Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 As Andy Burnham pushes ahead with his ‘tough enough’ kneejerk reaction to early prisoner release, he’d do well to look North (real North) for tips. From the Guardian in February 2026: Record numbers of offenders are being recalled to prison in England and Wales with union officials claiming that some are deliberately breaking the terms of their probation in order to deal drugs in prison. Prison sources said that after the implementation of early release schemes, as many as 5,000 men were recalled in December alone – more than a … Continue reading More than ten times as many, per head, early release prisoners being recalled in England & Wales due to half the staffing in Scotland

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In his BBC interview yesterday, aimed at reassuring voters than violent offenders would not be released early, PM Burnham suggested that ending ‘controversial indefinite sentences’ might free up space in prisons. However, the BBC notes – Ending indefinite sentences will require new legislation, meaning it could be years before space is freed up. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx5zw4e2x9o Are there indefinite jail sentences in Scotland? Scotland uses Orders for Lifelong Restriction (OLRs), introduced in 2006 under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003. These are indeterminate (no fixed release … Continue reading There are no plans in Scotland to end indefinite sentences where there is a high risk of violent re-offending

From clear liability for a looming health disaster in 2001 to a media transferring the blame to an innocent party in 2017 Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By stewartb The full transcript of this debate in the Scottish Parliament on 17 January 2001 can be read here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-17-01-2001?meeting=4278&iob=28854 What is abundantly clear from the record is substantial cross-party discontent with the nature of and response to the public consultation undertaken by the health board regarding options for the proposed new south Glasgow Hospital, including in particular its location. The issues concerning location … Continue reading How in 2001 Labour’s Malcolm Chisholm MSP condemned Glasgow and it’s child cancer patients to the only major hospital in the world within secret but easy breathing distance from millions of litres of stirred raw sewage sludge