Ludo Thierry Good to see Billy Connolly continue his long, slow journey towards accepting that he and his fellow Scots have the right to determine their own political future. Interview with beeb Arts reporter – would his constitutional observations have been sought (or passed the edit) had the interview been with beeb Scotland one wonders? Link and snippet below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/49970543 Billy Connolly: ‘I’m not ready to go back on stage’ In the interview, he also discussed how the current political landscape in his home country of Scotland. In an independence referendum held in September 2014, Scotland voted to remain part … Continue reading Billy Connolly says Scotland ‘won’t take crap anymore’

On October 6th I wrote this: Yesterday, I received this justification for their unique choice of the sad child image: You describe as “exploitative and tasteless” our choice of a child sitting on a couch with someone in the foreground taking notes. As the report pointed out that the vacancies for consultant psychiatrists were proportionately much higher for child and adolescent mental health services, I fail to see how this relevant and appropriate picture was either exploitative or tasteless. The picture was of a child provided by Getty Images for general editorial use, as long as no unlawful use is … Continue reading BBC Scotland reply to complaint of exploitative and tasteless imagery

Alison Harris (SCAUP) asked the Scottish Government on Thursday what action it is taking to reduce the number of antisocial behaviour incidents. Ash Denham (SNP) replied: Evidence on antisocial behaviour points towards a long-term, sustained reduction in Scotland. For example, the nationally representative Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows that the percentage of adults who think people behave in an antisocial manner in their local area has fallen from 46% in 2008/9 to 29% in 2017/18. National figures from the Scottish Household Survey highlighted that 95% of people in Scotland rate their neighbourhoods as ‘very’ or ‘fairly good’ which positively … Continue reading Scottish Conservatives acknowledge 37% reduction in antisocial behaviour after 10 years of SNP Government

In the HOUSE OF LORDS European Union Committee 48th Report of Session 2017–19 HL Paper 428 Brexit: refugee protection and asylum policy, we read: ‘The Refugee Council, for example, noted that unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Scotland and Northern Ireland had access to independent guardians, but that an equivalent service was only available to children in England and Wales who had [and who could prove that they had] experienced modern slavery.’ Click to access 428.pdf This follows the research the University of Birmingham showing that ‘EU families in Scotland feel more welcome and safer than south of the border.’ Click … Continue reading Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum

As it was revealed that the Lord Provost of Glasgow had been claiming massive expenses for heels, knickers and lipstick (the current one, not that Labour guy), the jackal journalists of Scotland’s NoMedia had a feeding frenzy on them. The First Minister has agreed that she needed to reflect on spending taxpayers’ cash on beauty products but insisted that she is still an excellent provost. Leading academic and self-proclaimed anarcho-feminist, Professor John Robertson, has praised the First Minister’s intervention as ‘fair and balanced.’ On Wednesday, the good folk of Ayr turned up to BBC Scotland’s Debate Night to express their … Continue reading First Minister praised for stance on Lord Provost

The First Minister made one of her first forays into foreign affairs yesterday, risking ‘day job’ jibes from Jackson, to condemn the Trump for his heartless betrayal of the Kurds. TuS War Correspondent, Johnny (Jock) Robertson (Honorary Lance-Corporal, Bombay Irish Irregulars), said: She speaks for me…this time. ’The Kurds have been courageous in their fight against ISIS. ‘ Perhaps Nicola was inspired by the role played by women on the frontline against ISIS? I like to think Nicola has also been inspired by her old boss and mentor, Alex Salmond, watching him stand up to the likes of Tony Blair … Continue reading First Minister praised for stance on Syria

Ludo Thierry The beeb ‘Fact Check’ team manage (inadvertently) to scupper yet another of Better Together’s Project Fear inaccuracies from IndyRef 1. Remember all that toss about Scots nationals and rUK nationals not being treated (reciprocally) in each others’ hospitals and Health Services? – Beeb now confirm arrangements made pre-Brexit with Ireland exactly mirror the arrangements explained within the Scot.Gov Indy White Paper (and universally derided by the ‘british’ media/political class at the time). We all knew it was so – but there’s a certain grim satisfaction in seeing beeb’s State-Propagandist-In-Chief role forcing it to declare that what it identified … Continue reading BBC ‘Fact Check’ team scupper yet another of Better Together’s Project Fear inaccuracies

As we read today of Police Scotland introducing new roadside drug testing, I’m reminded that we, but not Reporting Scotland Down, have reported, here, many times, of their wider successes, often by contrast with other forces in the UK and beyond. Here are a few of them: Scotland DOES NOT have the highest level of distracted drivers in the UK! Police Scotland JUST MORE ACTIVE says leading expert on statistics propaganda Westminster Conservatives FAIL as Police in Scotland more than NINE times as effective in solving violent crimes than in England Will BBC praise Police Scotland as car theft falls in Scotland … Continue reading Reporting Police Scotland Up

Contrary (again) to many headlines like the one above, assaults on Scottish police officers actually fell slightly in the last year and remain much lower than in England & Wales. Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, from someone perhaps hoping for a different story, Police Scotland figures show 1 685 assaults in 2018/19 down from 1 711 in 2017/18. https://www.sc  otland.police.uk/assets/pdf/434027/526774/526830/19-2150-response?view=Standard As for the apparently high number of attacks in Quarter 1 (April 1 to June 30) of 2019/20, 562, it is not possible to say with confidence that the figures for the whole year will be higher as … Continue reading Assaults on Police Officers in Scotland FALL to half that of England & Wales

‘In Time to Solve Childhood Obesity: An Independent Report by the Chief Medical Officer, for England & Wales, published yesterday, Professor Dame Sally Davies, Cameron Prize winner from the University of Edinburgh (2017), does not mention Scotland once, yet peer-reviewed research from London-based academics points directly to how it can be achieved using methods developed by the Scottish Government. Click to access cmo-special-report-childhood-obesity-october-2019.pdf Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reported in the Independent on 26th May 2018 suggested: ‘Under current trends it is predicted that 11 per cent of the population in Wales will be morbidly obese in 2035, roughly 340,000 … Continue reading 96-page report on solving England’s obesity problems ignores lessons from Scottish Government success even though measured by English academics