My regular column in Scots Independent, the first and oldest (100 years-old this year), Scottish newspaper supporting independence has been promoted to page 2. In all modesty, it’s a fascinating account of the several factors which seem likely to explain the falling crime among the young, in Scotland and elsewhere from Washington to Wishaw but less so in Wolverhampton. Scots Independent comes monthly to your door by post, on paper, in an envelope and can be read device-free in your garden or in the pub. Get it at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ The best reader on this, paperback this Thursday – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349127514?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title Statistics … Continue reading Functional dads, lead-free petrol and home entertainment – the disappearance of serial killers and the massive fall in violent crime among the young in Scotland?

The above, presented as applying to the UK as a whole, formed part of a BBC Breakfast report 2 May 2026 including these comments: Being out of work or education between the ages of 16 and 24 can have serious long-term consequences for people’s health, employment and finances later in life. A new study suggests that nearly one million young people are currently not in education, employment or training across the UK (sic) The latest, January 2026, figure for Scotland is 10.2%. 15.8% is 54.9% higher. https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/l2qpgqbx/economy-people-and-skills-january-2026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com In a wider European context, Scotland has one of the lowest rates in Western Europe: The 10.2% figure would put Scotland … Continue reading 19 years of the SNP in charge and UK youth unemployment is shocking 55% higher than in Scotland which has one of the lowest rates in Western Europe

From the Daily Mail 6 May 2026: More than 134,000 written complaints about GPs were made to NHS England last year, with communication issues, staff attitudes and treatment errors driving the deluge. The data shows record numbers of patients are so unhappy with their experience of services that they have lodged their concerns – marking a 10 per cent rise since 2023-24. It comes after a damning survey revealed that GP surgeries are forcing the elderly to book appointments online, against NHS rules – which say there must be a range of booking methods. The data, published by NHS Digital, shows 134,501 complaints were made against GPs … Continue reading Complaints to GPs shocking 45% less common in Scotland than in England meant 6 000 fewer unhappy with the service last year

subjects from the curriculum due to a lack of specialist teachers according to education leaders. BBC Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast this morning, has the above several times from ‘headteachers in Scotland’ (none are quoted) and the Association of Directors of Education. Only the BBC Scotland website is reporting such problems, with only one HT quoted and 10 references to the Scottish Government despite staffing being entirely the responsibility of head teachers and directors. We know by now that this must be even worse elsewhere in the UK. Why? England has 219 000 secondary teachers.1 With a tenth of the … Continue reading Why do only Scottish secondary schools seem to have shortages of subject specialists with 14% more staff than England and shocking 40% more than Wales? Let’s ask a Scottish headteacher who worked for Tony Blair in England?

In the Guardian today: Ministers have earmarked more than £170m extra to help build the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel, fuelling concerns over the “spiralling” costs of one of the UK’s largest planned infrastructure projects. The proposed £11bn route under the Thames between Kent and Essex is already estimated to cost more each mile than the HS2 high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham. It was given the funding boost as part of a plan to spend £3.1bn of public money on the project, before a hoped-for injection of £7.5bn by a private sector firm. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/08/extra-cash-spiralling-lower-thames-crossing Do Scots pay 8% of the cost … Continue reading Scottish taxpayers to pay more than £300 million to share cost of Lower Thames Crossing and IFS doubts we’ll get anything for it through Barnett formula

In the Guardian today: Record number of people waiting for NHS diagnostic tests in England – One in five of the 1.92m patients on list wait longer than six weeks for tests such as CT and MRI scans, analysis shows. Demand for tests is outstripping the NHS’s ability to meet it and one in five of those on the waiting list – more than 400,000 people – are having to wait longer than the supposed six-week maximum, an analysis of diagnostic services in England has found. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/07/record-number-of-people-waiting-for-nhs-diagnostic-tests-in-england BBC Scotland and the other media operating in Scotland have no equivalent story. … Continue reading NHS England’s diagnostic tests waiting list is shocking 800 000 or 71% longer than NHS Scotland’s