Imagining Scotland and the UK, above, with the former so violent, the latter needs to borrow one of their crimes?

In the Guardian today:

Most crime figures have drastically fallen, but people don’t believe it. It’s no wonder when politicians whip up emotions and attempt to bend the law. An astounding change is happening to life in England and Wales that most people don’t know about, and when they are told they don’t believe it. Most crime, including violence, has fallen by a remarkable 90% over the past 30 years. But only 6% of people believe it, while 61% think crime is going up. This great denial is the background cause of the prison overflow crisis, as politicians (of all parties) stir up voters to demand ever higher sentences as the imaginary cure to their imaginary soaring crime. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/14/andy-burnham-prisons-crisis-honest-public-crime

I couldn’t agree more but we might, especially in Scotland, add the media to those whipping up emotions.

Is Scotland more criminal more violent than England? No. Is it the same? No. What is it then?

Overall crime:

Scotland – 315 000 crimes, 57 per 10 000 population.¹

England – 5.2 million crimes 85 per 10 000.²

Crime, overall in England & Wales, nearly 50% higher!

Non-sexual crimes of violence:

Scotland – 13.6 per 1 000.³

England & Wales – 30 per 1 000.⁴

Violence more than twice as common!

Sexual crimes?

A rape in Glasgow shocks as it should but a proper news service should tell you it’s an offence twice as common across even average places in England & Wales

‘Scottish’ Daily Express today desperately tries to link it to Scotland but nothing in Scotland looks anything like the mass child grooming rape gangs in England

Sources:

1. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2025-26/pages/total-recorded-crime/
2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingdecember2025
3. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2026/06/recorded-crime-scotland-2025-26/documents/recorded-crime-in-scotland-2025-26/recorded-crime-in-scotland-2025-26/govscot%3Adocument/Recorded%2BCrime%2Bin%2BScotland%2B2025-26.pdf
4. https://crimerate.co.uk/violence-sexual-offences