The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson
By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Chair Faculty Research Ethics Committee, UWS
Today, the Sun has a special on
At the age of 14, Nequela Whittaker wanted to be the biggest drug dealer in South London. The ambition led to being targeted and recruited by a drug gang which then used her as a mule to traffic narcotics across the UK. Once recruited the gang sent her all over the UK with consignments of cannabis, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.
She travelled to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham and made between £43,000 and £63,000 during her teenage years. But eventually in 2007 when she was 17, she was caught. Nequela managed to evade arrest for a year before she was finally caught and arrested in London and then taken back to Scotland to stand trial.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/33224322/heroin-crack-cocaine-county-lines/
The trial attracted little or no media attention but in 2018, the Daily Record did a retrospective on Whittaker with these shocking comments:
In 2008, Nequela transported large amounts of crack and heroin to cities and towns such as Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Dumfries on their behalf. She said: “It was more money if I did drop-offs in Scotland and I was greedy. Scotland was the quickest way to make money on crack and heroin if you had a smart enough operation.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/it-best-time-life-former-12159656
2008? This is way before the reporting of the County Lines business model around 2015 in England and 2019 in Scotland. We are clearly looking now at approaching 20 years of English gangs operating with impunity in relatively low-crime Scotland to frustrate the efforts of the Scottish Government to reduce drug deaths here.
For around 50 reports here on English County Lines drug gangs operating across Scotland: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=County+Lines
Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/
The Oliver Brown Award for advancing the cause of Scotland’s self respect, previously awarded to Dr Philippa Whitford, Alex Salmond and Sean Connery: https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
About Oliver Brown, the first Scottish National Party candidate to save his deposit in a Parliamentary election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Brow
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Even if “county lines” didn’t exist, I guess most drugs used in Scotland would come here via England. Fact or fiction?
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I think that a lot will be brought ashore from boats. Scotland has a very long coastline. The Navy, Coastguard and RAF have a relatively small deployment in Scotland. Disproportionate resources are deployed in the ridiculously exaggerated issue of ‘stopping the boats’.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (as it was then called) was stridently pro-Brexit and pro-Tory, so the Scottish media were not going to turn a spotlight on them. Rejoicing in the deaths of addicts was their forte.
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Yes but, these huge urban gangs have the critical mass to keep prices low and use essentially slave child labour to bring the drugs over the border on public transport. It’s a business model Alan Sugar might applaud.
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Marine and coastal security etc is a reserved power to the EngGov…Scotland therefore is at the mercy of their neglect to make sure our vast coastline is protected…apparently it’s very easy to land small boats (re floodng Scotland with drugs and who knows what else?) around Scottish coasts. Scary.
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Marine and coastal security etc is a reserved power to the EngGov…Scotland therefore is at the mercy of their neglect to make sure our vast coastline is protected…apparently it’s very easy to land small boats (re floodng Scotland with drugs and who knows what else?) around Scottish coasts. Scary.
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If the English media gave as much coverage to ”Stopping the drugs” as they do to ”Stopping the boats” then perhaps we , in Scotland , would have less of a problem with English County Lines Drug gangs .
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Scottish Gov putting £250million, over five years, into proper total abstinence rehab facilities. More opening. More beds to help people recover from drug use. Drug deaths will fall. More people rehabilitated. MUP cutting alcohol deaths.
Austerity increased drug deaths. Knife deaths in London 200 a year on average. The NHS, underfunded by the Tories for 14 years, increased drug deaths.
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