Dog attacks on farm animals in Scotland plummet 28% to only half, per head, of those increasing across ‘UK’ but NFU Mutual misreads simple sums to say they’re ‘alarming’ here
in dog attacks last year. NFU Mutual is urging dog owners to be responsible ahead of lambing season. The rural insurer says attacks are down 28% compared to 2024, but farmers are asking owners to stop their dogs chasing pregnant ewes and new born lambs. Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. BBC Scotland above open with that puzzling sequence, putting a wee survey ahead of statistics. Then Hannah Binns of the insurer ignores the reduction to tell us about her survey, which found that one in ten owners said their dog had no recall, but 57% are letting … Continue reading Dog attacks on farm animals in Scotland plummet 28% to only half, per head, of those increasing across ‘UK’ but NFU Mutual misreads simple sums to say they’re ‘alarming’ here
Last week Scottish Government committed firmly to free higher education tuition, was ignored by ALL news media, but this week BBC Scotland prefers to tell you about London-based thinktank’s doubts
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. BBC Scotland today with London-based Institute [just a bunch of lads really] for Fiscal Studies doubting whether Scotland can continue to afford free higher education tuition for all and ignoring this from last week: I searched for news media coverage to get only this response: The Times Higher Education, read only by some academics, has this below but as you can see above this important news is being hidden from the electorate: ‘We’re looking at all parts of the system – except tuition fees’ https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/were-looking-all-parts-system-except-tuition-fees The THE article by Helen Packer is actually not at all supportive … Continue reading Last week Scottish Government committed firmly to free higher education tuition, was ignored by ALL news media, but this week BBC Scotland prefers to tell you about London-based thinktank’s doubts
UK unemployment 40% higher, youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland, BBC Scotland ‘disappear’ the good news again
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. BBC Breakfast this morning with an extended piece on unemployment not being mirrored by BBC Scotland. The unemployment rate in Scotland at the end of 2025, was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in 2024. In crude terms 5.1 is 1.4 greater than 3.7 but as a percentage, to take account of the millions of people being referred to, unemployment in England is 37.8% higher. There are about 1.8m unemployed in the UK so if the rate was the same in the UK as it is in Scotland, hundreds of thousands of those would be … Continue reading UK unemployment 40% higher, youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland, BBC Scotland ‘disappear’ the good news again
What is going on with Talking-up Scotland’s surge?
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. View and visitor stats today, above, show another massive, for us, increase in the levels we’re used to. Not just one apparent spike of the kind I have seen in the past but two close together and a run of five at double or more than the usual level. Is there a type of story hitting a chord and responsible for the spikes? Again, I’ve seen that before. Not that I can see: I was puzzled, deeply. Then I spotted this for the last 7 days: What’s odd about it? Previous … Continue reading What is going on with Talking-up Scotland’s surge?
Official figures even in mid-winter reveal CalMac’s high performance standards, passenger satisfaction and the Scottish Government’s incredible generosity to island and tourist car-users
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From CHFS3 Monthly Performance Report December 2025 published on 4th February 2025, for the winter month of December 2025, the following data based on sample size 28 000 travellers: Note – vehicle deck utilisation reveals the generosity of the Scottish Government funding, paying for ferries often half empty for much of the year in order to meet summer demand. Staff retention is crucial as we hear of short-staffing in the US and Canada leading to appalling standards and risks. Notably on the much-reported Arran service Important note – The reliability percentage … Continue reading Official figures even in mid-winter reveal CalMac’s high performance standards, passenger satisfaction and the Scottish Government’s incredible generosity to island and tourist car-users
Nurses in Starmer and Streeting’s NHS England to get 14% lower pay rise ‘on top of’ already lower salaries
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From Nursing Standard on 12 February 2026: NHS nursing staff to get 3.3% pay rise in April – Nursing staff on Agenda for Change contracts will receive their annual pay award on time for the first time in six years, however unions have expressed their anger at ‘insulting’, below-inflation pay rise. 1 Scottish nurses will get: ..a 3.75% increase in pay in 2026-27. The settlement also provides a guarantee that that the increase in pay in each year will be at least 1 percentage point above the average CPI inflation. If this proves … Continue reading Nurses in Starmer and Streeting’s NHS England to get 14% lower pay rise ‘on top of’ already lower salaries
As Covid Inquiry reconvenes – How and why Scotland had fewer Covid deaths than England – short video
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Evidence here: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/02/16/as-covid-inquiry-reconvenes-today-a-reminder-of-how-fm-nicola-sturgeon-and-the-scottish-government-kept-excess-mortality-here-at-one-third-lower-than-the-uk-average-saving-thousands-despite-the-d/ Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Continue reading As Covid Inquiry reconvenes – How and why Scotland had fewer Covid deaths than England – short video
Enfield Measles Outbreak – Is it insensitive to want border control for Scotland when ‘UK’ and Spain lose WHO status as being measles-free after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake?
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From BBC Breakfast above and BBC London yesterday: At least 34 children have been infected by a “fast-spreading” measles outbreak in several north London schools, health officials have said. The cases from Enfield were confirmed in laboratory tests in January, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported. A local GP surgery said one in five children who contracted the illness had been admitted to hospital, all of whom “had not been fully immunised”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev7edxxzm7o Travel between London and Scotland is easy. There have also been serious outbreaks with some deaths of … Continue reading Enfield Measles Outbreak – Is it insensitive to want border control for Scotland when ‘UK’ and Spain lose WHO status as being measles-free after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake?
As Herald today misleads with unreliable methods on ‘corridor care’ figures, reliable transparent A&E figures suggest it is reducing
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. This is the second attempt by the Herald, based on unreliable statistical methods by the Daily Record (No surprise there) to misrepresent the level of ‘corridor care‘ in Scotland’s hospitals. Explicit figures are not published anywhere but there’s a good proxy for corridor care and that’s 12 hour waits in A&E. By definition if you’re waiting 12 hours after triage assessment and maybe some treatment before getting a bed, that is ‘corridor care.’ A fuller AI rationale for the use of 12 hour waits, based heavily on the views of the Royal College … Continue reading As Herald today misleads with unreliable methods on ‘corridor care’ figures, reliable transparent A&E figures suggest it is reducing
As Covid Inquiry reconvenes today, a reminder of how FM, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Government kept excess mortality here at one third lower than the UK average, saving thousands, despite the delay in devolving responsibility and PM Johnson’s callous inertia – saving thousands of lives
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. I’m grateful to @amaccj for reminding me of this and for the link to the source. When the final assessment is made, we need to set the scene with these facts: Two years later, in February 2022, as the pandemic receded, the simple consequences in terms of mortality in different parts of the UK can be see in this table from the September 2023, UK Covid 19 Inquiry report6: Other than the isolated South-west of England, Scotland had the lowest mortality rate of the 4 nations, even lower than Northern Ireland sheltered by … Continue reading As Covid Inquiry reconvenes today, a reminder of how FM, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Government kept excess mortality here at one third lower than the UK average, saving thousands, despite the delay in devolving responsibility and PM Johnson’s callous inertia – saving thousands of lives
Talking-up Scotland 