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In the Guardian today:
Britain’s job market ‘floundering’ as companies remain cautious about hiring. Data shows labour market is still in a fragile position due to economic uncertainty, with few signs of recovery
There’s no mention of Scotland in the piece, leaving the thousands of Scottish readers to either think it must be just the same here or, maybe, look elsewhere for the facts.
On hiring, there are signs of stabilization or modest improvements in permanent and temporary placements in early 2026, from REC/KPMG Report on Jobs. https://kpmg.com/uk/en/media/press-releases/2026/02/kpmg-rec-uk-report-on-jobs.html
On unemployment, UK unemployment 40% higher, youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland.
The unemployment rate in Scotland at the end of 2025, was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in 2024. In crude terms 5.1 is 1.4 greater than 3.7 but as a percentage, to take account of the millions of people being referred to, unemployment in England is 37.8% higher. There are about 1.8m unemployed in the UK so if the rate was the same in the UK as it is in Scotland, hundreds of thousands of those would be in work. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/headlinelabourforcesurveyindicatorsforscotlandhi11
On youth unemployment, for Scotland in 2023/2024:
The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.4 per cent in October 2023 to September 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (9.7 per cent)
For Scotland in 2023/2024:
The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.4 per cent in October 2023 to September 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (9.7 per cent)
For the UK, in 2023:
The unemployment rate for young people was 14.2%, up from 13.8% from the year before.
Sources:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05871/:
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Talking-up Scotland 
This is a long comment, apologies, but obviously you do not need to read it……so you write in your article that:
“There’s no mention of Scotland in the piece, leaving the thousands of Scottish readers to either think it must be just the same here or, maybe, look elsewhere for the facts”.
Of course not.
You forget the UK (apparent golden) rule is always one that states that:
Whenever it is something that is construed to be bad as a occurrence or situation that is happening either only within, or mostly within, England only , it then all too quickly becomes, as a problem, one that is then promoted as being a UK wide #BAD occurrence or or as a British #BAD occurrence, situation or problem.
However when anything happens that they promote as being #BAD within Scotland, it then means it must remain, as a #BAD occurrence or situation , one that is always confined to being only uniquely bad for Scotland alone.
UK wide riots in 2024 they proclaimed………but none were in Scotland, so how wide in the UK did they , the UK media and UK politicians , look or indeed investigate….and then somehow mysteriously manage to find rioting to be UK wide ?
England’s water contaminated by sewage and pollution and controlled by Private water companies – the UK media then ask “How clean are the UK’s rivers and Lakes” ?
Then we had Labour’s Steve Reed , when he was formerly the Environment secretary, wrongly state in July 2025 that:
“In Scotland they have a nationalised water company but pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England”
False as in fake news………and this was at a time when it was only water within certain English regions that were being promoted as being contaminated and also that the private water companies within England who were being promoted as those who were “prioritising profit over environmental safety and customer service”.
Of course there was no retraction nor any apology by Reed, but there was much condemnation against his (deliberately provocative, partisan and misleading) remarks.
However this was yet another example of when we have something #Bad happening within England , as in contaminated water, then a UK Labour politician must then make it a British problem that must also then include Scotland – but perhaps not include water in Labour run Wales, how convenient and also how tactical of him.
Then when it comes to drug deaths within Scotland we then become isolated as if we were an independent nation and so somehow then we are not identified as being a part of their UK State, who as a UK State, takes no liability nor responsibility via their UK Drug policy for any of these drug deaths within Scotland .
(Drug policy in the UK is a reserved matter, meaning the central UK Parliament retains exclusive power over the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which governs classification, criminal offences, and penalties. While Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have devolved powers for health and policing, they cannot legalise or change the classification of drugs).
It has been reported that “Scotland via it’s government, does have some powers on Drugs , that includes the full responsibility for health related drug treatment, including the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards also an option to include funding to improve addiction services and also the development of strategies for naloxone supply, needle exchange programs and, through cooperation with the Lord Advocate, the facilitation of a pilot Safer Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF) in Glasgow”
Of course any initiative that the Scottish government does take to try to reduce drug deaths, well that is then met with huge criticism and opposition from both UK Politicians and their (client) UK media, who both seem more concerned in playing politics than in seeing any attempt at a resolution being found to either reduce drug deaths or to try to end this tragic situation.
Scotland is presented as if it we were an independent Nation where they state “Scotland remains the drugs death capital of Europe“……so we, Scotland , must then ‘own it’ as being an apparent unique problem within our country only.
Of course the only problem with them, UK politicians and the UK media, comparing Scotland to European countries, is then the blatantly obvious fact that European countries are independent nations not connected to, as in not being tied to , the UK State.
Where as we , Scotland, are indeed not independent as a nation, as we are (sadly) still tied to the UK state, whose UK government controls the more powerful reserved powers and also the majority of the UK State’s finances.
I also read online on the BBC website that in October 2024 that:
“The north-east of England has had the highest rate of drug-poisoning deaths for the past 11 years“.…….
Then “in October 2025, the North East of England continued to have the highest rate of drug-poisoning deaths in the country, maintaining this position for the 12th consecutive year”
(“in the Country” was that within the UK State or was it meaning only within England) ?
Also stated was that “Across England and Wales, the number of drug-poisoning deaths rose by 11% and is the highest since ONS records began in 1993″.
So what was the response from the then Labour Minister for Public Health and Prevention , as in Andrew Gwynne (now no longer a Labour MP for Gorton & Denton) to that news on drug deaths in the North-east of England in 2024?
Well he, Gwynne, said at the time that:
“This (Labour) government is committed to gripping the problem of record drug-related deaths which we inherited, especially in more deprived areas.
“Through our mission driven government, we will work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use and build a fairer Britain for all.”
See this once again was a report only upon the North-east of England and their drug death problem in 2024, but somehow a UK politician, as in a former Labour Minister, then ends up mentioning Britain in his statement……would he be mentioning wanting to “drive down drug use and build a fairer Britain for all” if it were only in respect to drug deaths within Scotland ?
Well do not shoot the messenger’s opinion upon this, as to whether he would or would not have noted Britain or the UK in the context of rates of drug deaths in Scotland.
However going by many past statements from UK politicians, including Labour ones, it seems that when noting “Scotland” and “drug deaths” it is never noted as also being a problem that is also UK wide or within the rest of Britain………or that the UK State, via their UK government, should also take (at least some) responsibility for it.
As you need to always remember the UK (golden) rule on anything #Bad , as to who and where it is identified as being only attributed to. (that is when it is ever communicated as being #BAD via UK media and UK politicians).
#BAD in England = becomes UK wide or noted as being throughout Britain.
#BAD in Scotland = confined to always only being a problem within Scotland .
Liz S
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