From Financial Information from the Scottish Household Survey 2025 published today, the above and: Historically, the proportion of households reporting they were managing well financially had been increasing overall, from 41% in 1999 to a high of 56% in 2019. There was a slight dip in the long term increase between 2007 and 2012, which may be explained in part by the economic downturn during that period (Table 1). The most recent figures show lower levels since the pandemic, with 52% of households in 2025 reporting they were managing well financially, similar to 54% in 2024. The proportion of households … Continue reading Only 69% living comfortably or doing alright in UK but after 19 years in Scotland it’s 91%!

From Scottish Child Payment and the Labour Market – update 2026 published today but utterly absent from BBC Scotland News, Main, Politics or Business, the above, and:: SCP is most likely to affect labour market decisions among parents of young children whose entitlement depends on continued receipt of Universal Credit. The Planning for Work conditionality regime predominantly covers lone parents or lead carers of young children who are expected to move towards work in future as their children grow older, and are therefore a group likely to be exposed to labour market incentives. If SCP was leading parents to reduce … Continue reading Scots even more likely to want to work after Child Payment extended but they don’t b****y want you to know that

I’ve skimmed the above Herald report twice but can find nothing to savour. It’s the vaguest, dullest, front page story I’ve seen in some time but it’s about the above sneery-faced Prof Adam Tomkins, a former Tory MSP, much loved here. In July 2020, mid-pandemic, he campaigned for the early re-opening of gyms, as in England but contrary to the Scottish Government’s science-based practice to avoid this kind of thing: During 24 days in Cheonan, South Korea, 112 persons were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 associated with fitness dance classes at 12 sports facilities. Intense physical exercise … Continue reading The return of the…………..?

In the Guardian today: More than 5,000 offenders went unmonitored in the first half of the year because probation staff failed to install electronic tags, while 1,600 tags had no signal for more than two weeks due to faults, a report has found. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/12/failure-fit-tags-offenders-unmonitored-england-wales Imagine even one offender went tag-less in Scotland? Imagine the MSM operating in Scotland if they got wind of one, just the one? Has there been one reported failure in Scotland in 2026? No. There is no publicly reported systemic or notable operational failure of Scotland’s electronic monitoring system in 2026 comparable to the England and … Continue reading As 5 000 offenders in England run tag-less and un-monitored, BBC Scotland Disclosure team increases efforts to prove there are more than the reported ZERO cases of such tagging failure here

In the Herald today, the above and: This is nonsense, the Herald knows it’s nonsense and so will the SNP’s advisers. Parties retain substantial control over their own conferences, agendas, and who they platform. Fringe events are typically subject to approval and are not the same as membership rights. Political parties are expressive associations. They control their own conferences, agendas, and who they platform. Fringe events are not the same as open commercial venue hire; they form part of the party’s internal political activity. The Equality Act’s association provisions (Part 7) mainly protect members, prospective members, and associates regarding access … Continue reading It is entirely legal for the SNP to refuse to host groups whose views conflict with their platform