Scottish government Covid briefings on the BBC

Yes a United Kingdom with all that that implies fought with the aid of many commonwealth countries. Together.

Jane10

The Scottish navy

Are there plans for a Scottish Army, an Air Force and for Marines too?

Will those Sots who are in Her Majesty's Forces now be required to resign and join the Scottish Forces? How will this work?

Apologies - Scots!

Alegrias to reply to some of points you brought up:
1. I'm not against independence per se but I won't vote for it until someone shows me the bottom line and that has never happened so far.
2.agree with the software and gaming industries. I don't really know enough about the space industries to comment. However I know there is opposition from locals in the north.
3 Renewables - contracts for renewables went overseas and Scottish firms were left with building bases for wind farms. You should read this as it would appear the Scottish Government could do more neweconomics.org/2019/11/scottish-government-should-guarantee-renewable-energy-projects-use-local-parts-and-labour
4Higher education or schools. If it's schools the performance is pitiful and I won't quote anything as it is well documented in the press and the reasons why Scotland pulled the plug on i being compared internationally. If it's higher education then there is a cap on Scottish students due to tuition fees being paid. Again well documented in the press.
5. The Scottish Government was warned of the possible outcomes of sending elderly people into care homes without testing and of allowing elderly patients who tested positive were discharged as well. Again well documented in the press and that was particularly unforgivable. I know they weren't the only ones but we are talking Scotland here.
6. Progressive tax system my eye. The progressive tax system means that people earning less than £27k are better off by £21 a year. See here www.thenational.scot/news/18224727.scots-earning-less-27k-will-pay-less-tax-rest-uk/
What the tax system does is discourage people and businesses from coming here. People feel they will pay more taxes and businesses due to the horrendous business rates that have been imposed by Scottish Government. See here www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-51327124
7. I don't actually mind paying for my prescriptions but I do object to the extra 1p mainly because I don't see the benefit of where that extra money goes.

stewaris we won't agree but I appreciate the exchange of views.
One last thing to finish with, the space industries aren't connected at all with the space port proposed for the north. You might be interested in googling them as they are great examples of successful companies, especially STAR-Dundee.

lots and lots of folks today are no longer paying their bbc tv licence they’re making a statement hooray

Stewaris The Scottish government was acting in the "four nation approach" to covid ..hence late lockdown until Bojo gave the say so ,no financial aid until Bojo said so and yes the care home issues were 4 thats FOUR nation approach too.Check the massive numbers of deaths in care homes not just in Scotland but the other 3 nations in teh UK and WORLDWIDE.as the family who lost an uncle in April in a cre home I can assure you I am in no way defending that policy .But to lay it at the door of ONE of the 4 natons is ridiculous .

I will ask you IF Scotland was already an Independent country would you vote Today ..to join a union making the UK .Wpild you hand over your income and get half(?) back ,let someone take your assets and add them to THEIR export figures allow them to make decisions about the people who live here when they know nothing about us and care less ...oh and the biggyHand over the rights to our Water ,power ,fishing and farming for them to bargain with ..sadly England is running out of water and will be in dire straits within the next 30 years WE have more fresh water in ONE loch than there is in the whole of England ....you happy to hand it over and pay to supply them? Not me ,I've never been happy about us PAYING to be added to the national grid either ..while the other "nations" get PAID FOR THE SAME THING .This is NOT a union its a hostage situation and from what I can see many are suffering with Stockholm syndrome ....maybe you need help.Independence IS coming ,it has long been needed.

Elizabeth 237000 households have cancelled ,we dont want or need anti Scotland propoganda every hour in so called NEWS .

the commonwealth is just a way of keeping the "empire" image making "Britain" feel its still important ...its not! Barbados is ditching Lizzie next year ,wait for the domino effect as other nations realise they neither want nor need to be tagged as "british"

Is that 237,000 households in Scotland Paddyanne or in the whole of the UK?

I think we'll call this a victory, shall we ladies?

news.stv.tv/politics/bbc-to-continue-broadcasting-coronavirus-briefings?fbclid=IwAR11ZbJ9ARalgQkc8I46AmSmiNJvDTXceIuGZ2_qDvYK2H7mhH9rxWCLzWM&top

Good news !

Oh dear quick get the smelling salts for certain posters.

'Other voices and perspectives will now feature alongside' at last!

Granny23 I've just read this from the Helensburgh Advertiser and it doesn't mention anything about a deep water port. In fact it says Astute class submarines will be based there.
www.helensburghadvertiser.co.uk/news/18165391.faslane-naval-base-growth-vital-argyll-bute-future/

paddyanne I probably know a lot more about the water industry in Scotland and the state it's in as I worked their for 17 years. The east of Scotland has always been incredibly drier than most people suppose. Scottish Water are frequently issuing statements/bulletins about being careful with water. Have a look here to see what I mean and I have seen reservoirs in the Pentlands in the same state. In fact, I was part of a group looking at the effects of drought in Scotland round about the mid 2000's. www.heraldscotland.com/news/18405259.drought-warning-water-levels-record-low/

Jane10

'Other voices and perspectives will now feature alongside' at last!

Well there was nothing stopping the BBC doing that in the first place Jane10.

No comments about the U-turn from anyone else who was so adamant about the briefings being a bad thing?

The great TV licence turn-off: Figures reveal 237,000 fewer families have paid the BBC fee in the last year as viewers switch to Netflix

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8736711/Figures-reveal-237-000-fewer-families-payed-BBC-fee-year-viewers-switch-Netflix.html

It appears that these are households all over the UK, not just in Scotland, so the suggestion that they are all protesting about a perceived anti-Scottish bias is a bit absurd.

I think it more likely that many are protesting about the pro-Tory, pro-Brexit bias that we have seen for the last five years, but looks set to become even more right-wing under the aegis of the new Tory chairman.

Repeat from other thread: 'Brilliant speech in the HoC by Alyn Smith. Perhaps someone could share it here, I seem to be unable to.

Unelected politicians? You have seen nothing yet.'

twitter.com/AlynSmith/status/1306166603369910278

Alyn Smith is a superb politician. If you can, check out his last speech as an MSP; "leave a light on so we can find our way home"

I think it more likely that many are protesting about the pro-Tory, pro-Brexit bias that we have seen for the last five years, but looks set to become even more right-wing under the aegis of the new Tory chairman.

It's more likely people haven't paid the BBC licence fee because they don't watch much TV and they prefer entertainment on Netflix etc. They think that the BBC is dated and fuddy-duddy.
They probably couldn't care less about bias one way or another.

I think it’s appalling that the BBC are threatening to drop Scotlands Covid briefings by Nicola Sturgeon. They are broadcast on BBC Scotland anyway. But really I would like to know ...Why?? Is it because she is showing Westminster up by being up there every day telling us how it is.
I was not a lover of the SNP before and I am still sceptical but through this pandemic Ms Sturgeon has done a very good job in telling us how it is, and pulls no punches. That in itself is really refreshing from a politician. And be aware if Boris is still in power at the May elections, the chances are the SNP will win an overall majority here. And that will be the beginning of the end for the Union. Which will in my opinion be a great shame.

Alegrias, you're quite right about Alyn Smith's speech, but as I'm sure you know, and it's just a typo, his "leave a light on" speech was his last as an MEP, not an MSP. Very inspiring and moving.

Oops, yes, you're right Wheniwasyourage, he was an MEP, not an MSP. It was a typo, thank you for pointing that out.

Here's a thought that occurred to me this morning; so many people say that they don't understand the rules, and why we are being asked to do things. Do you think more people would understand and comply if they heard them first hand from the mouths of government leaders and scientific advisers, rather than through the filter of the press?

For instance this morning, there is the intentionally leaked news about pubs closing at 10pm in England. If Johnson had announced this properly in his address to the nation, with rationale, would that have been a better approach, in terms of having people understand?