Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Sarah Smith's unforgivable lapse of judgement last night may be career-defining

I suspect Sarah Smith's outrageous allegation on live BBC news bulletins last night that Nicola Sturgeon is "enjoying" the "opportunity" of the pandemic is destined to become as notorious as Nick Robinson's "he didn't answer" lie in 2014. Let's be honest - no leader, no leader at all, is enjoying this crisis. Ms Sturgeon isn't enjoying it because of the intolerable stress of having to make life and death decisions, and because (like the rest of us) she's unable to spend time with her family and friends. Boris Johnson isn't enjoying it because of the obvious fact that he almost died. Donald Trump isn't enjoying it because he's a known germaphobe and because it may have screwed up his chances of being re-elected in November.

So what could possibly have given Sarah Smith the impression that the First Minister is somehow having lots of fun? The specific claim was that, although Ms Sturgeon insists her decisions have been driven by scientific advice and not politics, she is in fact relishing the chance to diverge from London policy. No evidence was provided to support this suggestion - which is hardly surprising, because no such evidence exists. Ms Smith was given total licence by the BBC to speculate and editorialise from a partisan anti-SNP perspective in front of millions of viewers, and without any right of reply.

What's so stupid about this incident is that it's blindingly obvious to anyone who has paid attention since March that the truth is the polar opposite of Ms Smith's claim - the First Minister was in reality determined to remain in lockstep with London, and did so for several weeks, even though that meant disregarding all of the key recommendations of the World Health Organization. It took a catastrophe of near-biblical proportions for her to finally accept that London didn't know best on this occasion - and even then she diverged from Boris Johnson's decisions with the greatest of regret and reluctance. She would infinitely have preferred Johnson to have compromised in order to maintain a UK-wide approach.

It's bad enough for a BBC correspondent to drop all pretence of impartiality and shove their own political opinions down viewers' throats - but when they're just plain factually wrong at the same time, that really is unforgivable.

* * *

To return briefly to the subject of the previous post, my eye was caught by this claim from Kevin McKenna in the Herald -

"A wide-ranging poll conducted this week for Wings Over Scotland by Panelbase has already produced one astounding conclusion: that the number of SNP voters who’d be willing to sacrifice power for the sacred goal of independence has dropped from 82% to 59%. It bears out my worst fears for the future of the independence movement: that the party which alone is defined by this has now become so dazzled by the trinkets of high office that it’s fast losing the stomach for the fight."

That's highly misleading on one count, and inaccurate on another. The poll quite simply didn't ask whether voters would "sacrifice power for independence". It didn't ask them whether they would prefer power or independence. It didn't ask any other variant of that question either. It instead asked whether people would vote Yes or No to independence under wildly implausible hypothetical circumstances, and didn't give them any opportunity to explain their reasoning. By far the most likely explanation for people getting cold feet about independence in the specified scenario is that they were concerned that Scotland might not be competently governed if the SNP suddenly ceased to exist. They therefore concluded it would be a risk too far. I doubt if it even occurred to them that they were "sacrificing power", and quite right too - ordinary voters don't have much power to sacrifice, and they generally don't have any control at all over the political party they vote for.

The direct inaccuracy is that the figure has "dropped from 82% to 59%". That suggests the result is being compared to a previous poll that asked a similar question - but it isn't. No such previous poll exists.

123 comments:

  1. The incestuous relationship between unionist politicians, their offspring and BBC Scotland is shocking. Or would be in a normal democracy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s the old story of unionists always politicising everything through the frame of independence.
      I think James you are living in a forlorn hope though - people like my in-laws will simply re report such comments along the lines of ‘ well that Sarah smith said such and such and you can well believe it can’t you?’

      Delete
    2. No doubt that lickspittle GWC will be along any moment to reinforce your point.

      Delete
  2. Maybe the BBC should issue a statement.
    Are Sarah Smith's views anent the FMs 'enjoyment' shared and supported by the BBC?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sarah Smith is not alone in her desperation to bring down the SNP before it's too late (for the BBC that is) Unionists throughout Scotland are in panic mode, they see the Union unfolding rapidly now and there's nothing they can do about it but panic

    Wings over Stuart Campbell, well what can one say about this rancid bitter little man in his discontent at not being revered as the fount of all knowledge
    Like a child he stamps his feet and throws his supermarket tantrums and all the toys he has not just out of the pram but directly at the SNP
    This self admitted Liberal Democrat who lives in another country where Scottish Independence could have no direct impact upon him has decided the cause of Independence has bored him now because it's not being done by the person he likes or in the way he approves, so spends his time (because he's banned from his favourite pastime of abusing people on Twtter) inventing the most convoluted ridiculous questions set out in polls to generate the answers he desires, yet still the more bizarre the poll he dreams up the answers aren't clear enough for Campbell so he reinterprets them even more bizarrely

    This little man seems determined to destroy his own website then blame it on his Mammy for banning him from having another one
    And therein might be the problem with Campbell he really wants Nicola Sturgeon to be his Mammy but the First Minister doesn't even acknowledge his existence

    Campbell is a poor wee disturbed weirdo who calls everybody else weirdos, put your dummy back in Campbell and try to grow up into an adult, Nicola won't be coming round your house to comfort you, don't you have a Mammy of your own, or a Daddy even, or can you not con them into sending you more money, get a Ffking job!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's more going on with Campbell than many realise. Money is the name of the game for him, so who's bankrolling him now?

      Delete
    2. Wings Over NigeriaMay 19, 2020 at 6:29 PM

      Och Aye the Noo, Fellow Scotlands!

      It has come to our attention that we currently hold in our bank account an abundance of independence referendums (equivalent to the value one independent Scotland in 2020).

      We understand that these were transferred to us in error by one Bute House Holdings Ltd at some time over the past several years but that they rightfully belong to you.

      Unfortunately popular public figures in your area, including Oor Wullie, Katie Morag, and the Old Man of Storr all want to claim these referendums for themselves and will shortly be successful in doing so with the help of their loyal supporters if you do not respond in a timely manner.

      So now you understand the gravity of the situation. On order to redeem these referendums and facilitate immediate transfer back to you the rightful owner, please waste no time with dilly or dally. Send us at once credit card details, firstborn son and list vote for 2021 election. Do as we say and do not delay and these referendums can be yours as soon as 7 May 2021!

      With Best See You Afters to Nessie,
      Wings Over Nigeria

      Delete
    3. Wings over Scotland has made himself an irrelevance with his extremism. He did it and cannot blame anyone else.

      Delete
  4. Why is the BBC attacking the SNP if the latter are now unionist?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And why is Ian Murray talking like a fanny when he has a chance to behave like a grown up and contribute to our national discussion? ( I’ve just read his quote on the bbc about our confidence in Nicola Sturgeon having been ‘shattered’.)
      He’s just another panicking member of the old guard.

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    2. You make a very good point. In fact I'm just hearing from Laura that the Labour Party in Scotland and the Scottish Conservative Party have asked for permission to be dissolved in the next few days.

      Delete
    3. The email from Gove has been misplaced.

      Delete
  5. Sarah Smith's words may have been ill-chosen, but I think most people would agree, there is some truth in the sentiment, that Sturgeon relishes the particular aspect of the pandemic that allows her to govern as if Scotland had a greater degree of sovereignty, if not enjoying the pandemic itself in a holistic sense.

    Having said that, great wartime leaders are curious beasts, the second world war was certainly Churchill's finest hour, many attested to the fact that he was most at ease with himself during the height of the conflict and struggled during peacetime. Whether such character's enjoy such periods is a moot point, but they are certainly equipped and built for them and thrive during them.

    Sturgeon relished the heat of battle of the referendum campaign, albeit a very different war, where lives weren't literally at stake. She seems particularly suited to governing during a crisis such as the one we're currently enduring. Her approval ratings are up, and she has induced a perception that she is managing the crisis much more effectively and efficiently than her counterparts in London despite very little divergence up until now in substantive policies or decisions.

    That divergence is however, set to increase, as the London approach to the pandemic has all but been abandoned by the FM, with Scotland set to take a much more cautious approach. The pathway set out by the UK is much more aligned to other European nations, as they all look to tread the path back toward normality, so there's an argument that it's not quite necessary. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are set to be outliers in Europe as we move forward but if there is an England only second wave within the UK, we could be in for some interesting times ahead.

    In a world where Corona is everything, and everything is Corona, and border patrols set up to prevent people from entering from England, a divergent pathway will make Scotland look and feel much more like its being governed as an independent nation. Very different from 2007 or any other period of national/global emergency in living memory or otherwise. The implications of which may well have a seismic impact on the independence campaign itself, realigning the beliefs and perspectives of Scots the length and breadth of the country. Whether by design or not, surely there's an aspect of this current period and approach that Sturgeon will at least relish if not actually enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I live in Tallinn, Estonia and the government here banned direct flights to the 7 remaining "high risk" countries in the region from Sunday. This list included Russia, Belarus, Turkey and − no surprises here − the UK.

      There is no local contextualisation of the UK scenario from the point of view of devolved decision making but the two main points being considered in Europe are these:

      1. The UK government has lost control.
      2. The UK government doesn't care that it has lost control.

      I would estimate that the Estonian flight ban will not be the last. And what is one of the main stories on BBC R4 this morning? The establishment of air bridges between safer countries with the UK assumed as totally OK.

      O wad some Power the giftie gie us
      To see oursels as ithers see us!
      It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
      An’ foolish notion

      Delete
    2. I'm not at all sure that's the case. Everything I have read on this, most recently from Devi Shridhar in the Telegraph, points to England being in a small outlier within western Europe, along with Sweden and the Netherlands. They appear to be following a mitigation strategy. Scotland's strategy is now explicitly one of containment using test, trace and isolate (notwithstanding the disastrous decision to go along with the rest of the UK in a mitigation approach in March). That seems to be much more in-line with other European countries, as well as Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand.

      The Telegraph article I mention - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/scotland-uk-pursuing-fundamentally-different-coronavirus-strategies/

      Delete
    3. Another joint comment at 9:45AM from a Smith / McKenna / Murray supporter.

      Delete
    4. The UK Government has just hired 21 000 contact tracers and invested 100 million in a vaccine production facility in Oxford.

      Delete
    5. Don't be such a diddy, and that was a piss poor attempt at trolling as well as insulting, you ultra Yoons will try anything

      Delete
    6. "Don't be such a diddy, and that was a piss poor attempt at trolling as well as insulting, you ultra Yoons will try anything"

      says deeply paranoid crazed man.

      Delete
    7. Mention of Tallinn causes one to recollect a fine evening at the Ooper being bathed and cocooned in the soothing melodies (and yes, dissonances!) of Gounod's Romeo Ja Juulia. Not strictly a work of the highest order but a pleasant few hours of divertissement prior to boarding the last ferry to Helsinki in an eerie, somewhat unsettling and unsettled, location both temporal and spatial as if one were fleeing from the outer to the inner yet still outer. A multiplication of experience.

      Delete
  6. The propaganda inflicted on the population of Scotland by the Britnat media is truly unforgivable. Sarah Smith is just one of many.

    The Wings polling was a waste of time. Doesn't mean everything he posts is nonsense.

    McKenna takes the Wings nonsense and then piles on his conclusion - that the SNP "is losing the stomach for the fight". Now he uses nonsense to put forward a conclusion but that does not mean that the leadership has not lost the stomach for the fight just that he is using the wrong argument/information. One thing for sure is that the yes movement and the normal SNP member have not lost the stomach for the fight. Time for the SNP leadership to PROVE they have the stomach for the fight or to move aside for others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Big Eater From PerthMay 19, 2020 at 11:50 AM

      Reports of my demise have been spread by lying bladders. I most certainly have not lost the stomach for the fight.

      Delete
    2. ''Time for the SNP leadership to PROVE they have the stomach for the fight or to move aside for others.''

      Time? In the midst of this coronavirus crisis, especially when she's being accused of enjoying it and using it for political point scoring. Get real.

      Delete
    3. You're obviously not a member or you would have known the subject of the last SNP email to members was about Independence

      Delete
    4. " you're obviously not a member"

      Anonymous - what an insightful critique - did you get that one from watching the KGB in old movies.

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    5. "Get real" - more insightful critique from anonymous.

      Delete
  7. Note to James Kelly - do you ban the mention of certain names on your site. It would be handy if you published a list of such names if that is the case.😇😇😇😇😇

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  8. The only time our Prime Minister, sorry First Minister, will enjoy herself is wnen Scotland has its freedom from West minster cheating, with independence. No section order required.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I normal mute the BBCs SS from the off, but last night decided to have a wee listen to her bs, big mistake mute button activated after 25secs.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Couple of points, James.
    I don't believe NS went along with Boris because she wanted to do so, but she had to. Boris holds the purse strings via Sunak.

    If a way can be found round the limitations of devolution she will act - hence the ban on large meetings - which came in before the Coronavirus act 2020 came into force on 25th March.

    Please don't do a Sarah Smith and impute motives without evidence.

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    Replies
    1. I can't do a Sarah Smith because I'm not a public service broadcaster who is supposed to be impartial.

      Delete
    2. HA HA HA HA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      NS could have use the powers available to protect the Scottish people and then demand the english give us back our own money to pay for it. That would have shown everyone who still has to be convinced that we are cannon fodder to westminster. But she didn't as she is a coward who doesn't know up from down and man from woman.

      Delete
    3. Young James would you like to a public service broadcaster on behalf of the Nat si party?

      Delete
    4. I should like Young James Kelly to perform Mike Smithson Pops.

      As an aperitif for Strictly.

      Delete
  11. The real life and death decisions are made by the medical staff. It really was a silly thing for Smith to say but perhaps she was following instructions. If it was a Labour FM then I suspect Smith would be the flavour of the month with the Nat sis . It is clear that all the leaders are under pressure having to make decisions based on advise they get from experts and it seems everyone is an expert nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pickforbritain.org.uk
      To the fields! Glorious Brexitannia awaits!

      Delete
  12. Nick Stripe, head of the health analysis and life events division at the Office for National Statistics, told the BBC a few minutes ago that the total number of excess deaths in the UK - the number above what might expected at this time of year, judged by a five-year average, was just under 55,000 by early May.

    Scientists, and ministers, have repeatedly said that the excess death figures will ultimately prove the most reliable guide as to how badly the UK has been hit by coronavirus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boris the Butcher certainly earning that title.

      Delete
    2. Are you compairing Boris to Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot and Ghengis McCann who deliberately had people killed?

      Delete
    3. Here's Covidia's chance to make a difference:
      pickforbritain.org.uk
      To the fields! To the fields!

      Delete
    4. The Nat is David Francis is still around hiding in an Anderson Shelter somewhere in Beith.

      Delete
    5. pickforbritain.org.uk

      Glorious Brexitannia is calling! To the fields, Covidia! To the fields!

      Delete
    6. Boris nearly deliberately had himself killed

      Delete
    7. Exactly. The least Covidia could do is a few shifts in the fields.

      Delete
  13. The coronavirus cannot be eradicated, the House of Lords has heard.

    Prof David Robertson, head of viral genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow, told the House's Science and Technology Committee that Covid-19 was a highly successful virus.

    He said: "It is so transmissible, it's so successful, we're so susceptible, that actually it's a little bit of a red herring to worry about it getting worse, because it couldn't be much worse at the moment in terms of the numbers of cases."

    He contrasted coronavirus with Ebola, which killed many more of the people it infected but was therefore easier to control as people stopped spreading it.

    "This virus is infecting so many people with asymptomatic to mild symptoms that it's almost uncontrollable.

    "I think we have to be clear that we're not going to be able to eradicate this virus. It's going to settle into the human population and in several years it will become a normal virus."

    There was also a warning that people who have had coronavirus may not develop significant immunity.

    John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said evidence from survivors of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a different form of coronavirus) suggested immunity-giving antibodies reduced over time.

    "So that's potentially bad news for us, that immunity may not last that long against this virus," he said.

    ReplyDelete
  14. A Covid cardiologist at a top London hospital – friendly to Boris – has been so incensed by the daily charade of bogus omniscience that he vented his spleen in an email to me on Sunday night. It is a poignant indictment, so I pass along a few snippets.

    Basically, every mistake that could have been made, was made. He likened the care home policy to the Siege of Caffa in 1346, that grim chapter of the Black Death when a Mongol army catapulted plague-ridden bodies over the walls.

    “Our policy was to let the virus rip and then ‘cocoon the elderly’,” he wrote. “You don’t know whether to laugh or cry when you contrast that with what we actually did. We discharged known, suspected, and unknown cases into care homes which were unprepared, with no formal warning that the patients were infected, no testing available, and no PPE to prevent transmission. We actively seeded this into the very population that was most vulnerable.”

    ReplyDelete
  15. an anonymous care home boss said:

    In March 17, Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, said hospitals had to get 90,000 beds cleared, so they needed to get 30,000 people out. So they sent patients with no tests into care homes. They said: “We don’t need tests — you’ve just got to take them.”

    Well, I’ve now got two homes with Covid-19. We can trace it. In both homes it came from residents bringing the virus from hospital. So when the manager of another of my homes rang to tell me he’d refused, I said categorically, “Well done.” That home has 90 beds, and to this day it is still Covid-free.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Kiddy Fiddler Corp known as the EBC is too gutless to sack Sarah Smith James. She is only doing what her Lords and Masters want her to do after all.

    Now does the SNP have the stomach to ask for Smiths head? Does it have the stomach to eject the Scot Hating EBC from its briefings? I bet not!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The SNP doesn't need to do a thing, the journalists are blowing their own heads up in front of a live TV audience

      Don't interrupt them

      Delete
    2. That's clever IanM.
      You've just turned that into SNP Bad. Take a tumble tae yersel!

      Delete
  17. I could have beaten Muhammed Ali and been world heavyweight champion if I'd only learned to box eaten more and grown bigger

    See the chance I missed, definitely a mistake, in fact a disaster and it should've been on the news

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sarah Smith was given a platform to basically spout her own opinion on TV, and used it to insult Nicola Sturgeon, and to undermine the First Ministers immense job of dealing with this terrible epidemic, which could hardly be more serious.

    Smith is given a platform to make dangerous and negative allegations against Nicola Sturgeon.
    We have to ask why? She is so obviously lacking in objectivity in her job, and hardly manages to hold back the bile when telling her stories in front of millions of TV license payers. Smith is a nasty, opionionated biased liar, she should be nowhere near a news programme especially at this crucial time. There are journalists, real ones, being persecuted in some countries around the globe, some are murdered for telling the truth, or trying to. Smith is an insult to journalism, she should hang her head in shame.

    Smith could hardly display more contempt for Nicola Sturgeon, and that is incredibly unprofessional and what she said yesterday was utterly despicable, particularly under the current circumstances. Stooping very low, Smith is not fit to lick the boots of Nicola Sturgeon.

    Did Johnson really nearly die? How many of the Tory cabinet of horrors have had the CV19, and made a miraculous recovery!? All part of the herd immunity plot, show the people you can get this virus, and survive with no ill effects. Except, we know fine well that many are tragically not surviving it, and that in fact many of those who do survive are suffering major health problems after they had the virus.

    The EngGov are an utter disgrace, their lies are certainly well and truly alive, and the likes of Smith and the BBC are the messengers with very dirty hands, no amount of washing can get rid of the residue of muck they spread on a daily basis, plenty of scum there for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Smith is a party political broadcaster. That's all. Like Henriot was in 1940s France.

      Delete
  19. The BBC like the UK government like the Scottish Yoons all know about the email outlining the next steps to Independence, and they also know the polling in support of it, so with Covid 19 and Brexit on top of it they're panicking

    ReplyDelete
  20. 1 Saw it suggested hat SS is angling to replace Donalda Mac.....
    2 Reports of a mild earthquake in Argyll remain unsubstantiated.....

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lockdown brain teaser:

    Somebody on Wings has just paid tribute to The Rev's journalism and said that there will be a movie about him one day. What do you think the title of the movie will be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How about *Big Baby Boss* the story of a greetin faced wean

      Delete
    2. Braveheart II. Brave Hearter

      Delete
    3. Pickforbritain.org.uk

      A few patriotic shifts in the fields will fix Covidia right up.

      Delete
  22. Get all the Britnat turds on the fields. Spread the muck everywhere - good for crop yield.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would suggest spreading you Irish however the Blight follows you everywhere. Make sure your children are at home if you see a man in a collar.

      Delete
    2. Pickforbritain.org.uk

      It's Covidia's patriotic duty to volunteer for the fields.

      Delete
    3. Boris wanted to develop a new covid virus strain to attack intelligent Scottish nationalists. He was advised that due to the lack of intelligence the cost would be negligible.

      Delete
    4. You'll never fill up the fields with working Britnats half of them are dead of Corona virus because they refused to pay attention to the FM so they died for Boris

      Delete
    5. You'll never fill up the fields with working Britnats because they're too damned lazy to do the work they took away from migrant workers.

      Delete
    6. It is britnats and some foreign labour that drive the economy.The Scottish nat si Irish are sitting at home playing with their ding a lings and claiming benefits.

      Delete
    7. pickforbritain.org.uk

      To the fields! To the fields before they make it a condition of Covidia's pension!

      Delete
  23. weden has had more deaths per capita from Covid-19 than any country in Europe over the past seven days, Reuters reports.

    Most schools, restaurants and businesses in Sweden have remained open throughout the pandemic, after it decided to eschew a wide-ranging lockdown of the economy to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

    Critics of Sweden’s approach are likely to use the latest figures as ammunition against a policy they say has left its population exposed to Covid-19.

    While deaths are on the decline Sweden had 6.25 deaths per million inhabitants per day in a rolling seven day average to 19 May, according to Ourworldindata.org.

    It was the highest in Europe and just above the UK, which had 5.75 deaths per million despite having closed schools and most businesses, and imposing restrictions on people’s movement outside their homes.

    Overall, Sweden still has fewer deaths per capita from Covid-19 than the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium and France, which have all opted for lockdowns, but much higher than Nordic neighbours Denmark, Norway and Finland.

    Sweden’s strategy, mostly based on voluntary measures regarding social distancing and basic hygiene, has been criticised by some as a dangerous experiment with peoples lives but also been put forward as a future model by the World Health Organization.

    Sweden’s open strategy seems to have softened the blow on the economy, with growth shrinking much less than in Denmark and Norway in the first quarter.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Basing its approach on a so-called “principle of responsibility”, Sweden has kept schools open (indeed compulsory) for children under the age of 16, along with cafes, bars, restaurants and businesses, and urged people to respect social distancing guidelines.

    Statistics released on Monday showed that Sweden had its deadliest month in almost three decades in April, with a total of 10,458 deaths recorded in the country of 10.3 million people.

    “We have to go back to December 1993 to find more dead during a single month,” Tomas Johansson, population statistician at Statistics Sweden, said in a statement.

    In total, 97,008 deaths were recorded in Sweden during the whole of 1993, which in turn was the deadliest year since 1918, when the Spanish flu pandemic ravaged the country. Johansson told AFP there was no official breakdown explaining the high death toll in December 1993 but said there was a flu epidemic at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  25. They pay very high pensions in Sweden, less now, where do you think Boris Johnson got the idea from

    ReplyDelete
  26. Jornalists. What they write depends on who is paying them even the decent ones like McKenna and macWhirter have to play the game. I can handle that within reason. After all it gets put out there as opinion rather than fact

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How do you know they are decent unless you live with them.

      Delete
    2. pickforbritain.org.uk

      Delete
  27. GB-wide public opinion on Nicola Sturgeon as SNP Leader:

    Approve: 43%
    Disapprove: 28%

    via
    @OpiniumResearch

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In general the minority are those who look seriously at a situation and do not pander to propaganda from those with a political interest.

      Delete
    2. In Scotland the FMs approval ratings are in the mid 80%

      Delete
    3. If you promise to buy a jock a pint even when the pubs are closed they will vote for anything.

      Delete
    4. pickforbritain.org.uk

      Volunteer now! It's Covidia's patriotic duty! To the fields!

      Delete
  28. On the World scene Catholic Ireland and Luxembourg want the EU to consider sanctions against Israel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brexiters never come good on promises. It's why GWC's just sitting on his erse trolling the internet rather than out in the fields picking for Britain.

      Delete
    2. Exactly. Idle slacker that it is.

      Delete
  29. Contact tracers lack knowledge about Covid-19 job
    They were hailed as stepping up to serve their country, with all the “rigorous” and “detailed” instruction needed for such an important role – but a programme to train thousands of contact-tracers to help control the spread of coronavirus has been described as shambolic and inadequate by recruits.

    People hired to contact those exposed to someone with Covid-19 and advise them to self-isolate have reported spending days just trying to log into the online system, and virtual training sessions that left participants unclear about their roles.

    New contact tracers have been told to rely on a two-page script and a list of frequently asked questions, both seen by the Guardian. When one taking part in a training session, run by contact centre company Sitel, asked for guidance on how to speak with somebody whose loved one had died of coronavirus, they were reportedly told to look at YouTube videos on the topic.

    ReplyDelete
  30. UK plans for contact-tracing in doubt as app not ready until June
    The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh, Frances Perraudin, Heather Stewart and Peter Walker report:

    Plans to introduce coronavirus tracing have been hit by fresh uncertainty as it emerged that a mobile tracking app will not be ready until June.

    Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said last week that the app would be “rolling out in mid May” across England, but on Tuesday ministerial sources tried to downplay a system considered critical to control the disease as the country emerges from lockdown.

    It came as the deputy chief scientific adviser acknowledged the decision to abandon track-and-trace in March was made because of a lack of testing capacity, but said it was “the right thing to do” in the circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Sweden has taken a soft approach to virus restrictions and although its rules are likely to be in place longer than in other countries, officials are adamant their strategy is a winner in the long term, AFP reports.

    “This fight against Covid-19 is a marathon,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said recently, adding that his officials “strongly believe” their measures are viable for the long haul.

    While people in other European countries have gradually begun returning to their workplaces in recent weeks, Swedes have been strongly advised to continue working from home, and possibly not just for weeks, but for months to come.

    However, Sweden never imposed full lockdown measures – under-16s have continued to go to school, patrons have not been stopped from going to cafes, bars and restaurants.

    Sweden has 30,799 confirmed cases and a death toll of 3,743.

    Some have accused Sweden of playing Russian roulette with citizens’ lives by allowing the virus to circulate slowly in society, with the main goal being to ensure the public healthcare system can keep pace.

    The consequences are difficult to miss - Sweden’s death rate stood at 371 per million inhabitants on Tuesday, roughly eight times the rate in Norway and Finland, according to the Worldometer website.

    However, although Sweden’s hospitals have reported strained conditions, they have not been overwhelmed.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The words piss up and brewery come to mind.

    The justice secretary Robert Buckland is doing the broadcast round for the government this morning. On BBC Breakfast, he was repeatedly asked about the concerns around primary schools reopening on 1 June.

    Buckland said he’s “not going to sit here and pretend that on 1 June everything will be uniform – I don’t know. It’s my hope”.

    He said the government was “very much in listening mode, talking to the relevant bodies, we’re not trying to dictate things,” adding:

    We’ve said we hope it see schools open on 1 June and that’s still our hope as the situation continues to evolve.

    Buckland was pressed on when the NHS test and trace app would be ready. He said he was “confident over the next several weeks we’ll see the tracing system develop”.

    Asked whether it would be ready by 1 June, given that the deputy chief scientific adviser said yesterday that an effecting tracing system was crucial to lifting the lockdown, he replied: “I’m hoping we’ll see the tracing system start to work by that time. It won’t necessarily be as developed and full blown as we’d like... it’s still very much a work in progress.”

    ReplyDelete
  33. The leader of Leeds city council, Judith Blake, has just told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the government should “move away from an arbitrary date” for reopening all primary schools.

    Blake, one of the most influential local authority figures in the country, said teachers had been working “flat out” to support vulnerable children and those of key workers but that there remained outstanding concerns about social distancing, staffing and the rate of local infection.

    She said the government’s handling of the reopening of schools had “really led to a loss of confidence” and added:

    “What we’re asking for is flexibility. Schools want to open, they want to be teaching their children, so let’s move away from an arbitrary date and work with our schools. Government needs to understand that they need to take local factors into account [and] if they’d done that from the start I don’t think we’d be in the position we’re in today.”

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oxford Cambridge Eton and other places where you can buy a degree to suit the directorship you might enjoy doing or the political party you might want to lead are closed for the rest of the year for fear of the spreading of Corona Virus

    Apparently children in ordinary schools are expendable because they've to return on the 1st of June because the UK government needs their parents working in the fields berry picking for the economy, and even if those children were smart enough or still alive to go to a university their degrees don't count anyway because they were born in the wrong families

    ReplyDelete
  35. Glasgow Central Stn is geared up for more passengers and the bus companies also. Knickerless is only a couple of weeks behind Boris on policy. She has to appear to be different. My local M&S opened its ladies and children clothing area two weeks ago. Social distancing when exiting the food hall getting difficult. What is slowly happening has SG consent I assume.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Never mind that; what's a prolier than thou screecher like Covidia doing in Markies?

      Delete
    2. You know the UK Gov policy. Do not pretend to be a thick,you are not. And that covedia prick,top tip you get three food items in Markies for the price of tea.

      Delete
    3. Nope GWC, it's not clear to me what the UK covid policy is. Can you explain?

      Delete
    4. Do you know the Jock Gov policy? Besides moving the elderly from hospitals to care homes to die!

      Delete
    5. What a disgusting thought - a Britnat turd hanging around the ladies and children's clothing area. A stinky pervert.

      Delete
    6. Covidia leaves a bad smell everywhere it goes. Markies must love that.

      Delete
  36. Yougov UK Scots sample:
    51% SNP
    25% Con
    15% Lab
    4% Lib
    2% Grn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. full tables available here

      https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/246il6g7ik/TheTimes_VI_Trackers_200519_W.pdf

      Delete
  37. 25% conservative even now?
    Some people just don’t care about much apart from £s do they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is why there are not enough people to work the fields. The 25% are not coming good on their promise.

      Delete
  38. The voting patters for Scotland look set to remain as they are, Labour may drop even more but those voters will just switch to Tory
    It's all about the constitution now even if the Tories passed a law to eat babies these people would still vote for them

    Even if it were their own babies, they're STAUNCH y'see

    ReplyDelete
  39. So, the worst affected countries for respective continents are run by:
    - Donald Trump
    - Boris Johnson
    - Jair Bolsonaro

    Anyone notice a pattern emerging?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Covidia doesn't approve of liberals. It even thinks Yaxley-Lennon is a bit too liberal.

      Delete
    2. If I was born a NAT si lady I'd want to be called Roberta Bruise or Williamina Whiplace. Now you're all raging like little cybernated. Hahahahaha

      Delete
    3. Oh dear.
      Covidia did make an early start on the turps.
      It is to be hoped that it can safely make its way back to the sobbing cupboard.

      Delete
  40. The Britnat Brexiteer Tories made an absolute mess of Brexit. No reason to think they will not make a bigger ness of a more difficult matter like a pandemic.

    Tory voters please stay at home for future elections and save businesses, jobs and of course lives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Says the sit at home middle class gin swiggin jock drug dealer.

      Delete
    2. Why are you not out the in the fields picking for Britain GWC? Weather is perfect for it.

      Just lazy?

      Delete
    3. Bone idle Brexiteers expect everyone else to do the hard and dirty work while they reap the benefits.

      Delete
    4. May dad's the same age and spends all day outside working in the garden, chopping logs, building stuff etc.

      He doesn't vote to put people in the shit with no intention of helping them out either.

      Delete
  41. We know the BBC can't help themselves in promoting Britishness but now Johns Beattie on radio Scotland is actively promoting breaking the law because the weather's nice, "well we know it's safe" says Beattie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all know it's safe. You're Sturgeon's having a giggle at you. I've been out and about having a chinwag and a couple of jars with my mates. Easy!

      Delete
    2. That's the way tae dae it GWC be a rebel. Save the World.

      Delete
    3. Now you know that's a lie GWC, because you don't have mates, only lodge members

      Delete
    4. I hear the 13th,July Parades in NI are going ahead due to social distancing arrangements. The bands and lodges are being split into small groups of six. The parades are expected to last 48hrs.

      Delete
    5. Covidia won't have time for that. It'll be too busy in the fields.

      pickforbritain.org.uk

      Delete
    6. We Unionists would not want to interrupt the Scottish Nat si middle class avocado cocktail parties. We would allow you to import some darkies from your failed colony.

      Delete
    7. Poor benighted Covidia. Too idle to do any work, but too racist to let anyone else come in and work.
      It's so very, very confused.

      Delete
  42. Note from the SRA, all Orange Lodge marches are to go ahead, please! just do it, for us, go on you know you want to, save us the trouble of assisting you when we begin cleaning up Scotland

    ReplyDelete
  43. I made a comment on the Wings polling article, pretty much saying the same thing as James Kelly, about the confusion caused by people being asked a scenario that excluded the SNP.

    How many people on here would want independence if Scotland would be run by the Labour party or the Tories?

    However, as far as I'm concerned Rev Stu is a giant in a field of pygmies, when it comes to political insights, challenges to the political establishment and holding the MSM to account.


    ReplyDelete
  44. So a special advisor who isn't a civil servant and who has to adhere to a code of conduct doesn't think the rules matter to him. I see from various news items that his relatives have been landed contracts by the UK Government which any tendering. There needs to be an enquiry into all this. Now this individual is to have a press conference. This might be the day the Tories will rue later.

    ReplyDelete