Step We Gaily Over The Line?
By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Reports in today’s Sunday newspapers are suggesting that Gordon Brown was taking a “very keen interest” in Operation Branchform. Apparently he raised the investigation into SNP finances with his friend, the then Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Sir Iain Livingstone, several times. And before anyone says — “so what? It’s just another resurrection of Auld Broon” — remember what Branchform became. It wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill police investigation. It became one of the biggest political stories in Scotland, engulfing the SNP leadership and doing … Continue reading Step We Gaily Over The Line?
Labour’s Alan Milburn says more English Neets want to work but won’t learn from Scotland where more than one third fewer of them are unemployed
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 The Guardian today (Is that getting boring?): The ideas that Neets (young people not in education, employment or training) simply aren’t trying hard enough to find a job, or don’t want one, are “myths,” Alan Milburn wrote in his interim report on the subject earlier this year – “sometimes cruel ones”. Although 84% of Neets say they want to work, their prospects are unfairly limited by where they live. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/18/the-guardian-view-on-youth-unemployment-too-few-jobs-in-too-many-places BBC Breakfast in May 2026, in an extended piece on the number not in work or in education – … Continue reading Labour’s Alan Milburn says more English Neets want to work but won’t learn from Scotland where more than one third fewer of them are unemployed
UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments. A total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019, research reveals. The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of … Continue reading UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP
MSP ‘vast fortunes’ shock but Malcolm Offord only comes second and Labour are, not really that surprising, third
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 The Herald today has this: Holyrood’s ‘rich list’: Scotland’s wealthiest MSPs revealed – Scotland’s richest MSPs have vast fortunes in property, shareholdings and business interests, an analysis of their declarations to the Scottish Parliament by The Herald can reveal. MSPs are legally required to disclose details of their financial interests and benefits as well as any matter that could be perceived as influencing how they vote or position they take on policies. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26562800.holyrood-rich-list-scotlands-wealthiest-msps-revealed/?ref=ebln&nid=1220&block=article_block_a&u=54f15f1382a35160f5f9fbd9de82faff&date=200926 Here are the top five: Malcolm Offord, only second? Labour in third place? SNP and Greens … Continue reading MSP ‘vast fortunes’ shock but Malcolm Offord only comes second and Labour are, not really that surprising, third
Scotland’s world-first Naloxone opioid-reversal kits will help stem the tide of death but cannot stop this cross-border flow
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 James Cook today, delighting in being able to regurgitate the last bit below: Efforts to bring down Scotland’s sky-high rate of drug deaths are being frustrated by the arrival of hundreds of powerful new synthetic substances that experts warn are making the deadly drugs crisis even more dangerous. In the past three years, there has been an explosion in the supply of new synthetic cannabinoids and opioids, transforming the illicit drugs trade and increasing the risk of fatal overdoses. Annual figures to be released on Wednesday are expected to … Continue reading Scotland’s world-first Naloxone opioid-reversal kits will help stem the tide of death but cannot stop this cross-border flow
James Cook still still trying to hide UK Police Chiefs’ evidence that Scotland is victim of drug gangs from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool crossing border to keep drug deaths high
There’s no mention of England in James Cook‘s report nor is there in the fuller report on the BBC Scotland website. This is political. The drug-related death statistics coming out this Wednesday 23 September are, it seems, expected to show an increase and that is being connected to new more powerful synthetic opioids like Nitazene. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In both reports, there are attempts to locate the supply in Scotland and avoid the real story, below. Is there evidence in other sources that these gangs are based in large cities in England? … Continue reading James Cook still still trying to hide UK Police Chiefs’ evidence that Scotland is victim of drug gangs from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool crossing border to keep drug deaths high
Children’s care homes in places like Rochdale could not just rely on ‘committed people.’ They needed regulation and inspection of the kind Alex Salmond brought to Scotland nearly 20 years ago
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian yesterday: Children’s care homes rely on committed people – While there are good private children’s homes (I’ve worked with some), they are defined by personal and family commitment, not profit. The same relationships are required whoever runs a children’s home, whether a charitable organisation or local authority. Without the personal, unflinching commitment of councillors, managers, social workers and, crucially, the grownups who work in the home, it can’t be a loving home. We have been led to believe that regulation and inspection ensure good care. Do … Continue reading Children’s care homes in places like Rochdale could not just rely on ‘committed people.’ They needed regulation and inspection of the kind Alex Salmond brought to Scotland nearly 20 years ago
Hydrofoil Hiatus as Orkney/UK Government-funded lifeline electric ferry is ‘beset by issues’, lasts only one year and is now four months into repairs with no sign of return – Islanders must be furious and leaving for the mainland surely?
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 I couldn’t help noticing today, the 6 month delay so far of an electric hydrofoil ferry to Isle of Wight service. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/26560859.red-funnel-aims-launch-new-isle-wight-ferry-2029/ I was instantly reminded of this story and wondered if there had been any return of the above to service in Orkney. There is no sign of that after four months. In May 2026: Needless to say the BBC Scotland report on this plays the whole thing down and makes no accusations at all: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgpj13p5x1o The Orcadian is less restrained, with: None of the above highlighted phrases … Continue reading Hydrofoil Hiatus as Orkney/UK Government-funded lifeline electric ferry is ‘beset by issues’, lasts only one year and is now four months into repairs with no sign of return – Islanders must be furious and leaving for the mainland surely?
‘Cost of housing crunch in England looms for low-income families, warns Resolution Foundation’ but it does not mention Scotland because…..
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: More than 1.1 million low-income families in rented homes face a “cost of housing” crunch without action from John Healey in next month’s budget, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has warned. Local housing allowance (LHA) has been frozen in cash terms since autumn 2024. In a new report, Saving Private Renters, the thinktank found that rising rents since then have led to a widening gap between what families claiming LHA can afford, and the realities of the market. It said a low-income family renting a typical … Continue reading ‘Cost of housing crunch in England looms for low-income families, warns Resolution Foundation’ but it does not mention Scotland because…..
‘Drinks Spiking Danger’ FALLS to just over a quarter of that at the peak four years ago
Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 There is no standalone “drink-spiking” offence in Scots law. Police record relevant cases mainly as the common-law crime of drugging (feloniously administering a substance with intent to stupefy) or, less often, as administering a substance for sexual purposes (Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, s.11). Assault may also be used, but those cases cannot be isolated in the published recorded-crime series. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2024/06/recorded-crime-scotland-2023-24/documents/recorded-crime-scotland-2023-24/recorded-crime-scotland-2023-24/govscot%3Adocument/Recorded%2BCrime%2Bin%2BScotland%2B2023-24.pdf So, reported drugging offences peaked in 2021/2022 at 444 at the same time as a media frenzy on it. In the following two years, the figures fell to … Continue reading ‘Drinks Spiking Danger’ FALLS to just over a quarter of that at the peak four years ago
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