Homicide by minors has plummeted since the first SNP Government in 2007.1 Violent crime experienced by 16-24 year-olds has also fallen dramatically from 12% in 2008/2009 to 5.8% in 2017/2018.2 Temporary and full school exclusions have plummeted from nearly 40 000 and 87 respectively to less than 12 000 and 1 respectively.3 This is a major achievement by Scotland ‘s schools. Had things gone the other way with more exclusions under the SNP and increasing crime by school-age children, the SNP Government would be blamed so, in these circumstances, must get some credit for the leadership role and for shaping … Continue reading Falling violent crime by minors and young people strongly linked to Scotland’s success in reducing school exclusion since 2007 in sharp contrast to shocking surge of both in England

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to stewartb for alerting me to this: The above data come in response to the question: Do you agree or disagree with the following?: No child in the UK should be born into poverty, gathered by Public First between 11th and 14th March 2025. Notably Scots by 84% are the group most likely to support this notion. These results seem perhaps, at first sight, contrary to earlier polls suggesting that Scots (In this, only 181 sample out of UK 2 008) like others across the UK, only really care, in terms of voting preferences about … Continue reading New poll suggests Scots massively and most sympathetic to eradicating child poverty

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to rtpscott for alerting me to this: In the Press & Journal, rarely sympathetic to the independence cause, yesterday: How much is transmitted? How much more than we produce, do we need? Continue reading UK Labour Government plans for changes to electricity transmission costs would ‘cost Scots £1.6bn’

Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, there is, at least some attempt to expose the scale of child poverty in England with the term ‘tens of thousands’ but it is still concealing the awful truth.1 According to the Guardian in March 2025: The poverty figures showed that in Scotland 23% of children were in poverty, compared with 31% in England and Wales.2 From the 2021 Census, 12.6 million dependent children lived in households.3 So, 31% of 12 600 000 is 3 900 000! Had England been run by a party like the SNP, 8% of those 12.6 million, 1 … Continue reading More than 1 MILLION children would have been lifted out of poverty in England if they had been led by a party with the values and the policies of the SNP

stewartb ‘The blatant hypocrisy of lecturing the Scottish FM’. Has hypocrisy become endemic within much of the political opposition in Holyrood? In any event, it looks as if British Labour Party leaders in Scotland are STILL not being listened to by their comrades in government in Wales. The latter it seems STILL have not implemented the solutions to long waits in NHS A&E departments that the former have readily available, the solutions being shunned by the Scottish Government! From the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) on May 22: ‘RCEM: Welsh government must prioritise dangerous ED waits in Wales – lives depend on it’. The … Continue reading Thousands at risk as Royal College reveals A&E waiting times in Labour-run NHS Wales more than THREE times longer than in NHS Scotland