Inverness Sheriff saying courts need to stop drug pushers, ‘especially from England’ could face charges of being Anti-English
Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Many thanks again to rtpscott for this: At the end of this P&J report: Why is the Sherriff so concerned about people from England rather than from, say, Glasgow? Might he be seeing more of the former than he’d like? From the Inverness Courier in July 2025: A 26-year-old Liverpool man who supplied heroin and cocaine across England and Scotland, including Inverness, Aviemore and Nairn, will be sentenced next week. Jack Horgan, of Boundary Farm Road, who is currently serving a jail sentence, appeared by video link at Inverness Sheriff Court represented by his … Continue reading Inverness Sheriff saying courts need to stop drug pushers, ‘especially from England’ could face charges of being Anti-English
Will Sir Keir then apologise for wilfully retaining the two child limit from July 2024 to November 2025?
By Liz S Keir Starmer posted this on ‘X’ on 8 January…. “I won’t apologise for lifting almost half a million children out of poverty. I won’t apologise for putting money back in people’s pockets. That’s why we are scrapping the two-child limit”. Will he then apologise for wilfully retaining the two child limit from July 2024 to November 2025 , as this Tory generated policy was one that his Labour UK government decided to retain, so then he and his Labour party decided to keep punishing those families with children who were in poverty. Also surely he, Starmer, should feel the need to apologise to the seven Labour MP’s who his … Continue reading Will Sir Keir then apologise for wilfully retaining the two child limit from July 2024 to November 2025?
If you’re one of the highest-earning 25% ‘pulled’ into higher tax bands you’re not ‘middle-class’, by definition
The Herald today on behalf of the people, based on opinion polls, already predisposed to vote Labour, in the hope of cutting their taxes and the benefits of others (classic Labour these days), has: Middle-class Scots pulled into higher tax bands by Budget freeze There’s a long history of people in the UK calling themselves ‘middle-class’ when their economic circumstances are far from the middle in any objective sense. Just because sociologists recognise your cultural preferences to be ‘middle class’ doesn’t mean that entitles you to only pay income tax at the same level of people in the middle income … Continue reading If you’re one of the highest-earning 25% ‘pulled’ into higher tax bands you’re not ‘middle-class’, by definition
12 000 babies to benefit from increase to £40 per week in SNP child benefit already praised widely across UK and Europe
From Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027, published today: We will uprate the SCP in line with inflation to £28.20 per week per child. We will also begin the necessary work in 2026‑27 to introduce a new SCP Premium for under ones in 2027‑28. This will result in a total payment of £40 per week in respect of every child in the household under one. The additional payment is estimated to benefit the families of around 12,000 children. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2026-2027/pages/2/ This has been reported widely but in no case, to my knowledge, has it been linked to these numbers. Also, important context into which to set … Continue reading 12 000 babies to benefit from increase to £40 per week in SNP child benefit already praised widely across UK and Europe
Senior BBC staff most upset by threat to their council tax bills and less fussy about the others
There are around 3 million taxpayers in Scotland. 55% of them (1.65m) will pay less income tax than in the rest of the UK but BBC Scotland chose to highlight the ‘Mansion Tax’ which will affect 11 330 – Anas Sarwar and few of their senior staff. Here’s a better report, from the AI assisted Policy Mogul: Changes to the basic and intermediate rate income tax thresholds will protect lower-income households in 2026-27, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has announced. The Finance Secretary also confirmed there would be no changes to rates or the number of tax bands in the coming … Continue reading Senior BBC staff most upset by threat to their council tax bills and less fussy about the others
Year after year NHS Scotland ready to fulfil 98% of all ops on time with less than half the cancellation rate of NHS England
From Cancelled planned operations Month ending 30 November 2025, published today: There were 25,996 operations planned to take place across NHS Scotland. This is 5% higher (+1,232) than the number planned in November 2024 (24,764). Overall, the number of planned operations has been increasing since COVID-19 affected services. Of all planned operations during November 2025 in NHS Scotland, the cancellation reasons were; 798 (3.1%) by the hospital for clinical reasons, 814 (3.1%) by the patient, 504 (1.9%) by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 69 (0.3%) for other reasons. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-30-november-2025/ Only the 1.9% cancelled by the hospital … Continue reading Year after year NHS Scotland ready to fulfil 98% of all ops on time with less than half the cancellation rate of NHS England
Aberdeenshire SNP councillors tried to keep grit bins but were outvoted by Unionist councillors keen to cut costs based on assuming ‘mild winter scenario’ and who allowed bin removal even DURING winter to endanger pensioners
Aberdeenshire has just had one of the worst winters in recent years but not by any means that rare an event for them. In February 2025, by a vote of 43 to 21 the council voted for a budget including it its appendices a plan to remove 1 200 out of 2 100 grit bins. From the minute on page 39: Winter Maintenance Fund – Allocated for unexpected winter and emergency operations. The existing revenue budget is based on a mild winter scenario, meaning additional funding may be required in harsher conditions, however the reserve was drawn down in 2023/24 … Continue reading Aberdeenshire SNP councillors tried to keep grit bins but were outvoted by Unionist councillors keen to cut costs based on assuming ‘mild winter scenario’ and who allowed bin removal even DURING winter to endanger pensioners
GPs get 33% more per patient* in Scotland than in England and the funding trend is up in Scotland, down in England
How does funding per patient for GPs compare in NHS England and NHS Scotland? In NHS England it’s between £155 and £165.1 In NHS Scotland it’s around £210, a third, 33% higher.2 Is that it? Is the SNP now resting on it’s laurels? Nope, see this: General Practice in Scotland is set to receive a record £531 million investment over the next three years, marking the largest funding boost to core GP services in the country’s history. The announcement follows an agreement with the British Medical Association and is subject to future budget approvals by the Scottish Government. The funding will … Continue reading GPs get 33% more per patient* in Scotland than in England and the funding trend is up in Scotland, down in England
As UK Government fails 7 out of 10 targets for England, Scottish Government initiatives push Scotland well ahead of the rest of the UK in preserving nature
In the Guardian today: The government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said. In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law. How is the Scottish Government getting on with this? If you depend on the ‘Scottish’ media you might not know any of this. Scottish Government initiatives push Scotland well ahead of the rest of the … Continue reading As UK Government fails 7 out of 10 targets for England, Scottish Government initiatives push Scotland well ahead of the rest of the UK in preserving nature
The embarrassing gap in intelligence, maturity and credibility between the writing of Daily Record reporters and that of AI
I was going to write this myself and I will add some evidence of NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s health below but, you know, we’re busy here and frankly, it’s not worth it, is it? So Grok AI – ‘Is it accurate to refer to NHS Ayrshire Arran as ‘crippled?’ No, it is not accurate to describe NHS Ayrshire and Arran as “crippled” in any objective, factual sense, though the term has appeared in some sensational media headlines.The health board is undoubtedly facing very serious challenges, particularly financial ones, as highlighted by official audits and reports from late 2025: These issues … Continue reading The embarrassing gap in intelligence, maturity and credibility between the writing of Daily Record reporters and that of AI
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