From UK research – Children in relative poverty before housing costs This indicator shows the percentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families Before Housing Costs (BHC), in the UK, for financial years ending 2022 to 2025. Data source: Department for Work and Pensions published 26 March 2026: https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics/indicators/children-in-relative-poverty-before-housing#map It also reveals the shocking contrast between Scotland after nearly two decades of determined efforts by the SNP in government in Scotland to resist Tory and Labour austerity policies, despite limited powers, and to Work as if you live in the early days of a better world. … Continue reading Child poverty – One picture that dramatically reveals how very different Scotland already is on the path to ‘Work as if you live in the early days of a better world’

From Maternity Care Survey 2025: national report published today, the above and: Between 2018 and 2025, the percentage of women rating their overall care as “good” or “excellent” has remained stable for all stages of care except care during labour and birth where it has decreased slightly. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/maternity-care-survey-2025-national-results/ This is the public service which the Scotsman has tried to say is in crisis. Comparisons with England are not straightforward as they ask different questions but there is one key aspect which may reflect the lower staffing levels in NHS England – only 57% were always able to get staff … Continue reading Hard facts on maternity care: Patient satisfaction at ‘Good’ or Excellent’ stable after 7 years at 90% in Scotland and far more getting care ‘when they needed it’ than in NHS England

From BBC Scotland today: In 2017, MSPs passed a law requiring ministers to hit four targets, external, including pushing the share of children in relative poverty below 10% by 2030. But the JRF’s Poverty in Scotland report, external found the figure remained stubbornly high, averaging 21% from 2022 to 2025. The UK average is 28% Why is it wrong to compare the percentage of children in poverty in Scotland with a UK average that already includes the same Scottish data with those for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in it? Here’s why: Clear? I knew it was a wrong thing … Continue reading BBC Scotland News team revealed as ignorantly using a statistically invalid child poverty comparison

By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Here we go again! Apparently, the evil nasty Scottish Government Ministers are about to “hammer hard-up Scots” because certain multi-buy offers are being banned. However, as usual when these “SNP BAD” stories hit on our screens, a quick Google search explains what is actually happening. Price reductions aren’t being banned by the SNP. What’s being restricted is the incentive to buy more than one through certain multi-buy offers. A supermarket can still reduce a packet of crisps from £1.50 to £1. But what it can’t do is say “2 for £2” if the individual packets … Continue reading BUY ONE ATTACK ON SCOTLAND, GET ONE FREE

From the Joseph Rowntree Trust in 2025: Projected child poverty rates by January 2029: Nation Then-current rate used Projected by Jan 2029 Scotland 23.7% 21.8% England 30.8% 31.5% Wales 32.3% 34.4% Northern Ireland 25.5% 26.2% These are shocking gaps. The English and Welsh figures are 44% and 58% greater respectively. Also, remember, even the crude gaps of around 10% and 14% with England and with Wales are percentages of the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of children entrapped in poverty. There are, in total, roughly 10 million and 500 000 children in England and Wales, respectively. So child … Continue reading After years of Conservative and Labour government, child poverty will entrap 1 million more in England and 70 000 more in Wales than would have been the case with SNP policies

The above was in the Daily Record yesterday. Where are UK drug dealers ‘Thickboar‘ and ‘Octo-hand’ from? They are cousins from Merseyside, in the Liverpool area in England. Stephen Earle (EncroChat handle “Octo-hand”) is reported as being from Huyton (one later report says Crosby). His cousin Terence Earle (“ThickBoar”) operated with him from Merseyside. They trafficked heroin and cocaine between Merseyside and Motherwell in Scotland, using EncroChat, and were later jailed after the network was cracked in Operation Venetic / Operation Joyfully. Terence Earle was sentenced to 16½ years in April 2023. Stephen Earle fled to Portugal in 2020, was … Continue reading English drug dealers help flood Scotland with heroin and cocaine