Guilt Free Railing 18

[WouldBeGood]

Will it ever end?

@Lockdownbear no doubt there 🤣🤣

It's a bad day when you're hoping boris isn't downed by cake-gate! I sympathise.

The SNP's economic pronouncements around covid, their disregard for business and their misuse of covid data have made me even more concerned about their ability to manage indy. Boris at least can fall back on a 300 year old independent central bank with top academic and business expertise and a civil service used to spending accountability.

My big news of the day.
I was allowed to take my face mask off in the hairdressers for a minute today. I was going from a long bob to a pixie-ish cut, so quite a change. Being able to remove my mask to actually see how it looked, sadly, felt both exciting and rebellious.

Well I’ve given up mask wearing apart from hospital appointments, doc surgery etc. Sick to death of long running sinus problems for well over a year now and not breathing properly in a mask. So far had hardly any hassle and much improved sinuses. I do get stared at but as soon as I return the stare, everyone quickly looks away. Had the vaccinations and covid - wasn’t particularly unwell and I’m now beyond fed up with the illogical nonsense of it all. Smiling at the starers is probably the best option.

I'd had enough of mask wearing today so dismissed the pupils sans mask. Why we're meant to wear them outside is completely beyond me. There's now 1m distancing "in the workplace" so we'll see if that applies to schools. I think once before we were told that schools were not considered a workplace , We seem to be considered some sort of alternative entity where we have to have stricter rules than everywhere else.

And if I hear NS utter the word "caution" once more, I will self destruct!

@runningpink I really, really want Boris to go as he's a complete gift to the nationalists. Their stock rebuttal whenever someone criticises the SNP is to ask if we'd rather have Saint Nicola or Bumbling Boris.
I don't class myself as a typical Tory voter but I would vote for anyone rather than the SNP.

I’d take Boris as leader over Nicola any day. And on a totally different moaning topic I am sick seeing the words Be Kind and Show Kindness everywhere I go. It’s like a mantra for the fluffy brained. I wish the mask lovers would show some kindness to those who are making themselves ill trying to wear masks so as not to be bullied. I don’t post very often on Mumsnet but am finding myself in total rant mode after Nicola”s TV efforts this afternoon.

Slogans make me itchy too - if you are kind you don't need to wear it on a bag/key ring or Facebook page.

@RaraRachael

I'd had enough of mask wearing today so dismissed the pupils sans mask. Why we're meant to wear them outside is completely beyond me. There's now 1m distancing "in the workplace" so we'll see if that applies to schools. I think once before we were told that schools were not considered a workplace , We seem to be considered some sort of alternative entity where we have to have stricter rules than everywhere else.

And if I hear NS utter the word "caution" once more, I will self destruct!

That’s great for the pupils @RaraRachael and yet still so disrespectful to not allow teachers and staff in playground without masks. It’s really grim to see all the staff at pick up having to be masked. No smile to greet the children in mornings either.

My understanding is, individual councils are enforcing the mask wearing outside for staff? Would there be disciplinary action against anyone who didn’t wear a mask outside for drop/pick up times?

@shouldistop

I didn't see it but my mum said someone asked NS why our numbers aren't better than England if the extra restrictions have been worth it. Apparently she didn't answer?

Actually, she raised in Parliament that Willie Rennie had complained to the UK statistics Authority that the FM stating that England's covid rates were twenty per cent higher than Scotland was false. The UK statistics authority confirmed that she was indeed correct.

The UK statistics authority confirmed that she was indeed 98% arrogant, megalomaniac and 2% media friendly to pre cleared questions, with PR pieces that make her sound real and connected to the real world and not desperate in any way to appeal to women, in particular, ahead of the local elections and yet another divisive inde campaign, but that was redacted in the version for us to hear correct.

I thought the question WR asked was whether ONS data should be presented in that way? NS arrived at her statement that England had 20% higher infection by taking the 2 infection rates (something like 4.5% in Scotland and 5.5% in England) and (correctly) stated that 5.5 is 20% higher than 4.5. However, she didn't actually state the overall percentages (4.5/ 5.5) or the ratio of the population (approx 1 in 20 people in both Scotland and England) as the ONS had. WR pointed out that that was a bit twisty and not telling the whole story, which wasn't the best use of statistical data to make a political point.

The uksa pointed out that it is better to provide the full info, as the public, understandably have difficulty distinguishing between percent and percentage points, and that in practice at that point the infection rates were pretty much the same in Scotland and England. Had the percentages been, for example, 20% and 24% there would also be a 20% difference, but that would be a much more pronounced difference... something like 1 in 5 set against nearly 1 in 4 people...

Uksa also responded to Jackie Baillie's complaint that JS was using pre-Christmas infection levels to show how brilliant the Scottish Post Christmas restrictions were. While acknowledging that JS was at the time using the most up to date data, they did say...

When using statistics in public communication it is important to be clear about what the data are measuring, and the choice of time period is all the more important in a rapidly changing situation.

Which is pretty relevant to both complaints, really...

Dear Mr Rennie,

Thank you for your letter of 21 January about the First Minister’s use of statistics from the Coronavirus Infection Survey (CIS).

CIS estimated that in the week ending 15 January 2022, 5.47 per cent of people in England and 4.49 per cent of people in Scotland had COVID-19[1]. The First Minister was comparing these two proportions and correctly stated that the figure for England was more than 20 per cent higher than the figure for Scotland. It would also be correct to say that the prevalence of COVID-19 was around one percentage point higher in England than in Scotland. Quantitative comparisons between the two estimates should take account of the precision with which they are available[2], but the data does suggest that the rate of infection is lower in Scotland than in England.

The distinction between percentages (parts per hundred) and percentage points (the simple difference between two percentages) can be made easier to understand by quoting the two numbers being compared. For clarity, when publishing results from CIS the Office for National Statistics gives the absolute number of people with COVID-19; the percentage of the population with COVID-19; and the number of people with COVID-19 as a ratio to the whole population (for example, “1 in 20 people”).

Yours sincerely,

Sir David Norgrove

😂 @starryeyesuprise you basically backed up what @resilencewankwr said not sure if you meant to......

Yes, and here is WRs letter to the UK SA. The question he asks them to answer is at the end...

I would be grateful if you could advise on whether the ONS statistics should have been portrayed in this way and whether the First Minister should continue to report statistics in this manner.

To which they answered as you copied above. The 20% was correct (you'd kind of hope she/ her SpAd could do that pretty basic calculation!), but the way she presented it wasn't best practice and wasn't the fullest way of understanding the data. Which NS may be happy with, to be able to say "I got the calculation right....to show our tighter restrictions have put us in a much better position than England" but the statistics folk actually said that it wasn't the most transparent way of presenting the data to Parliament, and by extension, the country.

@AmadeustheAlpaca

Well I’ve given up mask wearing apart from hospital appointments, doc surgery etc. Sick to death of long running sinus problems for well over a year now and not breathing properly in a mask. So far had hardly any hassle and much improved sinuses. I do get stared at but as soon as I return the stare, everyone quickly looks away. Had the vaccinations and covid - wasn’t particularly unwell and I’m now beyond fed up with the illogical nonsense of it all. Smiling at the starers is probably the best option.

Join the club. I really hope more and more people ditch them, the sooner the better.

People need to ditch them. It’s the only way out of this.

Just sticking my head in the door to say it's MaxN with a name change as I dread to think how much identifying stuff I've posted over the last couple of years.

@WouldBeGood

People need to ditch them. It’s the only way out of this.

I've ditched them except at work as I'd be reported to my boss

www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19874219.covid-scotland-headmaster-hits-nicola-sturgeon/
Why are we to live with Covid and reduce restrictions, but this is not the case for our children?

It can only be a good thing for the papers to be speaking up along with the opposition MSPs.

Meh, this is a replica of last year before elections. What treats will we receive to show our gratitude at local elections? They will use the children until the right point to ‘release’ so the optics work ahead of the elections and their spring inde bullshit blah, blah.

If Boris goes following the Gray report, certain folk will poop their yellow branded pants if certain others replace him. Children in Scotland are the last things on their minds right now (unless they’re completing one of the questionable ScotGov surveys about their sexual health).

Yea,@shouldistop, I think that’s fair enough! I’ve advised DD just to wear hers as required at work.

Given up trying to get DS to ditch his for school as he’s very obedient- not like his mother!

Lifted from Twitter:
EXC: Leak reveals the "brutal" cuts facing SNP-run Glasgow council to plug a £34m funding gap. Options incl:

• Removing the Children's Holiday Food Programme
• withdrawing dyslexia support services
• scrapping a swimming scheme for primary school kids

Children in Scotland are resilient after all. FFS.

@onceuponawhine that is horrific.....so they are choosing between letting children go hungry, disadvantaging thousands of children against their peers for a learning condition or not teaching children vital life skill of how to swim/avoid drowning........ FFS

They are all horrific but as someone with dyslexia I find it incredibly disturbing that they even consider disadvantaging children with a learning condition! It's a battle enough to get the tests and diagnosis! It's like writing off thousands for no reason and with the right support can flourish! I have 2 degrees and a professional job I wouldn't have even passed my school exams if it hadn't of been for my mum fighting to get me all the support I needed and adaptations!