Leah Gunn Barrett Unionists Ian Murray MP and Alex Cole Hamilton MSP are frantically trying to talk down Scotland’s offshore wind potential to deter inward investment into Scotland. They dispute the oft-repeated statistic that Scotland has 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential.[1] So naturally they don’t want people to know that this is an underestimate. An EU Commission report reveals that based on current projected installation capacity, Scotland is on course to deliver nearly half of Europe’s offshore grid supply by 2035.[2]  This represents over 55% of the entire offshore grid potential in the Mediterranean Basin.[3] Unionists are in a panic because they … Continue reading Ian Murray and Alex Cole Hamilton frantically trying to talk down Scotland’s offshore wind potential

in the Guardian today: The study, by an international team of researchers including academics from the University of Oxford, examined data on millions of live births across Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and the UK. The UK data included information on more than 2 million live births between 2016 and 2018. They found that the rates of death among mothers in pregnancy and up to 42 days after the birth of their children varied from 2.7 per 100,000 live births in Norway to 10.9 in Slovakia. In the UK, there were 9.6 maternal deaths for every 100,000 … Continue reading Despite shared Tory austerity, why does Scotland have far lower maternal death ratio?

‘A road blocked off by a fire on bonfire night?‘ That and a few similar, one night, events in two or three other parts of Scotland and we have a violent crime wave and sick society? There were 12 arrests across the whole country, out of 5.44 million souls. The Daily Record found a death to report… in West Yorkshire. It happened for one night. It’s stopped. A violent crime wave? Rubbish. See this: “Overall reported violent crime was up 12.8% year on year (13,951 to 15,743 from 2020/1 to 2021/2), but down 2.1% on the five-year average.” Note a one-year variation … Continue reading You can take the sick writer out of ‘The Troubles’ but you can’t take ‘The Troubles’ out of the writer (?)

From BBC Scotland today: More than 100,000 birds have been culled at three Scottish farms amid the UK’s worst avian flu outbreak. Ayrshire farmer Billy Robb told BBC Scotland he lost 32,000 hens last week. And farming union NFU Scotland revealed 72,000 birds had also been “taken out” at two farms in Aberdeenshire in the last 10 days – taking the total to 104,000. Last month just four avian flu cases were recorded in Scotland, compared with 80 in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63652849 See, there, line 4? Who says BBC Scotland is biased and doesn’t do the whitabootery itself, that triggered John … Continue reading Why is Scotland with the lowest Avian Flu the only country with a problem?

BBC Reporting Scotland Down do helpfully tell us, today, that some of today’s Autumn Statement will not apply in Scotland. On their website they post the different taxation bands and rates: Just under that, they sneak a wee line in to suggest that the differences are not so good for Scots: Sneakily done. It means, there is a higher percentage of Scots, those on more than £43K, paying more tax. At £26,007, Scotland has the third highest median gross annual salary of the nations and regions of the UK and it is higher than the UK figure, so might that … Continue reading The SNP limit Hunt’s statement for the greater good

Ipsos MORI with more than 2 000 Scots on 13-19 October 2022, suggest a 7 point lead for Yes, after more than 6 months of polling in favour of No. The last Ipsos MORI poll in May 2022, with only 1 000, had No ahead by 46% to 45%. There are several other positive indicators which you can read at the link above. Continue reading 8% surge in support for independence

The minute I saw the above Herald story, the ratio 7:84 popped into my head. Some will remember fondly the 7:84 theatre group from the 1970s. Their name was a reference to the fact that, then, 7% of those living in Scotland owned 84% of the wealth. According to Herald, it’s now 10:45. That’s a whopping improvement isn’t it, or is it? I don’t know. Lazily perhaps, I put it over to you, dear reader. Footnote: Name that song paraphrased in the headline? No prizes other than my dying (in the end) admiration. Continue reading Can it be that it was all so unequal then or has time rewritten every line?

From City AM today: New research reveals that the UK has the highest electricity bills. Brits pay more for their power than anywhere else on the planet. A new study looked at Government data on electricity and gas prices from the past five years to analyse the impact of the worsening cost of living crisis and discover which countries have had the biggest year-on-year increase in energy prices. The data, compiled by BOXT, was shared with City A.M. today The UK’s energy price cap was recently raised from 28p to 34p per kWh. https://www.cityam.com/revealed-brits-are-paying-the-highest-electricity-bills-in-the-entire-world/ Within the UK: In energy rich Scotland, which is a … Continue reading Scots pay highest electricity bills in the world! Another ‘Union Dividend?’

I’ve been on the old funicular railway up Cairngorm. Fantastic thing and well worth the money for the repair, even if it is coming from my taxes, but is it? Surely Williams, a senior reporter, know better. See this from Ann Pettifor – Director of PRIME and author of The Case for the Green New Deal (Verso, 2019) and The Production of Money (Verso, 2017): Mrs Thatcher, whose microeconomic views on the economy still inform the policies of most of our political parties, gave clearest expression to the wrong and economically flawed notion that ‘there is no money’ – in the 1983 speech cited … Continue reading The Cairngorm Railway cost and economic illiteracy from the Herald

Some? All day today on Reporting Scotland Down, no numbers, no evidence, just one lawyer’s opinion: It was rushed in! Why is this headlining? Why is it even a story? Where’s the ‘news?’ Did Ms Leslie just approach BBC Scotland on her own bat? Is she being ignored by the Scottish Government? Is she pals with John Beattie? Is….. About Ms Leslie: Our Partner, Kim Leslie, has secured compensation in landmark sums in high profile cases. Digby Brown has a proven track record in recovering compensation for survivors of abuse. I need say no more on that. Here is some news: … Continue reading Why is Scotland with a falling level of abuse the only country with a problem?