Tell Andrew Bowie, Shadowy Secretary of State for Scotland – No fire service in the UK has direct access to helicopters and the Scottish Government cannot just ‘call-in’ the Army but it has thousands of firefighter not as yet called upon
As the Cairngorm wildfire faces heavy rain tomorrow, local MP and Shadowy Secretary of State for Scotland said: Increasing numbers of constituents had been getting in touch to express concern. In a letter, external to Scottish government minister Gillian Martin he claimed the SNP-led administration had “failed to treat the situation with the seriousness and attention that it deserves”. He singled out the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) lack of direct access to helicopter support. Currently it calls in private companies with helicopters and specialist equipment when needed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k7g15v3epo Do any of the UK’s fire service boards have their own helicopters? No. UK … Continue reading Tell Andrew Bowie, Shadowy Secretary of State for Scotland – No fire service in the UK has direct access to helicopters and the Scottish Government cannot just ‘call-in’ the Army but it has thousands of firefighter not as yet called upon
The Edinburgh Tourist Levy to raise £50m a year, to build 472 new houses for locals and more city centre police officers
Reader Arty Hetty has been hearing rumours from elements stirring against the Tourist Levy: ‘Far as I know Edinburgh council are introducing a tourist tax, with the proceeds apparently going to be used to build houses for workers from outwith Scotland, not for services for the residents that are impacted by tourism…needs more investigation but that’s what I saw reported recently.’ stewartb (with added comment below from Legerwood) responding to these rumours: How does it stack up against what the Council is stating? There is an abundance of information on the Levy and what has already been agreed in terms of its … Continue reading The Edinburgh Tourist Levy to raise £50m a year, to build 472 new houses for locals and more city centre police officers
After failures on child grooming and stabbing Scotland seems unable to even run a decent wildfire as two Aberdeen women ignore it
Fresh from not being able to include Scotland in multiple youth stabbing and sex grooming panics, BBC Scotland can only find the above to illustrate Aberdeen after folk were warned to keep their windaes shut in case they choked from the Cairngorms wildfire which has ‘flared up’ in time for rain tomorrow. BBC Scotland are blowing frantically on the embers with big reports and photos from now 38 hours ago. They’ll have to work hard if they are going to keep up with this stuff from BBC UK, looking south to France and Spain where they know all about wildfires … Continue reading After failures on child grooming and stabbing Scotland seems unable to even run a decent wildfire as two Aberdeen women ignore it
SNP Government builds more than four times as many per head homes for social rent than England as Burnham takes over – let’s see what happens?
Thanks to Dottie once more. From the Resolution Foundation, yesterday: In the last year just 12,000 social rent homes were built in England, a fifth of the ‘affordable’ total Britain’s new Prime Minister has put “council housing” at the heart of his programme for government. [1] The case for building more affordable homes is strong: near-record numbers of families in England are living in temporary accommodation today, and 1.3 million households are on local authority housing waiting lists. But whether Andy Burnham means building more homes for social rent, councils building more themselves or both, there is a price tag attached. https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q3-2026/ … Continue reading SNP Government builds more than four times as many per head homes for social rent than England as Burnham takes over – let’s see what happens?
Scotland ‘priced out’ by UK VAT, Visa and ETA costs not its thoroughly average tourist tax
In the Herald today, the above and: Warnings that Scotland is pricing itself out of the global tourism market have intensified after it emerged nearly two in three of Scotland’s 32 councils are introducing or considering controversial tourist taxes. Businesses say visitors are already turning to cheaper destinations overseas as councils press ahead with new overnight levies that will pile extra costs onto holidays. Evidence for the latter claim? The visitor levies have not yet been implemented so cannot yet be part of the above ‘combination.’ Just rubbish. What’s the actual evidence? Scotland’s planned 3–7% levies sit in the middle … Continue reading Scotland ‘priced out’ by UK VAT, Visa and ETA costs not its thoroughly average tourist tax
Two men in court over child sex IN Wales now live IN Scotland but BBC Scotland change the wording to suggest they’re ‘FROM’ Scotland
BBC Scotland repost a story from BBC Wales but don’t just repeat the wording. As you’ll see below, in Wales and in other parts of the UK unchanged, the wording is ‘Nine men in court over historical child sexual exploitation offences.’ BBC websites often share posts from across the UK but only BBC Scotland see it as an opportunity to talk Scotland down. ‘Two men from Scotland‘ they make sure we see but, do we know, are they ‘from Scotland?’ Here’s what BBC Wales tell us: Nine men have appeared in court charged with a total of 41 historical sexual … Continue reading Two men in court over child sex IN Wales now live IN Scotland but BBC Scotland change the wording to suggest they’re ‘FROM’ Scotland
A wildfire still burning after a month, now the size of a town and only 15 miles from 3 million in Manchester is not top story but one 60 miles from 300k in Aberdeen is because…
Why is the Scottish wildfire a bigger deal in the media? Professional journalism standards would suggest the criterion of risk to the public has driven the decison? The Cairngorms fire is 30 miles from Inverness (47k)and 60 miles from Aberdeen (230k). The Tintwistle and Dovestone wildfire is only 15 miles from Greater Manchester (3 million). Back to the headline, ‘because….?’ Because the media in Scotland are still hoping they can get a local to blame the SNP for a helicopter or other shortage in the fire service. Continue reading A wildfire still burning after a month, now the size of a town and only 15 miles from 3 million in Manchester is not top story but one 60 miles from 300k in Aberdeen is because…
BBC Scotland fear rain may help put out Cairngorms fire tomorrow and linger on images from 33 hours ago
BBC Breakfast‘s weather forecast this morning shows rain clouds moving across Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms and threatening to help put out the wildfire. The English presenter links the two events but BBC Scotland is pretending it doesn’t know. Still top story on their website and with the above dramatic images they so want to use though they’re now 33 hours old. In an extended, 1 675 words, report, the word ‘rain’ foes not appear and there’s no reference to the changing weather that will surely be on the minds of the firefighters. When it comes and when the firefighters … Continue reading BBC Scotland fear rain may help put out Cairngorms fire tomorrow and linger on images from 33 hours ago
Burnham delivers ‘for Scotland’ two men close to Peter Mandelson
From Liz S The Sunday Mail (falsely) headlined this last Sunday: “Burnham: I’ll deliver for Scotland”. So what has he, so far, “delivered” ? Well he has given a peerage and also a role in his UK government to someone who, as the (alleged) leader of Labour in Scotland, (badly) lost the Scottish election for Labour in Scotland in May of this year. He has also kept on the same SOS against Scotland even after revelations in June 2026 that this same individual, Douglas Alexander, was said to have “broken the ministerial code by not declaring a meeting with Peter Mandelson’s lobbying agency“ that is when he, Alexander, … Continue reading Burnham delivers ‘for Scotland’ two men close to Peter Mandelson
Anas protests reduced access to the First Minister but seems OK with no access to the new PM
Above, one of the very few media outlets reporting the no media access for the new PM yesterday and below one of the many reporting the moderated access for the FM, on 29 January 2026: By Liz S Talking of Anas and his U turns, as in his seemingly conflicting opinions , opinions that are dependent on who they can most damage and who they can most protect. In June of this year the BBC reported this on their website: “Holyrood restricts media access to politicians after FMQs” “A row has broken out at Holyrood after it was announced journalists will have restricted access … Continue reading Anas protests reduced access to the First Minister but seems OK with no access to the new PM
The 'Unstoppable' Talking-up Scotland 