Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scotsman in March 2024: Almost 22,000 rental properties MAY have been removed from the market in Scotland in the past year, research has revealed, with “anti-landlord rhetoric” from the Scottish Government cited as a reason for the drop. The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) said such rhetoric, combined with “short-term, ineffective policies” from ministers, was “harming investment in private rented housing in Scotland”. https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/rent-scotland-almost-22000-rental-properties-removed-from-market-amid-anti-landlord-rhetoric-research-claims-4541621 From Housing statistics: Scottish Landlord Register data published today, we can see that the number of registered landlords in Scotland has fallen slightly, by 1.1% or around 2 000, but the number of registered properties available to rent … Continue reading Steady growth in rental properties revealed in official figures contradicts media scare based on insider ‘research’

Professor John Robertson OBA In February 2025, BBC UK had the above headline and: More young people were not in work, education or training at the end of 2024 than at any point in the past 11 years, new data suggests. but from Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom – January to December 2024 published today: Compared with the United Kingdom as a whole: the estimated employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was higher (54.8% compared to 51.3 per cent) the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year … Continue reading Scotland’s 16-24 year-olds – significantly more employment, less unemployment and more activity

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland reporting om a fatal crash on the A96 yesterday noted that this was the 3rd fatal crash in less than 2 weeks. Tragic, I agree but, dear public service broadcaster taxpayer-funded, what is the trend on this road and across Scotland?. Tabloid media coverage suggests a worsening situation and the above BBC comment seems to reinforce that impression. In the above report, they note: Last year, a 2011 commitment to upgrade 86 miles (138km) of the route by 2030 was abandoned by the Scottish government. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c776xmk47gzo The actual data for the rising death toll is … Continue reading Road deaths – A falling trend and the lowest level in the UK but ‘your’ media won’t tell you that

Professor John Robertson OBA For some reason, the above 2022 survey does not include the recent data from the UK. For Scotland in 2023/2024: The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.4 per cent in October 2023 to September 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (9.7 per cent) 1 For the UK, in 2023: The unemployment rate for young people was 14.2%, up from 13.8% from the year before.2 These data would put Scotland in the second lowest category (8-12%) with Finland and the Baltic States, while the UK (England) would be … Continue reading UK youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland which has one of the lowest rates in Western Europe

From groaver: They want us to be part of “Great England”. It’s a shame that their nurses are planning to strike, their doctors already are and they let in foreign canines without licensing for rescue organizations as we do in Scotland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwq40vjw8lo Still, mustn’t grumble. We’ve won the European championship and we’ll let you know about it ad nauseum. In the above BBC England report today, This: Continue reading Never mind lionesses, only Scotland protects kindly dog-adopters from infectious diseases and aggressive behaviour

Professor John Robertson OBA The above map is getting a lot of traffic in social media but critics will pounce on the fact that the UK data is from 2017, 8 years ago. I’ve quickly accessed the 2024/2025 data. In Scotland: Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, recorded crimes of Robbery decreased by 7% from 1,922 to 1,782 crimes.1 That works out at 33 per 100 000, slightly up on 2017. In England & Wales: Police recorded 78,804 robbery offences in year ending (YE) March 2025. 2 That works out at 131 cases per 100 000, essentially the same as in 2017, … Continue reading After ten years, robbery in England & Wales still FOUR times as common than in Scotland