Professor John Robertson OBA
What will look bad at first sight, above and in much media coverage a the time, for some, is a classic example of misleading reporting of percentages. Scotland has 18 743 km of coastline compared to England’s 8 982, only one-tenth of the population and, crucially far fewer areas requiring monitoring.
Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University, a leading expert on water quality, explained this in the National, in August 2022:
An overview of the most obvious data on bathing water quality superficially appears to show Scotland actually has poorer-quality bathing spots than England.
But this is only half the picture, according to one of the UK’s leading experts on water quality.
Scottish swimmers paddling in and around Scotland’s 18,743km coastline do enjoy cleaner water than those taking a dip down south, said Dr Simon Boxall, based at the National Oceanography Centre at Southampton University.
Looking at the monitored “bathing waters” in Scotland paints a slightly misleading picture of overall water quality in the country, he told The National.
Compared with England, Scotland’s monitored swimming spots are poorer quality: just 38% of the 85 identified locations were recognised as “excellent” according to EU standards, compared with 71% of those in England.
Most of Scotland’s waters are not cause for concern, he said, meaning they did not need the same level of monitoring as takes place in England.
He added: “I would say Scotland does a better job [of monitoring] than England does.”
“If we’re not going into some of the more remote parts, for example north-west Scotland, because there’s no need to, I know full well the beaches up there are phenomenally good,” he added.
“If they are focusing their efforts on areas which are likely to suffer from pollution, then they’ll get more positives – in terms of pollution – than if they are doing the fairly broad-sweep approach of looking at every 10km on the south coast of England.
“So, you are going to find patchiness – there are going to be parts of Scotland, if you look at the Clyde estuary for example where you’ve got a huge population, you’re going to have a higher level of pollution.”
“To be fair to Scotland, they’re actually not monitoring a lot of the areas which don’t need it,” he added.
“In England, they tend to take more of the, ‘we’ll do every, say 70km approach’.
“They’re bound to find more high-quality beaches because there are, particularly in the west coast of England, fewer potential inputs.”
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
It’s the usual – Lies , Damned lies and Statistics . They can be (mis)used to show whatever you want .
And Scotland suffers continually from this tactic , particularly from ”the enemy within ” if I can steal a Daily Heil headline .
Countless ”proud Scots” with their feet firmly in the unionist camp are ever ready to misuse statistics against their own (sic ) country at the behest of The Union ( or more often than not , their bank balances ! ).
Step forward Sarwar the Ambulance Chaser , Baillie the Damned , practically every Tory in Holyrood , ACH(E) of the LibDumbs , all of the brave Labour MPs who line up at PMQs to throw sh*te at the Scottish Government , every scribe with The Herod , …..
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Speaking of England this is a long read so will put in one paragraph.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2l8kq52y8o#comments
Reports state that the now-shortened line between Birmingham and London could cost £81bn. Accounting for inflation, that would mean at least £100bn will be spent, but only 135 miles of railway built.
Ah but the Ferries.
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Interesting comments.
I note that water for most businesses in Scotland are covered by Business Stream, Castle Water, Everflow and others.
These are private sector companies, what are their charges compared to English businesses for water?
I also saw an article about business rates in Scotland being higher than England.
Can this be investigated by Stewart B or someone knowledgeable about these things.
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Well I asked Google and got this AI reply:
“Business rates in Scotland are generally lower than in England, particularly for smaller businesses. Scotland offers a Small Business Bonus Scheme, providing significant relief for businesses with combined rateable values up to £35,000, potentially eliminating or reducing their liability. In England, while relief schemes exist, they may not offer the same level of support for all businesses.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
In conclusion, while both systems have relief measures, Scotland’s approach, especially the Small Business Bonus Scheme, generally results in lower business rates for many businesses compared to England. “
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Legerwood,
I have read the Google response to the question “are business rates in Scotland higher than England”
The above answer does come up, but on the same page, you find these:
https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/scottish-hospitality-set-to-pay-up-to-70-more-in-business-rates-than-england/
https://brc.org.uk/news-and-events/news/corporate-affairs/2025/ungated/scots-firms-to-pay-55-million-more-in-rates-than-english-counterparts-this-year/
https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/scottish-budget-leaves-thousands-of-venues-worse-off/
Where does the truth lie?
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John, “Mull cafe owner’s mass protest
I have not seen any report on this can you give us an update
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This is the only one I found but couldn’t look behind the paywall…. https://archive.ph/0A5Np – A ‘mass’ protest by <1% of the population, almost a cafe full…
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I count 33
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Ok, so just >1%…. 🙄
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https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-oban-times/20250717/281517937148466
70?
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Aye, the Devlin’s in the detail – Apparently Owen Wild is “Deputy editor of International Financing Review”, who knew the man cannae coont, and he did confirm the exact number as ’60 to 70′ in this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8yCTDCSc
Any idea which was Reade and which was Devlin in that photo ? Or was the bollard a stand-in for both ?
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