Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Channel 4 last night, the above, and: Thousands of killers, rapists and sex offenders could be released early this September under the government’s latest plans to ease overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales. But there are growing calls for sex offenders to be excluded from the scheme. Source: https://www.channel4.com/news/survivors-demand-government-exempt-sex-offenders-from-early-release-plan Scotland has implemented emergency early release schemes due to prison overcrowding but with clear statutory exclusions for sex offenders. Anyone serving a sentence (in whole or in part) for sexual offences, domestic abuse, or who is a registered sex … Continue reading Labour Government planning to ‘go soft’ on sex offenders and domestic abusers with early release from prison not possible in Scotland

BBC Scotland‘s insert this morning in BBC Breakfast shows them keen to make something of three recent warnings about swimming in Scottish bathing spots at Ardrossan, Portobello and Kinghorn in Fife. There is no fuller account on their website. All three warnings appear to have been lifted but that doesn’t seem to be ‘the news‘ for the public in Scotland as we begin a wee heatwave. What’s the bigger picture across the UK? From the Guardian on 27 November 2025, the above and: One in seven (13%) of England’s bathing waters are rated as polluted, and one in 14 so polluted they … Continue reading 1 in 7 English bathing spots is not recommended for swimming but it’s only 1 in 30 in Scotland with 87% ‘Excellent’ and the warnings at Ardrossan, Portobello and Kinghorn have all been lifted in a media vacuum

In May 2026 63.6% of 129 279 attending Type 1 A&E in Scotland were seen within 4 hours. The equivalent percentage for England was 61.9% of 923 959 admissions. If you were a Scottish MSM journo, you’d be quick to claim that’s little different. 1.7% better but: First, 1.7% of those 129 279 attending is 2 198 more treated on time who would not have been had they live in England. Tell them they’re insignificant. Second and this is a biggie, 63.6% of 129 297 attending in Scotland is 82 221 while 61.9% of 923 959 admissions in England is … Continue reading If NHS Scotland had the same level of admissions per head of population to A&E Type 1 units as NHS England does it would treat nearly 90% in 4 hours compared to their just over 60%

From Cancelled planned operations Month ending 31 May 2026, published today, we can extract the above in a graphical form and read: There were 24,951 operations planned to take place across NHS Scotland. This is 0.5% less (-116) than the number planned in May 2025 (25,067). Over the course of the last 12 months, from June 2025 to May 2026 (308,249), there was a 7.7% increase (+21,911) compared to the previous 12 months (286,338). This is consistent with the trend of generally increasing numbers of planned operations since March 2021.  Of all planned operations during May 2026 in NHS Scotland, … Continue reading Deeply impressive – month after month, year after year, NHS Scotland is staffed and equipped to do 98% of operations on time despite ever-increasing numbers planned as it nears the pre-pandemic recovery level

Under a tasteless image of a woman grimacing in pain, BBC Scotland today is using the news on new testing for endometriosis to suggest waiting times are longer in NHS Scotland than in NHS England based on the average. Using this measure, we hear it’s 10 years and 2 months in Scotland but 9 years and 4 months in England. There’s a problem. This is not based on Public Health Scotland officially checked and published statistics but, rather, it’s based on data collected by the charity Endometriosis UK. What’s wrong with that? Several things make the figures unreliable and, if … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Endometriosis claims are based on an unreliable survey

From BBC England this morning, the above, and: The cost of damages paid out to people injured in the UK by e-scooters and e-bikes has topped £110m, the BBC has learned. It is only seven years since the first claim was made, with the biggest individual payout being for £20m. Such claims have also led to premiums for drivers being pushed up, to effectively cover the bill for insurers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05y9pe5p1jo I’ve been unable to get a breakdown for the 4 UK nations or to find a comparative report for Scotland. I have, however, been able to compare the number of … Continue reading Serendipitous National Party Government has ‘failed to exploit potential’ in rental e-bikes leading to only one sixth of the casualties per head of other parts of the UK