The Dreaded Neep - 2020

The Scottish Government may have outlawed 'guising' at this year's Halloween, but that doesn't mean to say folks can't still have enjoy the occasion by sawing the head off the odd turnip (neep) or two.

  

The Dreaded 'Neep' (31/10/18)

'Globalisation' gets a bad name, in some circles anyway, but one of its many unsung benefits is that the new-found ability to buy pumpkins in the global marketplace has freed the Scottish people from celebrating Halloween with the dreaded 'neep'.

Now a 'neep' is a turnip and for readers too young to remember the dreaded days of making a Halloween lantern out of a turnip, here's a hilarious YouTube video from Scot Scran which captures the insanity of these bygone days rather brilliantly.

If you ask me, this mollycoddled generation of younger Scots don't seem to realise - they've never had it so good!

 

Covid Covered Candy? (26/10/18)

The Scottish Government is apparently banning 'guising' (trick or treating) at Halloween because children could be handed bags of Covid covered candy! 

Now this is bonkers, if you ask me, and yet another sign that power is going to the heads of politicians since the same thing could be said of picking up just about anything - at school, at the shops, in a cafe or at the supermarket.

Taking sensible and reasonable precautions, combined with supervising very young children, would be a far better answer instead of encouraging hysteria and making people completely paranoid.

   

Minister of Misery (25/10/20)

Seems to me that the SNP are all in favour of the press giving their political rivals a hard time, but cry foul when the boot's on the other foot.

 

ScotGov, Criticism and Covid-19 (25/10/20)

The SNP's justice minister took to Twitter earlier today to complain about the Sunday Mail's front page and its criticism of the Scottish Government.

I replied by pointing out, fairly I think, that the Scottish Government's decision to bring students back to universities and halls of residence has resulted in an entirely predictable shambles.

 

Scotland, Students and Covid-19 (21/10/20)

The return of students to Scotland's universities has been a shambles, particularly as it did not exactly require Einstein to predict the huge spike in Covid-19 cases which followed without additional safeguards being put in place.

Yet the universities pressed ahead and the official advice issued by the Scottish Government collapsed within days, as the rate of infection amongst students went through the roof, especially in halls of residence.  

The Scottish Government minister overseeing this debacle, Richard Lochhead, appeared on BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme to explain how this happened.

I heard his explanation as something like 'we are living through unprecedented times and, in any event, everybody signed up to the government's guidance'.  

 

Well, I'm sorry, I don't think that's good enough because no one managed to explain how the 'powers that be' failed to see what was so obvious and predictable to anyone with even an ounce of common sense.

Richard Lochhead is the latest in a long line of very highly paid Scottish Government ministers who don't seem up to the job and like to hide behind official guidance when the heat is on. 

A few final points: why was no one from the National Union of Students (NUS Scotland)) interviewed by BBC Scotland? Why was the education minister interviewed remotely rather than face-to-face -surely that would have been more effective? And why were none of the interviewees wearing face coverings?

Richard Lochhead - Scotland's education minister