank use. Let’s cast our minds back to the 2014 Indyref when even the Better Together organisation felt the comments had to be publicly disowned. Link and snippets below:

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/holyrood/313581/row-over-food-banks-are-normal-claim/

by Cameron Brooks

August 12, 2014, 5:29 pm

Row over food banks are normal claim

North-east pro-union campaigners have been criticised for describing the upsurge of food banks in Scotland as “normal”.

The Aberdeenshire branch of the Better Together group sparked outrage online after it claimed the situation was “far from being a sign of failure” for the UK.

It described food banks as an “enriching example of human compassion, faith and social cohesion”.

It said they had been operating in France, Germany and the USA for many years and using the issue as a “simplistic political football” in Scotland insulted people who run and use facilities.

Aboyne Academy head teacher Stewart Whyte, who stood for the Conservatives in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat at the 2011 Holyrood election, was also criticised for making similar remarks in a separate online post.

A spokesman for the pro-UK group said the post on social media, which has been deleted, was “totally inappropriate” and an investigation had been launched into why it appeared.

The Better Together Aberdeenshire post, which was shared 316 times, read: “The current SNP strategy is to highlight the existence of food banks in Scotland as a shorthand of the failure of the UK and to hint that they could be ended in an independent Scotland….Food banks are Scotland becoming a normal European country….they are an enriching example of human compassion, faith and social cohesion.”

The row broke out a day after the Scottish Government announced it was giving food banks in the north and north-east a share of £518,000 to help people struggling to eat and pay their bills.

The Trussell Trust charity that said the number of people using its food banks in Scotland between April 1, 2013, and March 31 this year (2014) had risen to 71,428 – a fourfold increase in 12 months.

The charity said many people who needed help had been plunged into debt because of the so-called bedroom tax, benefits sanctions, and delays to the payment of crisis loans.

Reflecting on the Aberdeenshire group comments, a spokesman for Better Together said: “This is completely inappropriate….We have launched an investigation into how this appeared on one of our local group pages.”

Well – isn’t it nice to see that the famous 2014 INVESTIGATION by Better Together anent his COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE comments has resulted in his adoption as a candidate in Johnson’s Brexiteer New Model tories.

Clearly no improvement in the quality control mechanisms applied when Col. Davidson used to be in charge, then?

Scottish life expectancy improvements have stalled and it’s due to 9 years of UK Tory/Lib Dem austerity and to a drug deaths spike which was born in Thatcher’s destruction of the lives of the people of Glasgow and urban Scotland 50 years ago. Scottish Labour, of course, betrayed its own people in return for power. Though little reported in our NoMedia this conclusion comes from reliable research studies and commentary. See below:

https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l645

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/11407/thatcher-government-blamed-increase-scottish-drug-deaths

https://www.holyrood.com/articles/news/thatcherism-linked-drug-deaths-nhs-report

 

Thanks to the latest in hundreds of attempts to undermine the SNP government with costly FoI requests to the Scottish Prison Service by people like Liam McArthur, TuS can reveal that NOBODY got out in the last 5 years.

Here’s the request:

In relation to the number of prisoner escape attempts – both successful and unsuccessful – from January 2014 to date could you please provide:

• The number of attempted escapes, which prison this was from and the date.
• The number of successful escape attempts, which prison this was from and the date. · Any documents outlining procedure for SPS staff in relation to prison escapes.
• Any correspondence which discusses prisoner’s attempted or successful escape, and how this has impacted policy or procedure.

Here’s the response (I sense a big grin):

Although our most recent report from FY 2018/19 is yet to be published I can confirm the figure is NIL, and for FY 2019/20 to date again, the figure is NIL. On each occasion the escape was from a hospital escort and not from the prison itself. To further clarify [BONEHEAD], for attempted escapes the figure is NIL.

http://www.sps.gov.uk/FreedomofInformation/FOI-6547.aspx

EARLIER FAILED ATTEMPTS:

Have Scottish Lib Dems drawn another blank as they reveal ‘astonishing’ fall in prison staff assaults?

Have Scottish Lib Dems been disappointed to find Scottish Prison Staff are NOT doing a Damien Greene?

Opposition politicians and journalists inundate Scottish Prison Service with 738 requests for information

Lib Dems providing seasonal ferret cover at BBC Scotland and STV

BBC Scotland News fails to report scandal in Scottish Prisons

Here’s why TuS suspects Liam:

In Insider yesterday: Bottom of Form

Labour productivity in Scotland increased by 1.1% between January and March compared to the same period last year, official figures show. According to analysis published by Scotland’s chief statistician Roger Halliday, growth in output per hour worked also grew by 0.4% in quarter one, up on the 0.2% growth recorded in the previous quarter. Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “These latest figures are further evidence of Scotland’s strong economy as output per hour worked has increased compared to the same quarter last year.”

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/labour-productivity-in-scotland-rises-18932826

As always, TuS can reveal that this good news is nothing new. See these earlier reports:

Labour productivity in Scotland increasing more than 3 times faster than UK

May 8, 2019

Further evidence of consistent positive trends in Scottish labour productivity stats released on news.gov.scot site today. Link and snippets below: https://news.gov.scot/news/labour-productivity-statistics-2018-quarter-4 Estimates of labour productivity for Scotland’s onshore economy up to the fourth quarter of 2018 (October-December)…

Tory MSP’s question reveals that Scottish productivity increased by 3 times that of UK under SNP

February 1, 2019

One Tory being questioned by the polis and one asking parliamentary questions to help TuS out We’re all familiar with opposition member’s questions being used to feed Reporting Scotland with scare stories of limited significance. Talking-up Scotland has now realised…

Researchers not up-to-date but BBC Scotland happy to re-bleat their ‘SNPbaaad’ mistake on productivity

September 6, 2018

Hume wearing his patented thinking cap to conceal his fear of recession Broadcast 6 times this morning and on the website, BBC Scotland News report a David Hume ‘Institute’ study which wrongly claims: ‘[T]here had been “no progress” towards a…

As Fake Storm Gerald recedes, we see Scotland’s labour productivity grow and UK labour productivity fall

August 23, 2018

 

An official report finds very promising results from the ‘Scottish study of early learning and childcare’ particularly with regard to those most in need, the deprived. The above graph reveals that parents from the most deprived areas were commonly very likely to be engaged in working with educators in early learning centres and sometimes more so than other parents. This was, in part, due to the high level of accessibility for these parents with ELCs often a short distance from their homes. See:

For most parents, the ELC setting attended by their child was accessible – almost two-thirds could make the journey within 10 minutes. Whilst settings were less accessible for parents in rural areas, half of these parents were still within 10 minutes’ travel. Parents were routinely engaging with settings. The most common forms of engagement were those perhaps most expected: visiting the child’s room and/or discussing the child’s progress with staff. However, a small number of parents – a little more so amongst those living in more deprived areas – are also engaging in other ways including receiving advice about money and learning useful new skills – each potentially important in achieving greater parenting efficacy. Parents also recognised the benefits of ELC for their children including through supporting their social and educational development.

Use of ELC

In more detail we see:

• Sixty-four percent of parents/carers lived within 10 minutes of their child’s ELC setting and only 1% said it took 30 minutes or longer to make the trip. Parents living in urban areas were more likely than those living in rural areas to live within 10 minutes of their child’s ELC setting (64% compared with 51%)6
• Almost all parents (99%) had engaged in at least one activity at their child’s ELC setting since the child started. Visiting the child’s room (92%) and discussing the child’s progress with a member of staff (84%) were most common. Least common were learning a new skill such as cooking (4%) and receiving help with transport to and from the nursery (3%).
• Parents living in the most deprived 20% of areas were more likely than those living in other areas to report having: stayed and played with their child (60% compared with 55%); talked to someone about how to support their child’s learning at home (42% compared with 38%); and learned a new skill such as cooking (7% compared with 2%).
• Attending ELC was generally recognised as being more beneficial for children than for parents. Parents were most likely to say the main advantage was that it helped with the child’s educational development (58%). Many also mentioned the benefits of socialising with other children (51%). No parent stated there were no advantages to a two-year old child being in nursery.
• Almost all children (99%) had been engaged in some form of home learning activity in the previous seven days. The most common was reciting nursery rhymes or singing songs (64% of children had done this every day).

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-study-early-learning-childcare-phase-1-report/

I’m not sure how Reporting Scotland will be able to draw negative conclusions from this but let’s not doubt their cunning.

The R101 crashes and burns in 1930.

A Freedom of Information request answer published yesterday inquired into the delay to airship R100

Information requested: You asked for “Any correspondence (letters, emails or otherwise) (a) received and (b) sent by Paul Wheelhouse regarding the delay to R100”.

Response: I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested that was either received or sent by Paul Wheelhouse MSP. An exemption under s.25(1) (information otherwise accessible) applies to the some of the information as it can be found online. However, in support of our duty to provide advice and assistance to the applicant we are able to provide two web links and associated documents:

1) Parliamentary Question S5W-23690, answer and background note regarding steps to ensure no further delay to R100

https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W-23690&ResultsPerPage=10

1) Parliamentary Question S5W-2369, answer and background note measures taken around R100 in relation to the R100 delay

https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W-23692&ResultsPerPage=10

TuS Aeronautics Correspondent, Wings Over Scotland (in Scotland) Commander, Graham Zeppelin (above right with trainee pilot, later BBC journo, B Taylor, left, in 1954), said:

‘NOOOO!!! It’s cursed. Just like Room 101, R101 means we’re all dead! DEAD I TELL YOU!’

 

According to BBC Scotland News yesterday morning:

‘Scotland has the highest level of distracted drivers in the UK!’

And, Martin Williams (16), Senior News Correspondent at the Herald claims:

‘SCOTLAND has been found to have the highest levels of distracted driving offences in the UK, while moves are being made to ban the use of hands-free mobile phones in cars.’

TuS, statistical officer, Minnie Robertson (14) says:

‘Another schoolgirl error by our so-called Scottish journalists. There were more arrests of mobile phone users while driving in Scotland because Police Scotland officers are paying more attention, as they should, to the offence. Duuuh! Does Scotland have the most distracted journalists in the UK?’

TuS reader, Archie Macpherson, says:

‘What’s really distracting is having to control your anger at the latest monstrous anti-independence lies on Good Morning Scotland!’

Dear Mum,

Weather is here. Wish Ruth was lovely! Tee hee!

Having a fine time in posh Tory Harrogate spending taxpayer’s money! Tee hee!

Took three servants with me and spent £563.52 mainly on cup-cakes. Yum!

I see someone has requested a Freedom of Information release on my expenses for the trip. Here it is. Looks like a wee-remedial Annie job. Or wee-willie Willie? Or wee Moanica? Tee hee!

Love & Kisses

Nicks

Information requested: You asked for cost of travel, accommodation, meals, security, staff support with regards to the First Minister’s trip to Harrogate which will be borne by the taxpayer.

Response: The answer to your question is that the First Minister covered all travel and subsistence costs in a personal capacity. With regards to support staff, the First Minister was supported by three members of staff and their costs were £563.52 in total.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-201900002759/

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