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Drug deaths in Scotland, England, Wales and in the EU – SEVEN simple facts showing our days as the drug death ‘capital’ are numbered

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve been thinking over all the recent posts here on drug deaths and this short summary may be useful. Based on the official government-published figures and despite the recent falls, drug deaths in Scotland remain higher than the average in England & Wales and in the EU. Based on these same sources, the rate is falling fast and steadily, over three to four years, in Scotland and in some parts … Continue reading Drug deaths in Scotland, England, Wales and in the EU – SEVEN simple facts showing our days as the drug death ‘capital’ are numbered

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When all drug deaths are counted Scotland’s rate is falling fast toward the increasing rate in England and Wales and is already lower for males than in the north-east of England

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA I know we’ve covered this before, including by reader JB, but I think we need something more short, direct and easy to grasp. If we accept the published data, there remains a significant gap with drug misuse deaths in Scotland still around twice the level in England and Wales, on average, but the rates are converging fast as they fall in Scotland but climb in England and Wales. We may … Continue reading When all drug deaths are counted Scotland’s rate is falling fast toward the increasing rate in England and Wales and is already lower for males than in the north-east of England

19 Comments

Thanks to Putin the SNP cannot oppose NATO membership but it can still reject US war policies such as those pursued by the monstrous Hilary Clinton

johnrobertson834

There are still some in the SNP, I feel sure, who opposed the changes in policy over NATO membership. Notably Ireland remains outside of NATO with only a limited relationship. Maybe it’s too late for us now but NATO membership does not mean we have to embrace all of US foreign policy and get close to its often belligerent presidents and ‘defence’ secretaries such as Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State (2009–2013, subject of, to me naive, treatment in Nicola Sturgeon’s recent book. I have no doubt that Clinton is a war criminal with a track record worse than Trump, so … Continue reading Thanks to Putin the SNP cannot oppose NATO membership but it can still reject US war policies such as those pursued by the monstrous Hilary Clinton

13 Comments

Scottish Labour and Jackie Baillie to purge party of Sarwar and selected ‘unpopular’ minorities in move to outflank Tories and merge with Reform UK

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA, Scottish Extremism Correspondent Talking-up Scotland can today reveal shocking rumours, emerging for the Scottish Labour HQ hut, in Royston Vasey, that the latest poll putting Reform UK only one point behind Labour in Scotland and the very real prospect of a Reform UK government in 2029, that Jackie Baillie is mounting a campaign to unseat Anas Sarwar, a well-known Muslim, and lead the party into a merger with Reform UK. … Continue reading Scottish Labour and Jackie Baillie to purge party of Sarwar and selected ‘unpopular’ minorities in move to outflank Tories and merge with Reform UK

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The longest gap in reporting ever since the series began in 2017! – Lack of financial transparency from UK government continues under Labour

johnrobertson834

‘In the absence of timely Block Grant Transparency releases, Barnett consequentials are hard to reproduce’ – Scottish Fiscal Commission in evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee (January 2025) By stewartb What’s happening to ‘transparency’ after c.14 months of this British Labour Party government in Westminster? Any ‘change’, any ‘new direction’? None to date it seems in terms of transparency over how the Barnett formula is applied. The Scottish Affairs Committee of the House of Commons has recently (July 16) published a report entitled ‘The financing of the Scottish Government’. (See https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/48818/documents/256455/default/ ) The issue of transparency over how Westminster’s so … Continue reading The longest gap in reporting ever since the series began in 2017! – Lack of financial transparency from UK government continues under Labour

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Nearly three times more behaviour support staff working in Scottish schools

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From Pupils with additional support needs and additional support for learning: FOI release published today, the above table.1, 2 The above data represent a 26 % increase in pupil support assistants and an194 % increase in behaviour support staff since 2018. Scotland’s media? The Times Education Supplement, in 2024, has: Just 137 behaviour support staff working in Scottish schools – Official figures also indicate the number of these specialists is … Continue reading Nearly three times more behaviour support staff working in Scottish schools

12 Comments

3 599 people viewed TuS posts yesterday, 1 912 read the text, 155 500 twitter impressions in last 7 days, yet 243 have contributed to the crowd funder (bless you) to keep it going. I know some of you are in financial difficulties so exempt in my mind but hey…

johnrobertson834

Unless I attract only the poor, 80% of 1500 Tus subscribers could afford at least £5 but only at best 17% have. Then there’s the thousands not subscribed to Tus but following on FB, x and Bsky. At it every day, 74 and fading, with helpers to pay and getting fed up and demoralised. If you’re not in the 20% most disadvantaged but don’t think the subscription is worth paying anything for, please unsubscribe. Continue reading 3 599 people viewed TuS posts yesterday, 1 912 read the text, 155 500 twitter impressions in last 7 days, yet 243 have contributed to the crowd funder (bless you) to keep it going. I know some of you are in financial difficulties so exempt in my mind but hey…

2 Comments

After 18 years of plummeting crime figures, police recorded AND surveyed by academics, Scots themselves confirm it again – crime IS falling and is far lower than in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA The above poll results for 31 August 2025, repeat something I’ve noticed for years now – Scots seems significantly les concerned about crime than those elsewhere in the UK. At the beginning of August, the same pollster found a ration of 19 to 11 between the UK and Scottish responses. Why might this be? I’d say it’s a clear indicator that the other two sources, policed recorded crime statistics, large … Continue reading After 18 years of plummeting crime figures, police recorded AND surveyed by academics, Scots themselves confirm it again – crime IS falling and is far lower than in England & Wales

10 Comments

As Audit Scotland and BBC Scotland find bad news on Glasgow have they ever told you how SNP-run Glasgow City builds more than SIX times as many affordable homes as Labour-run Birmingham City thanks to £94 million from SNP Government?

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA In 2023/2024: Glasgow City Council’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) helped to build over 1,000 [1 011] additional affordable homes in the city in the past year. The original £78.687million grant from the Scottish Government was bolstered during the year by an additional £11.544million to focus on Strategic Acquisitions, and a further £3.825m from the Scottish Government to a final budget of £94.056million. https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/12891/Glasgow-s-Affordable-Housing-Supply-Programme-delivered-over-1000-new-affordable-homes-in-last-year Birmingham City has nearly twice the population [1.16m] , thus revenue, of Glasgow City [622k], so all things being equal, might be expected to have built at least 2 000 new affordable homes, in the same year, … Continue reading As Audit Scotland and BBC Scotland find bad news on Glasgow have they ever told you how SNP-run Glasgow City builds more than SIX times as many affordable homes as Labour-run Birmingham City thanks to £94 million from SNP Government?

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As Audit Scotland and BBC Scotland find bad news on Glasgow have they ever told you how crime in Glasgow fell far below level in English cities?

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland is headlining the above trivia in a trail of negativity about Glasgow, going back years, in the hope of connecting it with the SNP council. Here’s one of the tales they will never tell you. Glasgow Live, 12 July 2025: On June 24, the Scottish Government released its annual Recorded Crime in Scotland report, and it was revealed Glasgow had the highest crime rate, with 829 crimes … Continue reading As Audit Scotland and BBC Scotland find bad news on Glasgow have they ever told you how crime in Glasgow fell far below level in English cities?