Professor John Robertson OBA
The above map is getting a lot of traffic in social media but critics will pounce on the fact that the UK data is from 2017, 8 years ago.
I’ve quickly accessed the 2024/2025 data.
In Scotland:
Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, recorded crimes of Robbery decreased by 7% from 1,922 to 1,782 crimes.1
That works out at 33 per 100 000, slightly up on 2017.
In England & Wales:
Police recorded 78,804 robbery offences in year ending (YE) March 2025. 2
That works out at 131 cases per 100 000, essentially the same as in 2017, 3.96 times as high as in Scotland.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2025/06/recorded-crime-scotland-2024-25/documents/recorded-crime-in-scotland-2024-25/recorded-crime-in-scotland-2024-25/govscot%3Adocument/Recorded%2BCrime%2Bin%2BScotland%2B2024-25.pdf#:~:text=This%20bulletin%20presents%20Accredited%20Official%20Statistics%20on%20crimes,criminal%20activity%20with%20which%20the%20police%20are%20faced.
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025#robbery
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
The data for England and Wales is what allows Farage and Reform to assert that Britain is ‘lawless’. And, of course the mainstream media simply parrot what he says, without criticism or comment. He is entirely a creation of the media, particularly the BBC.
And, of course, BBC Scotland and STV will always report, robberies, assaults, and other things in Scotland without comparative data and regularly recycling the ‘No Mean City’ myth. Labour and the Conservatives in Scotland peddle the same crap.
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