In the Daily Record today: The numbers of children being ruthlessly exploited by ‘county lines‘ drugs gangs are at record levels, the Daily Record can reveal. County lines operate where criminals from major cities have expanded their trafficking operations into smaller towns often in rural areas. Organised crime groups have been known to use children as mules to transport the drugs long distances or to store or guard them. Shock figures released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information (FOI) show a sharp rise in the numbers of children falling victim in the last six years. In the 12 month period from April 2020 to … Continue reading Children used as drugs couriers by English ‘county lines’ gangs increase in record numbers

In the Guardian today, the above graph and: More than 1 million children were referred to mental health services across England last year, with referrals up 10% from the year previous, according to a report by the children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza. She said the country faced a “crisis” in young people’s mental health. The number of patients who had an active referral to children and young people’s mental health services across England surpassed 1 million for the first time in 2024-25. This was almost double the number recorded in 2018-19, and an almost 10% rise on the previous year. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/29/england-children-mental-health-crisis-million-referrals and … Continue reading Children’s mental health referrals and waiting times soar in England to three and four times the levels in Scotland as child poverty, youth violence, youth unemployment and domestic violence fall steadily here

From BBC Scotland today, the above and: Scottish Labour’s Holyrood election result was a “disaster…made in Downing Street”, according to one of the party’s former MSPs. Monica Lennon, who lost her seat in May’s election, said voters could not get beyond the prime minister’s unpopularity, and therefore “Scottish Labour couldn’t get a hearing.” Mince. They’ve be working this line for years. Last September, 7 months out from Holyrood 26, they knew they were in trouble despite the July 2024 Labour ‘Change’ wave in the General Election, when we in the SNP got a chilling reminder of just how easily influenced … Continue reading Sorry Monica, Scottish Labour collapsed because Anas was so unpopular not because Sir Keir was

From the UK Defence Journal yesterday, indicating the kind of broader definition of national security, we hear more of today: Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited has taken ownership of the three remaining vessels under construction at the Cemre Shipyard in Turkey as a precautionary measure to support their completion and delivery, the publicly-owned ferry operator stated. The three ships, MV Loch Indaal, MV Lochmor and MV Claymore, are now assets owned by CMAL ahead of their formal handover. According to the organisation, the decision has been taken against the backdrop of what it described as exceptionally challenging economic circumstances affecting Cemre … Continue reading Scottish Government agency having to rescue three unfinished ferries for island communities delayed in unstable Turkey will add millions in cost to taxpayer and years to complete making the development of domestic capacity on the Clyde a matter of national security for Scotland

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, left, and Peter Murrell former CE of the SNP, right. Did you know Donaldson’s rape victim was a 7 or 8 year-old primary school pupil? That detail is being suppressed but the Telegraph, 5 days ago, did refer to it, if quietly: Would you expect these two, quite different cases, to get differing levels of media coverage? On the BBC, they did not. An AI search found that the Murrell case was kept in the limelight, often when there was nothing substantial to report, such that both have had around … Continue reading Such is BBC bias they gave as much effort to reporting an SNP figure who embezzled party funds to buy 4 coffee machines as to a senior Unionist leader who carried out 18 sexual offences including the rape of an 8 year-old girl!