A viral tweet has claimed that Royal Marines have forcibly removed medical equipment from Dundee to be used in England in the fight against Coronavirus.

The issue however is that the claim is not true.

Below is the tweet, let’s take a look at it.

Next, let’s take a look at the origin of the claim.

As you can see, no test kits were removed, nothing was “removed” at all. What actually happened is that Dundee University donated specialist equipment needed for testing at a national centre.

No Royal Marines were involved nor was anyone ordered to hand anything over. Dundee University sent the equipment voluntarily to aid a UK wide effort.

All of this happened a few weeks ago.

The ongoing pandemic is rife with misinformation being spread for a multitude of reasons. Please think critically about what you’re sharing as sharing this kind of thing is irresponsible, immoral and simply just dangerous.

For more on the sharing of misinformation relating to Coronavirus, see here.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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57 COMMENTS

  1. Tragic that some are taking the opportunity to try and stir shit up. Maybe a coincidence but Dundee being a hotbed of independence is particularly cynical.

  3. The guy that tweeted or posted this untruth is a moron and needs to go out back, take his bagpipes with him and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine, he might even blow some cool air over his minuscule brain to help clear his thoughts.
    His/ Her thoughts:
    “Must have independence, need independence, must have independence, need independence. How do I get independence? Oh I know I will tell a load of lies”

    You know what his hashtag means dont you? Pretty rude.

    Summary: I would say a classic staunch SNP supporter really. Idiot. People are dying in their thousands. This is a national effort and scotland will be grateful or at least those thinking Scots will be, that they are part of the UK before the end of this.
    If you want to see what help leaving UK and joining EU would be. Just ask the Italians or perhaps Spanish. The answer is zero help so far. The UK , that isn’t even part of the EU anymore, has given more practical aid, especially to Italy.

      • Six Italian patients on one flight and about twenty-nine in total, compared to the many thousands the Italians were/are treating. I think it’s more about Germany showboating to deflect the criticism and the story plays well with home media; as with the aid supplied to Italy by Russia and China – according to LaStampa 80% of the Russian shipment was useless and yet Russian state media have made much of it.

    • Ah, guy pushes his Indy agenda and he’s a baddy, you push your ‘better together’ agenda….. what does that make you. The guy is an arse and the vast majority of us wouldn’t have been remotely aware of this guff, its fair to say he’s hardly representative, even of those who do want independence.

      You make it sound like Scotland should be grateful to the UK. News flash…. its still part of it although with the levels of condescension I can understand why some want to change that.

      • Agree Andy. Social media has created the power for huge mischief to be spread from the fringes by individuals from across the spectrum. My mantra is -The Centre must hold.Tolerance of other peoples beliefs and reasoned debate along with the constant search for some kind of truth is the way. I can’t make that sound less preachy. The alternative is constant and escalating sniping that damages societies. It is sad to see this happening in many places and how much polarisation has resulted. The Black Saltire post is offensive but so are the constant niggles about how some parts of the country subsidise others

        • It doesn’t sound “preachy” Geoff, I know what you mean although I fear tolerance is generally the first casualty in political debate. Our ‘betters’ in Westminster (Holryood etc) kind of set the tone, Party A says ‘black’ so Party’s B/C and D have to default to ‘white’ and then rubbish Party A. The media play a part too, not just from a politics point of view, sometimes it seems to be a “look how clever I am” trying to enhance their own reputations. Of course politicians don’t help by being so evasive…. Sadly its become a massive industry where people are in competition instead of just getting on with it. That’s before you throw in the real “look at me….” narcissists that get drawn to the fringes of politics.

          • Thanks for the reply Andy. I have always thought that strict party groupings should be replaced by loose alliances whereby candidates campaign on issues rather than on any averaged party line and vote in Parliament on merits rather than being forced(in most cases) to vote as a monolith. Daniele will probably remind me that I have already posted this a few times(!) but my best pal at University in the 1960’s was a ScotNat. I tried to get him to see the error of his ways but alas, failed. It never interfered with our very close friendship.
            Cheers from Durban

          • I like the idea of that Geoff but fear that its unworkable for a ‘whole career’. Why get into politics to achieve a single aim when you can get your nose in the trough for even longer, voted out, no worries, the ‘Party’ will find you a role doing something for a decent whack until the next bi-election. Just to make sure I’d better play the game and kiss the right arses….

            I enjoy a good debate with people who have different views to myself, its good to see where they’re coming from and to have your views challenged. Saying that, sometimes its hard to find people who are on the same wavelength and not just looking for an opportunity to have a rant about their world view. Maybe I don’t hang with the right crowd….

      • What a bunch of Yoon balloons. Were 2 robot test kits ‘handed over’, under RN escort, by command from the PM, or not!? Typical mouthy, moronic Britnatsis.?

  4. Just been reading through the twitter link. It’s always good to see the Scotts also have a braindead element within their ranks. God help them if there’s a virus which attacks the stupid.

  5. Jees, we really don’t need fake news panic mongers at times like these. Spreading false news should be severely punished as it is making a bad situation worse. I do hope the Police are taking the appropriate actions. Panic mongers, sensationalists, conspiracy theory advocates and defeatists should be locked up.

    • They are not panic mongers they are just the same fake news spreaders that have been in operation for the last few years. Some are from aggressive foreign governments trying to sow seeds of hate in order to fracture our society, others are nationalists trying to sow hate in order to drum up support to further their agenda and others are simply attention seekers trying to get on peoples nerves.

      No it is not helpful but it has never been helpful and yet many of these fake news stories have been promoted by those whose agenda they suit. It is only now that we all face a common problem that we all agree on particular stories being universally bad.

      • You need to be careful with that logic too Lee1 just because “we all agree on particular stories being universally bad” doesn’t make it the case, that’s facebook logic. Whisper it but a lot of the time, the general public are dicks and can whip them(our)selves into a circle jerk frenzy of righteousness. Best just to not read too much into stuff, I only find out about crap like this when its re-reported, maybe better to just ignore it.

  10. Never underestimate the power of propaganda …..

    Now I’ve prob been living in a cave lately but this 5G thing I must of missed it? Are people actually claiming that it spreads the virus ??? Or have I misinterpreted that ?

    I tell you what though the health concerns re. Frequency emitting devices is very real . I am issued with a digital airwave radio at my work and back in 2008 I took part in a still ongoing airwaves health study as to its effects on the body if any. I recently got another letter asking if I would continue to take part in follow ups. Bottom line nobody knows the long term effects of having this next to your head for 10hrs a day as prior to 2007 we were using unsecured old Skool analogue radios .Soon we’ll be operating on a 5G secure network.

    I don’t know enough about 5G to speak to what I’ve heard re. use as a weapon etc ? as so much misinformation however

    5G radiation dangers. Thousands of studies link low-level wireless radio frequency radiation exposures to a long list of adverse biological effects, including:

    DNA single and double strand breaks
    oxidative damage
    disruption of cell metabolism
    increased blood brain barrier permeability
    melatonin reduction
    disruption to brain glucose metabolism
    generation of stress proteins
    in 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) classified radio frequency radiation as a possible 2B carcinogen.

    I find the above concerning ………

    • You never underestimate the power of propaganda yet then go on to talk about propaganda….

      5G radio signals are high frequency. They have trouble penetrating anything at all! For instance they will not go through your walls like current wifi or tv signals.

      Numerous proper studies have found no problems with 5G signals or EMF radiation in general.

      One Level 2B carcinogen is Magnetic Fields (So planet earth…).

      The definition of a Level 2B carcinogen is

      “This category is used for agents, mixtures and exposure circumstances for which there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and less than sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals”

      In other words, virtually zero risk…

      • Lee my man I’m no expert on the science behind 5G all I was saying was I’ve read a bit about it but it’s difficult to gauge what is reality and what is fake that’s all. If you are better informed then I welcome any info although I’m slightly sceptical you seem to dismiss every negative concluding study out of hand as propaganda ?

        My point being the mere fact in the real world that my Gov employers allow a study into the long term health effects of those in my line of work using a personal issue airwaves radio clearly means there is obviously a concern it may be detrimental to ones health long term and this isn’t even part of a 5G network . So I’m afraid it’s entirely reasonable to question the safety or otherwise lack of for 5G.

        Like I say I’m not saying one way or another whether good or bad I simply don’t know so not sure why you think I’m spreading propaganda ?

        • “I tell you what though the health concerns re. Frequency emitting devices is very real .”

          No, they are not. There are many studies that have been carried out over the years and they have pretty much universally found no issues. The occasional ones that do are either too small to conclude anything or have serious flaws in their processes.

          Please remember that we live on a planet that has huge amounts of natural EMF radiation.

          It is not that difficult to determine what is fake and what is not. Just check the sources of the information and check the background to the studies. Then do lookups online to find if the study was real or not etc. If the news appears in multiple trusted places or not etc.

          • Well Lee I’m glad you have no problem determining what info is fake and what is real but me I keep an open mind maybe it’s just my line of work that makes me question things but usually 3 sides to every story yours , mine and the truth somewhere in the middle.

            The Airwave Health Monitoring Study was established to evaluate POSSIBLE HEALTH RISKS associated with use of TETRA, a digital communication system used by police forces and other emergency services in Great Britain since 2001. The study has been broadened to investigate more generally the health of the work force.

            The Airwave Health Monitoring Study is the only large-scale cohort study of police employees worldwide. The specificities of this sample, such as its well-defined job hierarchy, make it a particularly valuable occupational cohort. Participants have consented to the use of their data and samples for future, currently unspecified, research purposes

          • No one should have much of a problem working out fake news from real news. The issue is that most people can’t be bothered so they simply believe whatever pops up on Facebook as long as it confirms their beliefs and claim fake news if it goes against their beliefs.

            The Airwave Health Monitoring Study is a study that was initially set up to assess the implications of health issues from long term exposure to the Tetra Radio System (effectively a 2g mobile system). It however is now far more than that and actually is assessing general health aspects of police.

            Remember that the frequency is similar to that of UHF TV signals which have been broadcast at high power near to peoples homes for quite some time with no known effects. The power of the signals from the radio sets is tiny.

            Also radio signals are non-ionising, the dangerous EMF radiation is the Ionising kind of which you are exposed to one kind most of every day in the form of Ultra violet light. Xrays and Gamma rays are also part of this and you are also commonly exposed to them every day in some form too. If you are worried about high frequency EMF then you really should not switch on your lights or go out of your house , or even live on earth at all…

  12. Another Canard from the anti English pro independence bunch who willingly spout fake news for their hapy to beleive fellow travellers,
    Rhubarb

  13. The intention is obvious. This disgusting muck – aren’t the Royal Marines Scottish also? – will be believed by some and so the result is achieved. A bare faced smear is around the world ‘before the truth ties its laces.’

  14. Just another day in Anglophobic Scotland. Just read a tweet that had the nerve to say “bet this wasn’t in the treaty”, well I bet Scotland being allow to spend English Taxpayer’s money for centuries whilst spewing Anglophobic BS wasn’t in the Acts of Union either.

    Quite frankly, had enough of the double standards and delibrately false victim mentality coming from Nationalist Scots, wouldn’t have said this a decade ago, but the sooner they leave and shipbuilding returned to its rightful place at Portsmouth (where it was stopped to keep it going at the Clyde and to appease Scots), the better.

    • That’s a good old rant Christopher, hope you feel better for getting it off your chest.

      “Quite frankly” I’ve had enough of some of the absolute ‘gammon’ rants on here about the ‘sweaty socks’ based on articles rather than posts. You’ve maybe not noticed but there aren’t many Scottish posters on here who are actually advocating independence. Still, as long as you can get your rant on eh ?

      I’m sure you know but the Clyde did have a certain reputation for building ships and I’m sure you’d agree, spreading the wealth around the whole country isn’t a bad thing. I’m pretty sure Boris & Co. are quite keen on it as a cornerstone policy in fact.

      • My “gammon rant” is based on social media, Scottish media and real-life experiences of myself and English friends in Scotland, thank you. You are simply denying reality if you think Anglophobia hasn’t become more increasingly commonplace in Scotland.

        Yes, the Clyde has a reputation for shipbuilding, so does Portsmouth, nothing you said changes the fact that shipbuilding was sacrificed at least to avoid angering Scots before Indyref.

        As for spreading the wealth, even if taking North Sea oil revenues, there are only 2 regions in the UK who contribute more to the Treasury then their expenditure; Greater London and the South-East. Despite this, Scotland spends more per head then most other areas of the UK, it is the Scottish Government who controls that spending, not Boris Johnson, not the Tories, but Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. Scottish Nationalists need to stop blaming Westminster just because it is easier to bash the English.

  16. Hand over is not the same as donated! Methinks you protest too much. Go on just say it, BoJo sent armed navy to purloin equipment from a Scottish Uni for use in England. Go on. ??

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