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Building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict and demanding than those in England in several key areas

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In the Guardian on 11 February 2026: Even multimillionaires can’t escape Britain’s cowboy builders, it seems. Last week, residents of One Hyde Park, the UK’s most expensive flats, won a £35m court case against the contractor that built their homes. The high court ordered the construction company Laing O’Rourke to fix defective pipework that was discovered to be causing problems in 2014, only three years after the luxury development was completed. At the other end of the economy, tens of thousands of families are facing damp and mould issues also caused by botched building works. A National Audit Office investigation revealed in October … Continue reading Building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict and demanding than those in England in several key areas

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When Labour’s Helena Kennedy said “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” – Nicola Sturgeon had played the major part in that

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The horrific story of Gisele Pelicot dominates discussion of the abuse of women and girls. The comment below may trigger faux rage and deliberate misrepresentation in a few comments. However, to deal with a problem, which Scotland still has ‘in spades’, we have know how we are progressing, if at all. Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords, is no supporter of the SNP in Government, so what she said nearly two years ago is still important. By stewartb In the light of the above BBC Newsnight report of failures by two English police forces, to protect women, from ‘Misogyny – … Continue reading When Labour’s Helena Kennedy said “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” – Nicola Sturgeon had played the major part in that

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How, thanks to SNP, around Scottish 200 000* families on low income receives £15 000 more a year than identical households in England and eight reasons why that’s good for every one of us

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Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian yesterday: The emergence of “welfare nationalism” in the UK has created striking differences in benefit entitlement that result in a Scottish family on a low income receiving £15,000 a year more in state support than an identical household over the border in England. A typical out of work couple with four children would have received £22,000 a year benefit income in York, compared with £32,000 in Belfast and £37,000 in Glasgow, according to new research on the impact of devolved welfare approaches Other eye-catching divergences include benefit and … Continue reading How, thanks to SNP, around Scottish 200 000* families on low income receives £15 000 more a year than identical households in England and eight reasons why that’s good for every one of us

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Talking-up Scotland’s reporting has increased 56% since 2024 but Arty Hetty has been our constant friend for many years

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We have many friends here and they are all deeply appreciated but I feel sure that no one will be surprised to see that, over the years, Arty Hetty has often been there, and quickest there, to back us up. The above figures seem huge but bear in mind they only represent the period from around mid 2019, when perhaps in reaction to my recovery from arthritis-triggered opioid painkiller addiction, I changed the blog’s name from the apparently off-putting ‘Though Control Scotland’ which it had been titled since early 2014. The totals from 2014 would be around 11 million views, … Continue reading Talking-up Scotland’s reporting has increased 56% since 2024 but Arty Hetty has been our constant friend for many years

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Two polls confirm SNP support increasing AFTER Murrell verdict and Sturgeon witch hunt

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There have been two polls since Peter Murrell was found guilty, on May 25th 2026, and media went into slavering overdrive, accusing his wife of lying and calling for an inquiry. They’ll be disappointed. YouGov 25-26 May In the sample for Scotland – SNP 34, Reform UK 21, Labour 12, Greens 10, others less than 10. Find Out Now 27 May In the sample for Scotland – SNP 38, Reform UK 19, Labour 11, Greens 12, Cons 11, others less than 10. In the previous polls, YouGov 18 May: In the sample for Scotland – SNP 32 [two points lower], … Continue reading Two polls confirm SNP support increasing AFTER Murrell verdict and Sturgeon witch hunt

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The Herald’s ‘senior academic’ wheeled in to savage Scottish schools again is mere ‘bean counter’ with no experience of teaching in schools, teacher ‘training’, leadership or research into anything other than assessment data

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The Herald today has: I’ve lost track of how often I’ve felt the need to deal with Prof Paterson, Scotland’s only regular rentagobprof across Scottish and English MSM, always ready to tell everyone that education in Scotland is in decline and worse than elsewhere and, to my knowledge, only fan of Pisa data. He is, to my knowledge, the only serious educationist publishing in peer-review journals who thinks the Pisa scores are of any value at all. I’ll come back to Pisa scores below but first and perhaps explaining his odd attachment to them: Why is Paterson not an expert … Continue reading The Herald’s ‘senior academic’ wheeled in to savage Scottish schools again is mere ‘bean counter’ with no experience of teaching in schools, teacher ‘training’, leadership or research into anything other than assessment data

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Huge increase in farm income in Scotland, above that in England due in part to greater stability from Scottish Government but zero coverage

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BBC Breakfast this morning had an extended piece on likely problems for farmers due to the Iran war. BBC Scotland including BBC Scotland Business has no related story. In March, they had avoided this : From Farm income rises in 2024-25 published 26 March 2026 09:30 Farm incomes rose in 2024-25, after sharp declines in 2023-24. Increases in income are largely driven by high livestock prices, while total input costs remained stable. Decreases in costs for fertiliser and feed were offset by increases in labour and land and property costs. Average income across all farm types rose 30% from the previous year to £58,800. … Continue reading Huge increase in farm income in Scotland, above that in England due in part to greater stability from Scottish Government but zero coverage

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The Milburn report on the ‘UK’s ‘lost generation’ does look north, does spot some of Scotland’s strengths but should have tried much harder

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By stewartb The interim report from the Milburn review examining the issues around NEETs gained a lot of MSM attention. See Milburn, A. (May 28, 2026) Independent report: Young people and work: interim report. Report for the Department for Work & Pensions. Its stated geographic scope is clear from the outset: it’s the whole of the UK. The report does acknowledge that certain germane policy areas are devolved: ‘Where policy areas discussed are devolved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, this is noted.’ However, whilst some of the statistics provided are for the UK, most are for England only. No disaggregated stats for … Continue reading The Milburn report on the ‘UK’s ‘lost generation’ does look north, does spot some of Scotland’s strengths but should have tried much harder

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Alleged witness in Nicola Sturgeon’s alleged camper van denial was 14 at the time and is now Chair of Young Labour (Scotland) – another plant

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Above, the young man in the Daily Mail‘s: Local resident doubts Sturgeon’s claim she knew nothing about campervan bought with embezzled funds because he met her, he did, he said so, four years ago, when he was presumably 14. According to his own blog My name is Ryan-Thomas Quinn, I am 18, a journalism student, activist and avid enjoyer of wine (preferably rosé). My views are mine and mine alone however, I work regularly with and have friends across the political spectrum. Collaboration is key! https://ryanthomas.blog/about/ Across the political spectrum? In Scottish media reports of SNP or Scottish Government failures … Continue reading Alleged witness in Nicola Sturgeon’s alleged camper van denial was 14 at the time and is now Chair of Young Labour (Scotland) – another plant

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Tory donor who will fund lawsuit to help SNP victims get money embezzled by Peter Murrell back should have spent that money years ago on improving his failing care homes

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Four Seasons Health Care was a British provider of health and social care services. It also owned The Huntercombe Group, a provider of inpatient mental healthcare and brain injury rehabilitation as well as care home operator brighterkind. Four Seasons, as it is today, was created both organically and by the buying out of smaller chains of care homes and rebranding them, as evidenced by the takeovers of Tamaris (formerly Quality Care Homes) and Bettercare. At its largest it was the second-biggest care home operator in the UK. Set up in 1988 by Robert Kilgour, it opened its first care home, Station Court in Kirkcaldy in Fife, … Continue reading Tory donor who will fund lawsuit to help SNP victims get money embezzled by Peter Murrell back should have spent that money years ago on improving his failing care homes