Sturgeon has repeatedly championed women’s rights and women in both Scotland and the rest of the UK have a lot to thank her for
By stewartb To the question: ‘Whatever happened to the heroes?‘ I’m strongly inclined to take the Stranglers’ advice when musing about the state of the world and those in leadership positions: ‘No more heroes anymore’! So why write the following? When evidence-free opinions are given in derogatory terms – ‘Wee Nippy’, ‘worst FM’, ‘disgrace to Scotland’ and Prof Robertson singled out as ‘coming across as a dafty’ – on a topic that is (surely) more nuanced, it’s hard not to be motivated to offer some balance, some perspective: seems to me that’s something TuS always strives to do! My humble opinion of … Continue reading Sturgeon has repeatedly championed women’s rights and women in both Scotland and the rest of the UK have a lot to thank her for
Crime down 26% violent crime down 23% but SNP funds just as many police officers
From Statistics on policing published yesterday: * New * There were 16,430 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2026. This was 196 (+1.2%) more officers compared to the position on 31 March 2007. As staffing levels have been maintained how has the level of crime faced by these officers changed? So overall: Continue reading Crime down 26% violent crime down 23% but SNP funds just as many police officers
Who will ever tell you this? Murder in Scotland now at the lowest level since 1976 and the lowest in the UK due to targeted interventions by Scottish Government
From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 published yesterday, the above graph and: Number of victims of homicide at the lowest level since 1976. There were 45 homicide victims recorded by the police in Scotland in 2024-25, a 21% decrease from 2023-24 and a 24% decrease from 2015-16. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-may-2026/pages/statistics-on-crime-in-general/ All things being equal with 11 times population you might expect England and Wales to have had 495 but the equivalent figure was 522, 27 more, 5.4% more. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=dc22c4cd59914421eb573e9096017b41e7f889377ded8e03d5883c7f9beef0d2JmltdHM9MTc3OTkyNjQwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=040f0c0f-8f6f-69bb-36d4-18948ed46872&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub25zLmdvdi51ay9wZW9wbGVwb3B1bGF0aW9uYW5kY29tbXVuaXR5L2NyaW1lYW5kanVzdGljZS9hcnRpY2xlcy9ob21pY2lkZWluZW5nbGFuZGFuZHdhbGVzL2xhdGVzdA&ntb=1 Scotland’s homicide rate was, as recently as 2023/2025, higher than in England and Wales, but has since been lower … Continue reading Who will ever tell you this? Murder in Scotland now at the lowest level since 1976 and the lowest in the UK due to targeted interventions by Scottish Government
Crime clear-up rates increase
From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 published yesterday: Increase in crime clear up rate. The clear up rate for all recorded crimes was 56.0% in 2024-25, up from 54.1% in 2023-24. Crimes against society (93.8%), non-sexual crimes of violence (68.4%) and sexual crimes (56.9%) continued to have higher clear up rates in 2024-25 than crimes of dishonesty (35.1%) and damage and reckless behaviour (31.0%). https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-may-2026/pages/statistics-on-crime-in-general/ Scotland publishes an overall “clear up rate” (crimes solved/cleared), while in England & Wales the main official measure is usually the proportion of crimes resulting in a police “charge/summons” or another … Continue reading Crime clear-up rates increase
Property and violent crime has fallen by 42% since 2008-09
From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 published yesterday: The above graph and: Property and violent crime has fallen by 42% since 2008-09. Results from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) show that one-in-five (20.8%) adults were estimated to have experienced at least one crime in 2024-25. This included property crime (9.4% of adults), violent crime (2.5%) and for the second time fraud and computer misuse (11.5%). The latest findings show that the overall level of property and violent crime combined and the likelihood of being a victim of these crimes has fallen since 2008/09 but … Continue reading Property and violent crime has fallen by 42% since 2008-09
Hate Crime – underlying trend is significantly down by 4.5% but hidden by new additional categories
From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 on Statistics on hate crime published yesterday: Small decrease in overall hate crime charges. There was a decrease of 1.2% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, in the total number of charges reported to COPFS containing at least one element of hate crime. The figures for 2024-25 are not directly comparable with earlier years because they include new categories of hate crime and new charges introduced by the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-may-2026/pages/statistics-on-hate-crime/ For reasons beyond me, the researchers do not subtract the new offences to reveal what … Continue reading Hate Crime – underlying trend is significantly down by 4.5% but hidden by new additional categories
Scotland’s Oil and Gas Industry – Same Old Tory Hypocrisy
By Jim Mennie That the Tories are posing as eternal champions of the oil and gas industry should come as a surprise to voters in Aberdeen South considering their history of husbanding this resource. Most brazenly hypocritical is their promise to abolish the Energy Profits Levy – a tax they introduced in 2022 and which Kemi Badenoch and Andrew Bowie voted for! And then we have this from sitting Tory MSP Alexander Burnett in a March 2017 edition of the P&J’s Energy Voice showing how they put being in government at Westminster before their own constituents: Tory MSP dismisses call … Continue reading Scotland’s Oil and Gas Industry – Same Old Tory Hypocrisy
Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ – to hear about Scotland watch BBC UK
for England’s Pharmacy First BBC Breakfast this morning telling us the Scottish Government has long put in place a better model for pharmacies, repeatedly covered here but never in the MSM operating in Scotland. What’s it all about? In the Chemist and Druggist of April 10th 2024 Pharmacists in hospital, and in community pharmacies in Scotland, already routinely alter prescriptions for the benefit of patients. https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD138095/One-slight-alteration-could-avert-a-crisis-as-medicine-shortages-deepen In the same journal in August that year: Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for England’s future As pharmacies in Scotland receive renewed government backing, Steve Anderson takes a look at the future of English pharmacy … Continue reading Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ – to hear about Scotland watch BBC UK
The Huffy Bros – Rev(olting?) Stu Campbell and Robin McAlpine fighting for the Union
The had such promise in 2014, those two, but these days all they do is snipe, living for SNP scandals they can persuade mugs to read about and earn them a living. I suspect their business model is based on Russel Brand. There are times I wonder about our business model at TuS as we batter-out researched reports to counter Unionist lies for well-under the minimum wage and they just feed lazily on tabloid………….shite. McAlpine’s latest in an exemplar of projection, projection of your own doubts, with eg: Sturgeon would still be Narcissus, the Greek tragic hero who so needed … Continue reading The Huffy Bros – Rev(olting?) Stu Campbell and Robin McAlpine fighting for the Union
High Court backlog likely to be result of 300% increase in English County Lines activity in Scotland
From BBC Scotland today, the above, and: The backlog of trials in Scotland’s highest criminal courts has nearly tripled, due in part to an increase in complex cases involving serious organised crime and historic sex abuse. At the end of March about 1,000 trials were waiting to go ahead in the high court, almost three times the number before the Covid-19 pandemic. Where would that increase in serious organised crime come from? There’s absolutely no evidence that it originates anywhere in Scotland. To what extent based on Police Scotland and other reliable sources has County Lines drug gang activity increased … Continue reading High Court backlog likely to be result of 300% increase in English County Lines activity in Scotland
Talking-up Scotland 