As many of you are aware, the current pandemic is a source for a significant number of false stories and misinformation, local newspapers and MSPs are unwittingly helping to share that misinformation.
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“Reports that the army are setting up base nearby are true. Following several photos today on social media, it has now been announced by the Ministry of Defence this evening, Wednesday 18th March 2020 that up to 20,000 troops are on stand-by to provide support to the NHS.”
In addition, at First Minister’s Questions today at the Scottish Parliament, SNP MSP Richard Lyle spoke about “unconfirmed reports” the army is setting up in Strathclyde Park.
SNP MSP Richard Lyle says there are unconfirmed reports the army is setting up in Strathclyde Park #fmqs
— Tom Gordon (@HTScotPol) March 19, 2020
The problem? Reports that “the army are setting up base nearby are true” are absolutely not true. This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Defence, by the way.
Some are claiming, based on what they’ve seen on social media, that secret bases are being built around Glasgow to put the city into lockdown, with Strathclyde Park often being named along with Govan as locations for bases being built in the night. You can read more about it here.
The lockdown however, never happened. There is “zero prospect of any restrictions being placed on travelling”, the UK government has said. A spokesperson also said there were also “no plans to use military personnel for public order during the coronavirus pandemic”.
Misinformation during a pandemic is a serious matter, watch out for it.
Does anyone expect anything else from the snp?
SNP and misinformation, nonsense and random crap….no, really?
The same as the SNPs No RN ships in Scotland comment, I wish the SNP would stop causing chaos and do their job.
Can we make a law that makes it illegal for any Government minster to spread false information or lies that causes public concern.
There are daily briefings from Boris, advisors etc. which are giving everybody the decisions and information. Not sure I have time for anything else (plus finding out if it is actually true).
Most people are tuning into the Boris show presumable because they are not trusting anything much else.
The media are a little obsessed with hindsight. That is pointless at the moment. Eventually questions should be asked and lessons learned but this is not the time in my view?
“The media are a little obsessed with hindsight. That is pointless at the moment. Eventually questions should be asked and lessons learned but this is not the time in my view?” Well said Mark. As the Senior Medical and Scientific Advisors have repeatedly stated – THIS IS A NEW VIRUS * so the science is evolving as we learn more going forward. This means we WILL make mistakes and people WILL unfortunately die as a result, but a human being can only make decisons on what they know at the time the decision HAS to be made. Medics, scientists and… Read more »
Chario, thanks for your comment, I’m at the moment suffreing from a issue (enough medication to sink a battleship) with the heart, started after a perferation of the bowel, septicimia and peritoniitis’ 24 hours giving to call friends and family but two years later and like a weed still here. Here’s the issue will people stop getting into a panic, we will get through this and not only that but I trust our docters and nurses not only my experiance from putting me back together in my military life but also in my civlian life. So come on people stop… Read more »
Hi Ron, Sounds like you’ve been through it. Credit to you for staying so positive. I’ve been disabled all my life which is obviously a different kind of experience but I do understand from that experience that it can get tough at times… As for the panic I was watching the news last night and was struck by the LACK of panic in Northern Italy. Shelves still well stocked, well spaced quiet queues. We Brits have lost something important. There were ten cases reported in Somerset yesterday so allowing for undetected cases that would be about 100 may be 200… Read more »
If an M S P got something right I wouldn’t need to worry about Coronavirus. I would die of shock.
🙂 Thanks for the smile Geoff…
Not sure if others are ware but Scotland also has a Chief Medical officer as does Wales. All the nations medical and scientific officers are aligned and co-ordinating on steps to take in the COVID19 crisis.
Hi expat, Yes I was aware and I also believe from comments made that Nicola Sturgeon is part of the COBRA team making the decisions. Not heard about Mark Drakeford but I would have thought he would be involved as well given Health is a devolved power. I was impressed with the UK’s response up until last weekend. I think the number of cases took an unexpected turn for the worse about a week ago. If you look at the graph there is a very distinct ‘kink’ upwards in the numbers of reported cases. As such I think the scientists… Read more »
Diane Abbott has called for the BBC to stop filming casualty and Holby city so the staff can help out with the corona virus outbreak …
Ha ha. You made me smile. Remarkable.
How many millions did she say had died so far?
“I think it was just 2.25 million deaths or was it 2,250 I dont know, I haven’t hot the precise figures in front of me.” Daine Abbott 2020
Mental health though?
The Express are reporting on this, including UKDJ’s responses 🙂