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As Ukraine and Iran wars mark the end of cheap oil and gas, Scotland transfers a record 21TWh of electricity in 2025, the highest ever and nearly 300TWh in total since 2000, to England, for no significant return

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From Energy Statistics for Scotland – Q4 2025 published April 2026: Electricity transfers data show that Scotland exported 21.7 TWh of electricity and imported 0.9 TWh of electricity in 2025. This means that Scotland’s net exports of electricity (exports minus imports) in 2025 were 20.8 TWh. Scotland’s net electricity exports in 2025 had an indicative value of £1.7 billion based on the average wholesale day-ahead contracts price trend for 2025. https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-statistics-for-scotland-q4-2025/pages/electricity-exports/ Looking back over the quarter century of electricity generated in Scotland then transferred to England to raise revenue the UK Treasury and the owners, none based in Scotland, the figures are huge. I … Continue reading As Ukraine and Iran wars mark the end of cheap oil and gas, Scotland transfers a record 21TWh of electricity in 2025, the highest ever and nearly 300TWh in total since 2000, to England, for no significant return

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One Scottish member of an Afghan child sex grooming gang operating only in Norfolk changes nothing in Scotland’s review

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In the Guardian today, the above and: As far as I can see the media operating in Scotland and opposition politicians have not yet spotted that reference to Scotland. That all the offences were committed in Norfolk will not stop them importing child sex grooming gangs into Scotland and calling for an immediate inquiry rather than the SNP Government’s 18-month timetable for a national review that would only then inform a decision on whether a full public inquiry is required. Here’s why a careful approach to a national review is required, reasons which were already in a response to Labour … Continue reading One Scottish member of an Afghan child sex grooming gang operating only in Norfolk changes nothing in Scotland’s review

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Scotland rising above sea levels after only two years of SNP Government

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The Guardian today, has: There is no great master plan’: anxiety as UK homes, roads and railways sink into the sea – Increasing coastal erosion has hit communities’ livelihoods and put lifestyles under threat There is no mention of any Scottish location. Here’s why: In October 2009, The Telegraph reported, the above and: England is sinking while Scotland rises above sea levels, according to new study England is sinking into the sea while Scotland is rising at such a rate it may counteract the effects of sea level rise due to climate change, according to a new geological map. The University … Continue reading Scotland rising above sea levels after only two years of SNP Government

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Calls for cancellation of HS2 white elephant would mean Scots taxpayers saving more than £8 billion for a train service that stopped in England anyway

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In the Guardian today, the above and: So it is official, as if that makes a difference. After a 15-month review by the new chief executive, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has revealed that HS2 will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains may not start until 2039. Alexander called the original design a “massively over-specced folly” and called the increase in time and costs “obscene”. Indeed it possibly ranks as the wildest white elephant in British history. In comparison, Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is a garden shed, and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa a mere sandcastle. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/21/hs2-white-elephant-british-history-sunk-cost-fallacy What is the current plan? … Continue reading Calls for cancellation of HS2 white elephant would mean Scots taxpayers saving more than £8 billion for a train service that stopped in England anyway

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Hardworking Scots taxpayers lost more than £500 million just last year for ditched UK Government projects – worth 15 brand new secondary school buildings

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In the Guardian today, the above, and: Cancelled government projects such as the Rwanda deportation scheme and the road tunnel under Stonehenge are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money a year, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. About £6.6bn was written off by government departments last year alone – state spending that did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer, the public accounts committee said. The PAC said successive governments’ propensity to cancel projects after spending significant sums of public money was a “particularly egregious” example of poor value. The committee’s deputy chair, the Labour MP Clive Betts, said the high … Continue reading Hardworking Scots taxpayers lost more than £500 million just last year for ditched UK Government projects – worth 15 brand new secondary school buildings

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Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland

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I understand why the relatives of Scottish soldiers, often just boys at the time, will be upset by links with Sinn Fein but their anger would be better directed at the UK government and senior officers who sent them, ill-prepared, into a brutal civil war, in the first place. The UK has full diplomatic relationships with political parties of government in countries, from Ireland, through Kenya, to Israel and Malaysia, where similar young Scottish soldiers were sent, similarly ill-prepared, to die. Should we ask UK ministers to apologise? This is another media/opposition campaign, exploiting these parents and relatives in an … Continue reading Swinney need not apologise for Sinn Fein ‘links’ as IRA was not responsible for the deaths of any Scottish civilians in Scotland

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BBC Scotland’s report on one ‘senior’ doctor’s call for more obesity drug roll-out is ill-informed and one-sided contrary to their royal charter

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jabs to patients with obesity. The latest figures say one in three Scots are obese. Dr Mark Strachan is president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and says more people need access to what he calls the ‘astonishing drug.’ NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde says it’s looking into the prescribing of weight loss jabs (sic) Mounjaro and Wegovy. BBC Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast this morning has the above. How strong is the evidence for Dr Strachan’s view which I note has not appeared widely in news media today? A ‘senior’ doctor you might think better qualified to … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s report on one ‘senior’ doctor’s call for more obesity drug roll-out is ill-informed and one-sided contrary to their royal charter

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Stephen Flynn already facing pressure on A96 dualling? Oh no he’s not because….

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From Collisions on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness: FOI release Published 21 April 2026: The total number of collisions on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness, broken into a table to reflect every financial year since 2021-22 From the post pandemic peak in 2023/2024 of fatal/very serious and total collisions, we can see a dramatic fall in 2024/2025, contrary to that claimed in the media report at the top here, and what seems likely to be a further fall in 2025/2026 with only 14 in 9 months. Continue reading Stephen Flynn already facing pressure on A96 dualling? Oh no he’s not because….

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Scottish Government has done more to support vulnerable young care leavers

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Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today, the above and: More than 100 young people have died after leaving the care of social services in England in the past year, according to data released by the government. In the year to April 2026 there were 106 reported deaths of care leavers, with 91 deaths reported in the 12 months before. Most of those who died were aged 16 to 21. Although a requirement to report these deaths was introduced in 2023, ministers believe the true figure is probably higher. Labour launched an urgent review into the deaths in April … Continue reading Scottish Government has done more to support vulnerable young care leavers

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Shocking latest US research finds 80 000 unnecessary breast and other cancers near nuclear power stations to further condemn Scottish Labour’s energy strategy

johnrobertson834

From A national analysis of the impact of proximity to nuclear power plants on lung, breast and colon cancer mortalities in the U.S., 2000–2020 in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology [5.5 impact factor- which is good to strong for a science journal] published yesterday: Results Proximity to nuclear power plants was associated with elevated mortality from breast, colon, and lung cancers. From 2000 to 2020, an estimated 39,767 female deaths (95% CI: 9312–69,381), representing 2.01% (95% CI: 0.47–3.50%), and 38,124 male deaths (95% CI: 16,106–59,600), representing 2.33% (95% CI: 0.98–3.64%), were attributable to this proximity. Lung cancer … Continue reading Shocking latest US research finds 80 000 unnecessary breast and other cancers near nuclear power stations to further condemn Scottish Labour’s energy strategy