The BBC’s Scottish politics website today prominently carries this story:

Our famously alert readers may recall as far back as five-and-a-half months ago, which was the last time the Scottish media tried to whip up demented scare stories about baby boxes, which have been given to every new mother in Finland for approximately 70 years and caused absolutely no documented problems.

So what’s fresh about the story to justify this significant new coverage? Let’s see.

MAY 2018:

The person “raising doubts” is Peter Blair, who wants the boxes only to be used for babies to sleep in temporarily in emergencies.

OCTOBER 2018:

The person “raising doubts” is Peter Blair, who wants the boxes only to be used for babies to sleep in temporarily in emergencies.

MAY 2018:

He’s worried that parents can’t see into a cardboard box about 18 inches high.

OCTOBER 2018:

He’s worried that parents can’t see into a cardboard box about 18 inches high.

MAY 2018:

And he’s worried that the boxes – designed only to be used until the child is three months old – may not be suitable for children more than three months old, or durable if they get wet or dirty (although he’s seemingly conducted no sort of research on the subject that suggests they might not be – they’re designed to be wipe-clean).

OCTOBER 2018:

And he’s worried that the boxes – designed only to be used until the child is three months old – may not be suitable for children more than three months old, or durable if they get wet or dirty (although he’s seemingly conducted no sort of research on the subject that suggests they might not be – they’re designed to be wipe-clean).

So it’s literally exactly the same story as before. Plainly, “man repeats thing he’s been saying for years, which is disproven by decades of real practical experience across the world and rejected by the Royal College Of Midwives and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health” is a pretty good definition of the exact opposite of “news” – in journalistic-scoop terms it’s up there with “BREAKING: Pope still Catholic”.

But baby boxes are the textbook example of things that are Only Bad In Scotland, and as such the Scottish media will dust the scare stories off and give them another airing as regularly as it thinks it needs to, until some people start believing them.