Reports of Knife-Wielding Gangs in Scottish Towns and Cities with English Accents
Professor John Robertson OBA Recent reports and discussions in Scotland have highlighted the infiltration of drug-related gangs from England into Scottish towns and cities, often involving knives or other weapons. These groups are primarily linked to “County Lines” operations—a model originating in English urban areas where gangs exploit vulnerable people (e.g., addicts) to store and sell drugs in remote locations. While Scottish gangs exist and contribute to violence, multiple sources point to English-based groups as a distinct issue, expanding northward to evade police crackdowns and tap into new markets. This has fueled concerns about rising drug deaths and localized violence … Continue reading Reports of Knife-Wielding Gangs in Scottish Towns and Cities with English Accents
BBC Scotland carefully hide the fact that sex offences on trains in England & Wales are TWICE as common as they are in Scotland!
Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Wales two days ago, had: Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation. There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children – with some younger than 13. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39r2zp1dw7o BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert yesterday, had: The number of sexual offences on trains in Scotland has risen by over 70% in the last decade, according to figures obtained by BBC Scotland news. There were 98 assaults … Continue reading BBC Scotland carefully hide the fact that sex offences on trains in England & Wales are TWICE as common as they are in Scotland!
Chill – Scottish data centres powering AI only require 0.00004% of Scotland’s 745 trillion litres of water
Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today has the above headline and: Data centres powering artificial intelligence (AI) in Scotland are using enough tap water to fill 27 million half-litre bottles a year, according to data obtained by BBC News. AI systems such as the large language models (LLMs) that power OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini require warehouses full of specialist computers. The equipment is power-hungry, consuming large amounts of energy, but they also use tonnes of water in their cooling systems to stop the servers overheating. Freedom of Information data shows the volume of tap water used by Scotland’s data centres … Continue reading Chill – Scottish data centres powering AI only require 0.00004% of Scotland’s 745 trillion litres of water
Affordable housing – a tale of two leaked memos that reveals SNP exceeding target and Scottish Labour giving up
Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Mail in April 2025 had the above headline and: Today, inews has: The Daily Mail did not, of course, have the facts. Here they are: For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level down from a peak of 11 158 in 2021 but above the level before 2014 and still almost twice that of the last Labour government in Scotland, only 3 100. AND: According to the latest official statistics from the Scottish Government, as reported in the Quarterly Housing Statistics update to June 2025, Scotland has delivered … Continue reading Affordable housing – a tale of two leaked memos that reveals SNP exceeding target and Scottish Labour giving up
Proper academic survey reveals support for independence soaring among all age groups to levels well above private pollsters
Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland 55-65% of under 34s, around 50% of under 54s and 40% of the over 55s with the latter climbing steadily now for 13 years. All three groups way up on 2014. What does this tell us? Support for independence in this survey is well above that in those privately run polls, with samples weighted to match the 2014 result, and to get a No majority. Can we trust the SSA? This is a proper survey, by University academics, all of whom have … Continue reading Proper academic survey reveals support for independence soaring among all age groups to levels well above private pollsters
Scottish nationalism is not just civic it’s leftist too
Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland Figure 15, meanwhile, analyses the relationship between where people stand on our left-right scale and their constitutional preference. To construct this figure, we have for each of our yearly samples identified the one-third of respondents whose score on our scale puts them among the one-third most left-wing in that year, those whose score puts them among the one-third most right wing, with the remaining one-third in between. The figure shows that, from the outset of devolution, those on the left were somewhat … Continue reading Scottish nationalism is not just civic it’s leftist too
75% of Scots want control of everything other than defence and foreign affairs and 50% are calling for that too
Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland As a result, in our latest survey, nearly three-quarters said that the Scottish Parliament should be responsible for at least all of the country’s domestic affairs, and to that extent the increase in the institution’s powers after the 2014 referendum was in tune with public opinion. Certainly, with just 15% wanting a parliament that did not deal with tax and only another 8% supporting the UK Government making all decisions, the view that the Scottish Parliament should not have the enhanced powers … Continue reading 75% of Scots want control of everything other than defence and foreign affairs and 50% are calling for that too
91% of Scots reject a return to direct rule
Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland At 9% the view that Scotland should not have a parliament at all is, as it has always been, very much a minority one. Which parties or politicians wish to see Scotland return to direct rule from London? Reform UK Party deputy leader Richard Tice has described devolution as part of “failed” regional experiments. This aligns with the party’s roots in UKIP, which campaigned against devolution in the 1990s. Tories opposed Scottish and Welsh devolution referendums in 1997, positioning as the “anti-devolution … Continue reading 91% of Scots reject a return to direct rule
As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones
By Brenda Robb A UK wide report heavily focused on what happens in England, why are we not surprised? Just a brief scan of the further reading reports listed in the appendix backs up the notion that this is fundamentally an English document, somehow they fail to list Play Scotland and the range of documents published to promote play in Scotland. (see www.playscotland.org/resources/) Contrast this: A freedom of information request to all local authorities in 2023 found that almost 800 playgrounds had closed across the UK over the ten years before (amongst those authorities that responded), over 400 of which were in … Continue reading As 800 playgrounds close in England, SNP Government invests £50 million in only 3 years on new ones
By more than 3 to 1 Scots think Scottish Government should have most influence
Professor John Robertson OBA From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland How much control does the Scottish Government actually have? By Public Expenditure By Revenue/Taxation You can support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Bernadette/John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Continue reading By more than 3 to 1 Scots think Scottish Government should have most influence
Talking-up Scotland 