On Friday, just after listening to Nicola Sturgeon’s much-hyped ‘next steps’ announcement, I had to travel to Edinburgh to attend events marking Brexit on Friday and Saturday. I also met up with my wife who was traveling back from a work-related trip to Denmark, for a rare evening out together. All of this by way of excuse for not responding earlier to that speech. Although the delay may have been a good thing. I have seen some of the responses made in immediate disappointment and/or frustration and/or anger and I’m rather glad I didn’t take a computer with me. Instead, I vented my initial reaction on Twitter where such things belong.

I have, for example, seen Stu Campbell’s article prompted by the First Minister’s speech and, while he is essentially correct in his analysis, he tends towards the intemperate in some of his comments and brings in matters which would…

A couple of months ago I bought some new lamps for our living room. They’re those ones with the bulbs that change colour controlled from an app on your phone. It’s nice to be able to adjust the lighting according to the time of day or what you’re doing. The lamps were bought online and supplied by a firm in Germany and, while I’m more than happy with my purchase, there was a problem with one of them which necessitated contacting the firm’s customer service department – which I duly did whilst making a further purchase. The problem was quickly and efficiently resolved and the new purchases promptly dispatched. All in all, a painless and hassle-free process.

It occurred to me today to wonder whether my dealings with this company in Germany will be so straightforward in future. Previously, I had been dealing with them as an EU citizen in…

On behalf of the poor wee health correspondents at Reporting Scotland Down and at the Herald, I’ve searched and searched for evidence of a Norovirus ‘crisis’ in NHS Scotland. It’s just not there. Even Miles Briggs can’t seem to find any for them and if he can’t no one can.

You’ll see above and in several other MSM reports on NHS England and Wales, that Norovirus is rampant in many hospitals. In one case, the response was a dramatic ‘black alert’:

‘It comes as bosses at Royal Cornwall Hospital was forced to book hotel rooms for patients as space on the wards began running out. Details of the “extraordinary action” were revealed in a briefing note provided to Cornwall councillors by the hospital trust’s chief exec Kate Shields last week. Staff were ordered to reserve ten rooms at local hotels after the hospital declared an OPEL 4 status –…

In Energy Voice yesterday:

‘Mammoth Highland offshore wind farms are footing a bill of around £20 million more per year than English projects to connect to the grid, according to the builder of what will be Scotland’s biggest wind venture. The levied regime in the UK, called transmission charging and set up by the energy regulator Ofgem, is understood to be a major disadvantage to projects in the windiest regions of Scotland – with a £20m per year price tag that could rise to £30m by 2025’

Not only is Scotland paying extra to connect to the grid, but the electricity is then being transferred to England, Wales and Northern Ireland to compensate for their lack of generation and to help the UK appear to be meeting its carbon reduction target. See:

Government figures reveal the massive and increasing level of transfer of electricity from Scotland…