In one of her lunchtime briefings this week Nicola Sturgeon pointed out, rather pointedly, that most care homes are private businesses. Calton thinks that she was trying to suggest that they pull their weight in the current crisis. Chutzpah on stilts. Here's why:
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotland's care homes were underfunded. This is because local councils do not pay enough to cover the cost of care for those who are not self-funded. They are subsidised by those who are paying for their care out of their savings or the sale of their home. If the ratio of council-funded clients to self-funded clients in a home gets too large the home becomes financially unviable. If a care home becomes financially unviable it may have to close. For years the Scottish Government has been cutting the cash it gives to local councils, causing them in turn to look for savings in things like the cost of care, so the buck stops with the First Minister here.
In normal times, care homes manage infectious diseases like norovirus and they use disposable gloves and aprons, which they procure like any other business on the open market. Now they have been faced with a new, highly infectious, respiratory infection which also requires the use of face masks at time when there is a world-wide shortage of all PPE and associated price-hiking. This is costing them extra, unexpected expenditure when they are already cash-strapped (see above). Health Secretary Jeane Freeman patted herself on the back recently because she
had distributed one week's worth of PPE to every care home in Scotland.
One week's worth!!! I'm sure it was welcome but it's hardly going to
plug the ongoing hole in the dyke!
Care homes have also been asked to take a lot of extra residents at short notice recently as the NHS cleared out its hospitals in preparation for an influx of Covid-19 patients. This was a huge transfer of liability from the state-funded NHS to the private sector. None of these patients were tested for the virus for the first few weeks. Now we have a massive problem with Covid-19 in Scotland's care homes, including one on Skye. Oh but never mind - according to Nicola Sturgeon they are private businesses who need to step up to the plate. Problem solved.
Sturgeon's comments were in response to a journalist pointing out that many private care homes are on their knees and may not survive the current crisis. What Sturgeon needs to realise, and realise fast, is that care homes are essential businesses. ESSENTIAL. If the Scottish Government can find the cash to prop up Prestwick and Ferguson, it should find the cash to support our care homes. Otherwise where are the residents still left after Covid-19 has done its worst going to live?
Sunday, 3 May 2020
Monday, 13 April 2020
Let the Scottish Government be the Baddie
Although Calton now lives in Edinburgh he grew up on the west coast of Scotland and still has relatives in the Highlands, some of whom earn their livings through tourism. So he has a dog in the fight when it comes to Covid-19 and its effect on the Highlands and Islands. He understands the concern of those who live there when faced with an influx of sasunnachs wanting to escape the virus. Unfortunately the way that concern has been expressed runs the risk of doing long-term damage to the industry which many in the Highlands depend on. Hand-made posters saying "tourists go home" will not be forgotten once this pandemic is over and neither will flat motorhome tyres. Visitors were not buying up all the food in the shops - the locals were managing to do that for themselves quite nicely well before Easter and the traditional influx of tourists (which the shops are geared up to cater for). Fears that sick visitors would swamp local health services were legitimate but, here's the thing, this should have been addressed by the Scottish Government, that SNP Government voted in by a majority of the Highlands, and not left to individuals or communities to deal with themselves.
The Scottish Government closed the schools on Friday 20th March, the forecast for that weekend was superb and yet those in power didn't seem to realise that a considerable number of people might, quite literally, head for the hills (or at least the carpark at Nevis Range). It wasn't until Sunday 22nd that the Government announced a ban on non-essential travel, including travel to second homes, and even then, their Chief Medical Officer thought that the advice was optional. That left vulnerable rural communities across Scotland unprotected for two whole days. It's not surprising that some of them decided to take the law into their own hands but it was extremely unfortunate and unwise.
Now that the travel ban is in place and is being enforced by Police Scotland, Calton would like to see all the unwelcoming signs taken down. Let the Scottish Government and the Police be the baddies, not local people. That's the smarter way to handle this. Covid-19 is decimating the tourist industry right now but it won't last long. A bad reputation will last a lot longer and the effect on the Highlands will be much deeper.
The Scottish Government closed the schools on Friday 20th March, the forecast for that weekend was superb and yet those in power didn't seem to realise that a considerable number of people might, quite literally, head for the hills (or at least the carpark at Nevis Range). It wasn't until Sunday 22nd that the Government announced a ban on non-essential travel, including travel to second homes, and even then, their Chief Medical Officer thought that the advice was optional. That left vulnerable rural communities across Scotland unprotected for two whole days. It's not surprising that some of them decided to take the law into their own hands but it was extremely unfortunate and unwise.
Now that the travel ban is in place and is being enforced by Police Scotland, Calton would like to see all the unwelcoming signs taken down. Let the Scottish Government and the Police be the baddies, not local people. That's the smarter way to handle this. Covid-19 is decimating the tourist industry right now but it won't last long. A bad reputation will last a lot longer and the effect on the Highlands will be much deeper.
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
On Competence
Calton has no doubt that the First Minister was sincere when she said how much she supported health care workers and wanted them to have the correct PPE in her press briefing today. Unfortunately sincerity doesn't provide PPE - competence does and Nicola Sturgeon is a bit short on that quality. She's great at presentation and carefully crafted speeches - her responses are slicker than her hairdo and more pointed than her shoes - but this Covid-19 crisis is showing her up for what she is - all fur coat and nae knickers.
What Scotland needs right now is a leader who gets things done. What we've got is someone who talks the talk but can't walk the walk. Nicola Sturgeon is all show, from the top of her immaculate hairdo to the tips of her stiletto heels. When she was Health Minister some described her as a helicopter - landing with lots of noise and disturbance, staying for a few minutes then taking off again in a flurry of rotor blades. Now we have Jeane Freeman who has provided guidance about what PPE to use and a helpline to report it if you don't have PPE but doesn't actually seem to have managed to provide PPE. Less helicopter more submarine, sinking without trace when what the troops need is a Hercules, full of supplies.
Sturgeon's response to a letter from 100 medics about PPE was basically "I understand and I will act". If she doesn't do the latter and do it soon, she and her Health Minister will look like WW1 generals, miles behind the front line, saying everything is fine when thousands are dying. It's not a good look.
What Scotland needs right now is a leader who gets things done. What we've got is someone who talks the talk but can't walk the walk. Nicola Sturgeon is all show, from the top of her immaculate hairdo to the tips of her stiletto heels. When she was Health Minister some described her as a helicopter - landing with lots of noise and disturbance, staying for a few minutes then taking off again in a flurry of rotor blades. Now we have Jeane Freeman who has provided guidance about what PPE to use and a helpline to report it if you don't have PPE but doesn't actually seem to have managed to provide PPE. Less helicopter more submarine, sinking without trace when what the troops need is a Hercules, full of supplies.
Sturgeon's response to a letter from 100 medics about PPE was basically "I understand and I will act". If she doesn't do the latter and do it soon, she and her Health Minister will look like WW1 generals, miles behind the front line, saying everything is fine when thousands are dying. It's not a good look.
Monday, 6 April 2020
The Smell of Exceptionalism
Since Catherine Calderwood is obviously an intelligent woman, Calton is diagnosing her deliberate flouting of the lockdown travel laws not just once, but twice, as a bad case of elitism. Nicola Sturgeon, on the other hand, is suffering from a bad case of exceptionalism. Just as the Prime Minister and other Tories defended Priti Patel on the grounds that she was doing a jolly good job, and Dominic Cummings overlooked the dubious online background of Andrew Sabisky because he was a "superforecaster", so the First Minister tried to keep on CMO Calderwood because seemingly she couldn't do without her and, of course, she was doing a jolly good job. Big mistake.
The current extreme restrictions being placed on the general public rely on the idea that we're all in this together. There can be no exceptions, none whatsoever, because if a single exception is allowed, others will follow. It is an unfortunate British trait that quite a lot of us think that rules are good but they don't apply to us. We all have a tendency to think we are the exception. Police Scotland get this, which is why they didn't waste time hot-footing it round to Calderwood's residence to 'have a word'. Nicola Sturgeon doesn't get this. Even at today's press conference, when specifically asked about the damage done to the Government's message and the need to rebuild trust, she didn't get it. Instead, although she was more in control today, the image of her as a wee girl who can't bear to be parted from her best friend lingers. She didn't show leadership yesterday - she stalled, prevaricated and, finally, about 12 hours too late, reacted to public opinion.
No-one has put a smell on Sturgeon - they don't need to. She reeks of exceptionalism with a whiff of cronyism and fear.
PS. And lest anyone accuse Calton of having it in for Sturgeon, he's also extremely suspicious of the haste in which more than one Tory MSP, including Jackson Carlaw, is seeking to draw a line under this whole sorry affair. Are there some Tory-voting second home owners thinking "there but for the grace of God" and changing their plans for this coming weekend?
The current extreme restrictions being placed on the general public rely on the idea that we're all in this together. There can be no exceptions, none whatsoever, because if a single exception is allowed, others will follow. It is an unfortunate British trait that quite a lot of us think that rules are good but they don't apply to us. We all have a tendency to think we are the exception. Police Scotland get this, which is why they didn't waste time hot-footing it round to Calderwood's residence to 'have a word'. Nicola Sturgeon doesn't get this. Even at today's press conference, when specifically asked about the damage done to the Government's message and the need to rebuild trust, she didn't get it. Instead, although she was more in control today, the image of her as a wee girl who can't bear to be parted from her best friend lingers. She didn't show leadership yesterday - she stalled, prevaricated and, finally, about 12 hours too late, reacted to public opinion.
No-one has put a smell on Sturgeon - they don't need to. She reeks of exceptionalism with a whiff of cronyism and fear.
PS. And lest anyone accuse Calton of having it in for Sturgeon, he's also extremely suspicious of the haste in which more than one Tory MSP, including Jackson Carlaw, is seeking to draw a line under this whole sorry affair. Are there some Tory-voting second home owners thinking "there but for the grace of God" and changing their plans for this coming weekend?
Sunday, 5 April 2020
Calderwoodgate
Calton is so mad he could spit nails. After nearly two weeks of looking longingly over the Forth to the Fife coast when all he could do was a once-a-day flight round Arthur's Seat he finds out that the SNP Government's Chief Medical Officer has been nipping across to Earlsferry for the weekend. Twice. During lockdown. She has now, quite rightly, been spoken to by the police and has offered her resignation. Astonishingly, the First Minister has refused to accept it in a colossal error of judgement which is, as Calton writes, turning the episode into a question about Sturgeon's decision rather than the original offence.
Sturgeon is usually a canny political operator who is perfectly willing to throw someone under a bus if they get in the way and so it is a measure of how rattled she has become with the Covid-19 pandemic that she has made such a poor decision in this case. She should have sacked Calderwood immediately or at least accepted her resignation with alacrity. Surely there are other suitably qualified people in Scotland just as able to give her advice? Such as Professor Hugh Pennington?
Presumably the First Minister hoped that today's press conference (described as "excruciating" on Radio 4 news) would put the whole thing to bed. She was wrong. A quick scan down the associated twitter hashtags indicates that far more people think #Calderwoodshouldgo than the minority who see this as a media conspiracy to bring down Sturgeon. More worryingly for the SNP, a number of people are now saying that they will henceforth take their guidance from Westminster, not Holyrood, when it comes to Covid-19. Calton has a lot of sympathy with that view. In a crisis like this, are the devolved powers a help or a hindrance? In Scotland it looks very much like the latter now. Sturgeon's response to the Calderwood incident may well prove to be her Watergate.
Sturgeon is usually a canny political operator who is perfectly willing to throw someone under a bus if they get in the way and so it is a measure of how rattled she has become with the Covid-19 pandemic that she has made such a poor decision in this case. She should have sacked Calderwood immediately or at least accepted her resignation with alacrity. Surely there are other suitably qualified people in Scotland just as able to give her advice? Such as Professor Hugh Pennington?
Presumably the First Minister hoped that today's press conference (described as "excruciating" on Radio 4 news) would put the whole thing to bed. She was wrong. A quick scan down the associated twitter hashtags indicates that far more people think #Calderwoodshouldgo than the minority who see this as a media conspiracy to bring down Sturgeon. More worryingly for the SNP, a number of people are now saying that they will henceforth take their guidance from Westminster, not Holyrood, when it comes to Covid-19. Calton has a lot of sympathy with that view. In a crisis like this, are the devolved powers a help or a hindrance? In Scotland it looks very much like the latter now. Sturgeon's response to the Calderwood incident may well prove to be her Watergate.
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
The Post-Resilient Society
Covid-19 is exposing some fundamental flaws in the way we live today. If schools had had to be shut 50 years ago it wouldn't have been a problem as most children came from two-parent families with one parent at home. Shops and industry hadn't yet heard of "just-in-time" delivery and so would have had more stocks available to cope with shortages and panic buying. People still understood the concept of rationing and the idea of selflessness. Most Mums knew how to make food stretch and most kids loved beans on toast and home-made chips from the sack of tatties in the bottom of the larder. We were resilient. Not now.
Now we have a guy filling his trolley with pasta and refusing to give a packet to a pensioner. We have had a run on toilet paper even although Covid-19 does not cause the runs. Parents are panicking because they can no longer rely on schools, nurseries and grandparents to do their parenting for them. Chinese people have been abused in the street and woe betide anyone who coughs in public.
The government has responded by throwing money at the problem. A lot of money, which is devaluing Sterling. It's a quick fix for an urgent problem but the real issues are much deeper. We have a housing shortage which has pushed up prices, forcing both parents in families to work just to afford a home. We have far too many workers on zero hours contracts or in pseudo-self-employment with no sick pay entitlement. Family breakdown and the idea that kids don't need both a mother and a father has meant a rise in single-parent families, which, unless there is wider family support, are less resilient and usually less well-off.
The only positive thing Calton can see so far in this epidemic is the sign that it may kill off or at least weaken the rampant individualism which began in the Thatcher years and has only grown since. For every pasta hoarder there is a selfless helper. May the latter grow in strength!
Now we have a guy filling his trolley with pasta and refusing to give a packet to a pensioner. We have had a run on toilet paper even although Covid-19 does not cause the runs. Parents are panicking because they can no longer rely on schools, nurseries and grandparents to do their parenting for them. Chinese people have been abused in the street and woe betide anyone who coughs in public.
The government has responded by throwing money at the problem. A lot of money, which is devaluing Sterling. It's a quick fix for an urgent problem but the real issues are much deeper. We have a housing shortage which has pushed up prices, forcing both parents in families to work just to afford a home. We have far too many workers on zero hours contracts or in pseudo-self-employment with no sick pay entitlement. Family breakdown and the idea that kids don't need both a mother and a father has meant a rise in single-parent families, which, unless there is wider family support, are less resilient and usually less well-off.
The only positive thing Calton can see so far in this epidemic is the sign that it may kill off or at least weaken the rampant individualism which began in the Thatcher years and has only grown since. For every pasta hoarder there is a selfless helper. May the latter grow in strength!
Monday, 2 March 2020
No Place for Workplace Bullying
Having suffered workplace bullying himself, Calton feels quite sick at the way in which Tory MPs have sought to defend Priti Patel on the grounds that she is doing a good job. Others have defended her on the grounds that she is getting a hard time for behaviour which would be accepted in a man. Since when was shouting, swearing and belittling people acceptable behaviour by anybody? Calton realises that often workplace bullies get away with it because they are getting results and that is all that matters to their managers. That doesn't make it right. And bullies are just as likely to be women as men. At the moment we only have Sir Philip Rutnam's version of events, however it is worth pointing out that he is being backed by the civil service union, the FDA, and unions do not back constructive dismissal complaints unless they think they have a case. Calton sincerely hopes that Rutnam will take his case forward. As for the Cabinet Office investigation - he does not have much faith in that.
If you have been affected by workplace bullying you are not alone. See the bullyingUK website and the excellent American website www.workplacebullying.org. Do not continue to suffer in silence. It's not your fault.
If you have been affected by workplace bullying you are not alone. See the bullyingUK website and the excellent American website www.workplacebullying.org. Do not continue to suffer in silence. It's not your fault.
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
Superforecaster or Neonazi?
Calton is not a fan of shouting for people whose opinions and/or beliefs do not agree with his own to be sacked, in general, however Andrew Sabisky should never have been hired in the first place, if the quotes attributed to him are correct. It seems that Dominic Cummings was so keen to get a Superforecaster on the Number 10 team that due diligence was not carried out and the result was that they got someone whose views are straight out of 1930s Germany. The idea that poorer, less educated people were having more children which would lead to a lowering of intelligence in the nation - check. The advocacy of forced sterilisation through contraception - check. The lie that whites are superior to blacks in terms of intelligence - check. The resurrection of Eugenics - check.
The reason that Calton would be calling for Sabisky's sacking had he not resigned is because we know what the end result was of the beliefs listed above - the extermination of 6 million people in the gas chambers. We should learn from history, not repeat it.
For a more in-depth treatment of the thought processes in 1930s Germany read Chapter XIX Shadow of Tom Holland's excellent book - Dominion. Better still, read the whole book.
PS. Calton regards Superforecasters in much the same way as he regards the so-called Prophets of the modern Charismatic movement and his chances of one of his 1001 premium bonds coming up.
The reason that Calton would be calling for Sabisky's sacking had he not resigned is because we know what the end result was of the beliefs listed above - the extermination of 6 million people in the gas chambers. We should learn from history, not repeat it.
For a more in-depth treatment of the thought processes in 1930s Germany read Chapter XIX Shadow of Tom Holland's excellent book - Dominion. Better still, read the whole book.
PS. Calton regards Superforecasters in much the same way as he regards the so-called Prophets of the modern Charismatic movement and his chances of one of his 1001 premium bonds coming up.
Monday, 17 February 2020
Exclusive Faith-based Cults
Jackson Carlaw's recent comparison of the SNP to an "evangelical faith-based cult" may not, and indeed is not, going down well with some evangelical Christians and Calton has some sympathy with them. However Carlaw is quite right in his analysis. Whether it will help him to electoral victory is another matter ...
Meanwhile Christians are patting themselves on the back at the news that "one of them" has just been appointed Scottish Finance Minister, replacing the emotionally immature Derek Mackay, who is apparently now getting medically assessed after bombarding a 16 year old boy with 270 messages. What these Christians don't seem to understand is that cults are exclusive. Mutually exclusive. You can only belong to one at a time. Their leaders demand unquestioning obedience and a total lack of criticism. You have to give your all, 24/7 - you can't be a member of one cult on a Sunday and another Monday to Friday. It doesn't work that way. Which takes us back to Kate Forbes. It is claimed she is a Christian but, from what Calton can see, she seems to be a fully paid up member of the cult of Nicola. Her arrogant tweet on the resignation of Sajid Javid was certainly pure SNP.
With the banning of Billy Graham's son Franklin by SNP-led Glasgow City Council, the battle lines have been drawn. The SNP are ploughing ahead with gender recognition proposals which many Christians (and feminists) are unhappy with and they are promoting porn in our schools. If Forbes doesn't have the sense to get out she may well be pushed out for holding views unacceptable to the SNP cult. (The murmurings have already started.)
In the meantime Calton would like to remind her that a person can only serve one master (or mistress).
Meanwhile Christians are patting themselves on the back at the news that "one of them" has just been appointed Scottish Finance Minister, replacing the emotionally immature Derek Mackay, who is apparently now getting medically assessed after bombarding a 16 year old boy with 270 messages. What these Christians don't seem to understand is that cults are exclusive. Mutually exclusive. You can only belong to one at a time. Their leaders demand unquestioning obedience and a total lack of criticism. You have to give your all, 24/7 - you can't be a member of one cult on a Sunday and another Monday to Friday. It doesn't work that way. Which takes us back to Kate Forbes. It is claimed she is a Christian but, from what Calton can see, she seems to be a fully paid up member of the cult of Nicola. Her arrogant tweet on the resignation of Sajid Javid was certainly pure SNP.
With the banning of Billy Graham's son Franklin by SNP-led Glasgow City Council, the battle lines have been drawn. The SNP are ploughing ahead with gender recognition proposals which many Christians (and feminists) are unhappy with and they are promoting porn in our schools. If Forbes doesn't have the sense to get out she may well be pushed out for holding views unacceptable to the SNP cult. (The murmurings have already started.)
In the meantime Calton would like to remind her that a person can only serve one master (or mistress).
Thursday, 12 April 2018
The BBC is all at sea over gender
Some folk think the BBC is biased. Calton thinks it is just plain bonkers. Nowhere is this more evident in its attitudes to gender. Today, John Beattie introduced us to Tom Daley's "husband" in Australia, swiftly followed by the presenter back home falling over himself to apologise for referring to another male presenter as "her". Earlier in the week Kaye Adams hosted a discussion on young people accepting their bodies, which is fine, except that when it comes to young people accepting their gender and genitals, Kaye would be one of the first to be advocating hormones and surgery rather than acceptance, judging from previous comments she has made. Well guys and girls, you can't have it both ways. If a man can have a husband, what's the big deal about referring to a man as "she"? If the answer to not being happy with your body is hormones and surgery, why should that be restricted to unhappiness about gender?
It's not surprising that young people today are confused about their gender and their sexuality given the way the BBC is promoting ideas such as "gender fluidity". It'ssad that so many of them hate their bodies, including their gender, and want a quick fix for their perceived problems. It is utterly tragic that adults who should know better are not helping them to accept themselves as they are, not only in terms of body shape and appearance but also gender. Because the fact is, our sex is written into our chromosomes. It's as fundamental as that and we change it at our peril. Calton is particularly concerned with plans being put forward by the Scottish Government to allow any man to self-declare as a woman. This will put women and girls at risk by allowing men into women's changing rooms and other safe spaces. And when it comes to sports, only those who are XX should be allowed to compete in women's events. Not XYs, even if they have artificially lowered their testosterone and grown their hair long.
It's not surprising that young people today are confused about their gender and their sexuality given the way the BBC is promoting ideas such as "gender fluidity". It'ssad that so many of them hate their bodies, including their gender, and want a quick fix for their perceived problems. It is utterly tragic that adults who should know better are not helping them to accept themselves as they are, not only in terms of body shape and appearance but also gender. Because the fact is, our sex is written into our chromosomes. It's as fundamental as that and we change it at our peril. Calton is particularly concerned with plans being put forward by the Scottish Government to allow any man to self-declare as a woman. This will put women and girls at risk by allowing men into women's changing rooms and other safe spaces. And when it comes to sports, only those who are XX should be allowed to compete in women's events. Not XYs, even if they have artificially lowered their testosterone and grown their hair long.
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