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Professor John Robertson OBA
Like you, I’m mad as hell about Operation Branchform but, like you I hope, I know damn fine Police Scotland is not making the decisions in what is the clearest example of a police force being told what to do, by those above them, charged with protecting national security as they see it.
Putting that in a box, I was pleased to read in the National yesterday:
Edinburgh Palestine Action protest passes peacefully as London erupts – AROUND 100 protesters defied Labour’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terror group in a silent protest outside the UK Government offices in Edinburgh on Saturday. In London, a similar protest – both in size and message – erupted into frantic scenes after police decided to begin arresting people holding placards [300]. Met Police officers forced their way through crowds carrying arrested protesters and had screaming arguments with demonstrators in Parliament Square, PA Media reported. However, Police Scotland took a different approach to the demonstration. No [2 later] arrests were made and no confrontations happened during the 60 minutes it took place.
The ‘Scottish’ media has shown little interest in this in sharp contrast with their love of blue tents on Nicola’s lawn.
We’ve seen this more humane policing in Scotland before. At Cop 26, there was much praise directed at Police Scotland. This for example in the Glasgow Times on 8th November 2021:
POLICE Scotland were praised for stopping a 3am ‘battery ram’ raid on a squat housing environmental activists for COP26 by their southern counterparts. The Hamish Allen Centre in Tradeston has been renamed ‘Baile Hoose’ and is accommodating people who would have been forced to sleep rough to attend COP26.
It is going to wrap up when COP26 is finished and the building will be returned to Glasgow City Council rather than continuing to be squatted. Activists were woken at 3am today by the sound of a battery ram being used to attempt to break down a reinforced door. Police Scotland intervened and allegedly told their southern counterparts to stop. https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19703164.cop26-police-scotland-praised-stopping-battery-ram-raid/
As in the Palestine Action reports, the Scottish media showed little interest.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Is it just coincidence that Holyrood debated Gaza this week and passed a motion in support of Palestinian people and scaled back police action at rally in support of Palestine Action on Saturday?
Caveat to comment – I await to see whether there are any follow up arrests this week- especially if pressure to comply with Terrorism Act is forthcoming from Westminster government this week.
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O/T Imagine if what follows had been in a report from Audit Scotland and concerned the auditing of government accounts in Scotland. I missed this from the National Audit Office (NAO) back in July, presumably because of little or no mainstream media coverage.
Source: National Audit Office – ‘Spending watchdog disclaims government’s accounts again’ – Press release, 17 July 2025
(https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/spending-watchdog-disclaims-governments-accounts-again/)
‘The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) 2023-24 has been disclaimed by the head of the National Audit Office, for the second successive year
‘As for 2022-23, the cause is the lack of audited accounts for English local authorities, with the consequence that there is inadequate assurance over material amounts throughout the WGA.
‘Only 4% of English Local Authorities were able to produce audited accounts for inclusion in the 2023-24 WGA, in comparison to 10% in 2022-23 .’
The NAO press release also has this: ‘The WGA is a vital tool in the management and scrutiny of public spending, as it brings together all public sector assets and liabilities covering more than 10,000 departments, agencies and other government organisations.
‘However, in England, of the 407 local authorities that should have submitted audited information into the WGA, 167 or 41% didn’t submit data at all. A further 55%, or 224, submitted data based on unaudited accounts. Only 16 or 4% of English local authorities submitted adequate audited data. (my emphasis)
‘By comparison, in 2022-3, 10% of English local authorities submitted reliable data, 46% submitted unaudited data, and 44% didn’t submit any data at all.’
We also have this from the NAO’s website: ‘Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), has disclaimed his opinion on the financial statements, providing no assurance to Parliament on the financial statements.’
It’s not hard to envisage BBC Scotland and others’ headlines, and opposition parties’ outrage, if this was coming from Audit Scotland!
Is this not about the accounts of a government that is Scotland’s government too? Is this not about a Parliament that also rules over Scotland that for a second year cannot be given important ‘assurance’ from the UK’s Auditor General? And yet, did anyone spot any new coverage in Scotland of this NAO report?
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