Is this due to the Scottish Government’s decision to buy the airport?
Yes, the current cargo activity is a direct result of the Scottish Government’s decision to buy the airport. In 2013 the Scottish Government bought Glasgow Prestwick Airport from Infratil for a nominal £1 specifically to stop it closing. Without that intervention the airport would almost certainly have shut. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxq8l3v984o Under public ownership it has been turned around and is now profitable. Cargo has become a major part of that recovery: volumes have risen sharply (the 5,548 tonnes reported for August is one example), driven by new daily services to China and other freighter operations. That growth has created jobs at … Continue reading Is this due to the Scottish Government’s decision to buy the airport?
‘Child health in England at risk from sharp rise in NHS waiting times’ applies less here
In the Guardian today: Thousands of children in England are experiencing some of the sharpest rises in waiting times for healthcare in the history of the NHS, a report has revealed. While some adult waiting times have improved, children and young people are being “hit hardest” amid soaring demand and falling numbers of staff, according to the annual state of care report by the Care Quality Commission. In community health services alone, 80,000 children and young people have been waiting more than a year for an appointment – almost 11 times the number of adults, the report said. Experts said … Continue reading ‘Child health in England at risk from sharp rise in NHS waiting times’ applies less here
Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs from cities in England of such horrors and what can we do about them? Easy!
Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs in small-town Scotland from cities in England in the last ten years that Scottish drug gangs at street level pushing drugs, were involved in cuckooing the vulnerable, using child drug mules, using extreme violence, diversifying into sex trafficking and adopting the business model exploiting markets in smaller towns and even in villages, across all of Scotland? I can’t be fully trusted. I’m angry, deeply angry at how the media operating in Scotland hides the reality of this deadly invasion. Heavy, experienced and familiar with the prison system in … Continue reading Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs from cities in England of such horrors and what can we do about them? Easy!
As STV explore everything about ‘serious organised crime’ except the appalling things the English County Lines cultural variant does, a fearful reminder of what of that, from Police Scotland but ignored by ‘our’ supposed media
From Human Trafficking NRM referrals re county lines – 10yrs published by Police Scotland today, that ‘referrals made by Police Scotland to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) where county lines and suspected criminal exploitation was a factor‘ 26 September 2026: Under 16 year-olds – from 6 in 2020/2021 to 39 in 2025/2026, almost a seven-fold increase. 16-17 year-olds, from 16 to 65, a four-fold increase. Source: https://www.scotland.police.uk/access-to-information/freedom-of-information/disclosure-log/disclosure-log-2026/june/26-1022-human-trafficking-nrm-referrals-re-county-lines-10yrs/ What forms does that exploitation take? County lines refers to a violent, exploitative model of illegal drug distribution in the UK, where urban gangs and organised criminal networks export drugs (primarily heroin and … Continue reading As STV explore everything about ‘serious organised crime’ except the appalling things the English County Lines cultural variant does, a fearful reminder of what of that, from Police Scotland but ignored by ‘our’ supposed media
At the street level, the extreme violence, the sex trafficking, the ‘cuckooing’ of the vulnerable in their homes, and the child ‘mules’ with deadly drugs stuffed inside their bodies is an invasive plague everywhere in Scotland and one run by monsters, every one of them, from England – the solutions are clear
STV today, has: Figures show that 135 serious organised crime groups are currently assessed as active in Scotland, seven of which involve children or young people. Data obtained by STV News through a freedom of information request details known crime operations in Scotland over the last five years. The total number of active serious and organised crime groups fell this year compared with 2024/25 – but the figure is higher than five years ago. This is all very well but, frankly, the report ignores, and you have to ask why, the clear facts that, in terms of the horrors of … Continue reading At the street level, the extreme violence, the sex trafficking, the ‘cuckooing’ of the vulnerable in their homes, and the child ‘mules’ with deadly drugs stuffed inside their bodies is an invasive plague everywhere in Scotland and one run by monsters, every one of them, from England – the solutions are clear
From “If you don’t know, vote NO!” To becoming an author
By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Okay. Cards on the table. In 2014, I wasn’t some lifelong dyed-in-the-wool independence campaigner who had spent years on the streets criticising the Union. I was just one of millions who had ‘forever’ accepted the political status quo. That is, until one political slogan challenged me to think differently. “If you don’t know, vote no!” I suppose I could have shrugged my shoulders and accepted that as reasonable advice. Instead, I didn’t just take it on board. I took it as a challenge. If I don’t know, then I’ll find out. And that curiosity became … Continue reading From “If you don’t know, vote NO!” To becoming an author
Red Letter Days and Red Reminders – More gas, more electricity, more promises and still the bills arrive
By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Politicians announce new energy projects, celebrate investment and promise jobs, energy security and economic growth. Then the red reminders arrive. The electricity bill. The rising direct debit. The shrinking household budget. For people struggling to heat their homes, the question isn’t how many announcements smiling politicians can make. It’s how those smiles translate into a tangible difference to the bills people pay. The UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Energy and Jobs has recently been promoting a community-owned energy project in Argyll expected to power 800 homes. And only yesterday, the same minister welcomed … Continue reading Red Letter Days and Red Reminders – More gas, more electricity, more promises and still the bills arrive
Stories never told – 63% improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences more than twice as high per head in England & Wales
In BBC Scotland’s, 2-3 minute insert in BBC Breakfast this morning, the above story, and on the website: Walking into a witness box to give evidence is one of the most daunting things a person can do. Giving evidence as a victim of a sexual assault case is even more challenging. That’s something rape survivor Sarah Lee knows too well. Fears about being judged on her appearance added to that pressure. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4g17plp75eo Clearly a worth cause but there are other related news stories of great significance, to all of us, of course, but in particular to women, important for how … Continue reading Stories never told – 63% improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences more than twice as high per head in England & Wales
Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it – the EIGHT research reports supporting the SNP Government’s decision to spend 0.7% of its budget for a future we all benefit from
In the Guardian in December 2024: The news that more than one in three children in the UK are now living in poverty should shock everyone but surprise no one. Nearly three years into the cost of living crisis, we know that young families and disabled people have been among those hit hardest by the biggest fall in UK living standards in half a century. The latest estimates, by the non-partisan Social Metrics Commission, show that the number of people in poverty has risen to 16 million, or nearly one in four of the UK population – its highest level … Continue reading Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it – the EIGHT research reports supporting the SNP Government’s decision to spend 0.7% of its budget for a future we all benefit from
The BBC did report Professor Dorling more fully and how the Child Payment costs Scotland less than one-percent of its budget but ONLY for its audience in Wales
In October 2023, after Professor Dorling’s fulsome praise for the SNP’s Child Payment, BBC Wales had Prof Danny Dorling, of Oxford University, said the Scottish payment was the most significant attempt to tackle child poverty seen anywhere in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. “It is clearly the most direct way to help people,” he said. “The parents of children, and especially their mothers, are the people who have their interests most at heart,” he said. “So any talk that says that some other method is better is going against all the evidence that we’ve collected for decades. … Continue reading The BBC did report Professor Dorling more fully and how the Child Payment costs Scotland less than one-percent of its budget but ONLY for its audience in Wales
