Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Socialist Worker yesterday, the above and: Macie was 14 when she was sent to a children’s home. She was allowed outside for only 15 minutes a day—or more if she did jobs such as cleaning.  Macie, now 18, explained, “People can just go buy a house, make a company, copy and paste off Google some safeguarding procedures and stuff.” And “then social services just pay them to put children in there”, she told the Financial Times newspaper.  Macie is right. Vulnerable children are now treated as nothing more than investment opportunities.  Each … Continue reading Unregistered/illegal/rip-off children’s homes and carers are not found in Scotland due to mandatory registration and active enforcement.

Extract from Speech by Energy Minister Stephen Gethins in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 28 May 2026: Scotland is one of the most energy rich countries in Europe having won the natural lottery twice, once with hydrocarbons and again with abundant renewable resources. People in Scotland face increasing energy bills (with another increase just yesterday) and a cost of living crisis – in a country that produces far more energy than it consumes. Just for context hydrocarbons that have sent £400 billion to the Treasury in London with little in return and no long-term planning – a finite resource with … Continue reading ‘It’s Scotland’s Energy’: Energy Minister’s Speech completely ignored by most media

From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 published yesterday, the above graph and: Number of victims of homicide at the lowest level since 1976. There were 45 homicide victims recorded by the police in Scotland in 2024-25, a 21% decrease from 2023-24 and a 24% decrease from 2015-16. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-may-2026/pages/statistics-on-crime-in-general/ All things being equal with 11 times population you might expect England and Wales to have had 495 but the equivalent figure was 522, 27 more, 5.4% more. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=dc22c4cd59914421eb573e9096017b41e7f889377ded8e03d5883c7f9beef0d2JmltdHM9MTc3OTkyNjQwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=040f0c0f-8f6f-69bb-36d4-18948ed46872&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub25zLmdvdi51ay9wZW9wbGVwb3B1bGF0aW9uYW5kY29tbXVuaXR5L2NyaW1lYW5kanVzdGljZS9hcnRpY2xlcy9ob21pY2lkZWluZW5nbGFuZGFuZHdhbGVzL2xhdGVzdA&ntb=1 Scotland’s homicide rate was, as recently as 2023/2025, higher than in England and Wales, but has since been lower … Continue reading Who will ever tell you this? Murder in Scotland now at the lowest level since 1976 and the lowest in the UK due to targeted interventions by Scottish Government

From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2026 published yesterday: The above graph and: Property and violent crime has fallen by 42% since 2008-09.  Results from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) show that one-in-five (20.8%) adults were estimated to have experienced at least one crime in 2024-25. This included property crime (9.4% of adults), violent crime (2.5%) and for the second time fraud and computer misuse (11.5%). The latest findings show that the overall level of property and violent crime combined and the likelihood of being a victim of these crimes has fallen since 2008/09 but … Continue reading Property and violent crime has fallen by 42% since 2008-09