Across the BBC in the UK today, the above warnings but all quiet in the media operating in Scotland.
So, if someone tells you it’ll be just the same in Scotland or if, as is common, they think the above covers Scotland two, tell them:
First, more than ten times as many, per head, early release prisoners were being recalled in England & Wales due to half the ‘probation officer’ staffing in Scotland
From the Guardian in February 2026:
Record numbers of offenders are being recalled to prison in England and Wales with union officials claiming that some are deliberately breaking the terms of their probation in order to deal drugs in prison. Prison sources said that after the implementation of early release schemes, as many as 5,000 men were recalled in December alone – more than a third of the total number released in the year to June 2025.
The Guardian does not offer an annual total and one does not seem to have been published, but for just one quarter, April – June 2025, there were 11 0411 so we might estimate around 40 000 for 2024/2025.
How many in Scotland? 290.2
So, to compare, England & Wales have 11 times the population, thus 290 becomes 3 190, if they’re comparable.
They’re not – recall rates in England & Wales, per head of population are 13 times higher.
One reason? Probation officers in England & Wales manage around 40 cases3 each while criminal justice social workers in Scotland only manage around 204, half the load to be able to do a better job.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2025/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2025
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/justice-social-work-statistics-in-scotland-2024-25-part-1/pages/8-statutory-voluntary-throughcare
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2025
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/justice-social-work-statistics-in-scotland-2024-25-part-1/
Second, third and fourth, there is half the domestic violence, one quarter of the children exposed to it and better police monitoring
Click on these to read in full:
Women victims of domestic violence
Child victims of domestic violence
Monitoring of suspect abusers
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“So, if someone tells you it’ll be just the same in Scotland” ?
I think we all know who it is who will tell us that .
BBC Scotland news teams.
However what they may not tell you is things like this below:
A petition online that someone has created for a “Referendum on English Independence”.
What is especially delicious is some of the main reasoning behind it’s instigation.
That reasoning behind this petition is sourced from what UK politicians and UK media keep claiming to be true in relation to Scotland, that is that spending (by the UK governments) is higher per person here in Scotland compared to elsewhere within the UK.
This has then prompted this petition instigator to translate that as being not just Scotland as a apparent burden upon England but also Wales & NI as well !
So here is the wording on the petition which closes in December 2026.
“We call for a referendum on full English independence from the UK due to what we believe is the enormous financial burden which the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland place on tax-payers in England”
“We believe England should finally separate and prove it can prosper entirely on its own without also supporting the rest of the Union. Many politicians, commentators, and media outlets regularly claim Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are a financial burden on taxes raised in England. We therefore believe England should have the opportunity to become fully independent and demonstrate it can thrive without supporting the other nations of the UK. We believe that such a referendum would allow England to take full responsibility for its own economy, resources, public services, and international position while ending constant constitutional disputes within the Union”.
This petition was created in June 2026, and so far it only has 1,177 signatures, so not sure many others in England either agree, support or see it as being imperative that England should:
“Take full responsibility for its own economy, resources, public services, and international position while ending constant constitutional disputes within the Union”.
I am surprised that none of those right wing English Nationalist parties have picked up on this and other similar petitions, as they also think that Scotland is financially subsidised by England within the UK State.
Indeed that disinterest by them is a tad suspicious , almost as if they, as right wing English nationalists, know that England actually needs Scotland in their UK State (that is our resources not us the people).
However this petition (and others like it) is an example of what can be generated as a sentiment within England if you, as the various UK governments and the UK media , keep telling everyone within the UK State that we, as Scots , get more financially from the UK State than the English people do.
(Many English people will then translate that as being Scots being a burden on them as English tax payers, in us supposedly getting more financial support from England compared to what the English people are getting from the UK State, as in from what they see as being from their English tax payers money).
AI states that “There have been at least eight official UK Parliament petitions calling for a referendum on English independence, alongside a rejected petition and outside campaigns. From 2013 up to 2026.”
AI also states “but none have achieved the threshold required for a government response or parliamentary debate”
So when politicians like the former Tory MP John Redwood once asked “Who speaks for England” in the HOC.
Then a conference was held in 2025 on “Now and England” , that hosted a discussion on “How to save England” that was held in London (that was attended by Rupert Lowe, James Orr and Danny Kruger).
Well it seems that there is very little interest or overwhelming desire from the majority of the English people in them wanting to “speak for England” ( to say what though ?) or to “Save England” (from what though ?) and so then for them to campaign tirelessly for England to become independent from the UK State.
Perhaps Redwood and also those who spoke at the discussion on “How to Save England” could incite more passion on England becoming independent .
I mean apparently they do seem to care more about England than other nations within the UK State, they also believe that England should have (even more of ) a voice and so then also needs to be “saved” (from whom and what) , so then why do they all not campaign for English independence or even mention it as a future feasible possibility ?
See petitions like the one above is a result of Labour and the Tories (and others) telling Scotland it is lucky to be in the ‘Union’ as we , they say, get more money than others within the UK State.
However that kind of propaganda has consequences , the kind that Labour and the Tories (and others) do not want, which is that eventually more people within England will start to ask why then can we (in England) not be independent and so then keep all of ‘our’ money for ourselves ?
I say they, the English , should go ahead and fill their boots in campaigning in earnest for their independence from the UK State, as I and many other Scots will support their campaign.
(Now that would be a real quandary for all of the UK politicians and the UK media to try to overcome will it not).
Liz S
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Yes it has long puzzled me that the long held belief that England subsidises rUK that they still continue to block any thought of another Referendum. Very very odd and that their MP’s should find it difficult to explain to the electorate why apparently they are being penalised to help us ‘subsidy junkies’ and all the freebies we seem to enjoy north of the border.
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Not sure if the BBC has retracted the statement made during the night that Prisons in Scotland are also overcrowded as if to mitigate the actions taken. That said knowing the BBC it must be difficult for them to admit things in England are worse
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