Serious assaults in Glasgow drop 33% to 5 year-low and overall violence increases at significantly lower rate than across Scotland

BBC Scotland have exported the above story to BBC Breakfast, have a special on it tonight, and claim: Videos of brutal beatings, blatant drug deals, and racial violence in the centre of Scotland’s biggest city have become a common sight on social media. Posts claim that parts of Glasgow’s city centre are a “no-go zone” where it’s not safe for unsuspecting members of the public, especially women, to enter. Angry protests have spilled on to the streets – but is it as bad as some say? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgdej0xxgyo Note, the source for these claims is not official figures but merely ‘common … Continue reading Serious assaults in Glasgow drop 33% to 5 year-low and overall violence increases at significantly lower rate than across Scotland

Child Soldiers – How ruthless English drug gangs are recruiting hundreds of Scots kids for crime

The Sun, yesterday has the above, but holds back from identifying this as a problem deriving from the activity of county lines drugs gangs based in England. I’ve been writing about this plague of extreme crime, at TuS for years now, shamelessly exploiting as fully as I can the political benefits of such a plague in making the case for independence. I make no bones about it. I’m biased like the Unionist media but unlike them I use reliable sources of evidence to make my case. However, this time why don’t I hand over responsibility completely to a system that … Continue reading Child Soldiers – How ruthless English drug gangs are recruiting hundreds of Scots kids for crime

Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really.

No images of the traumatised here, just the facts. BBC Scotland today, headlining: A woman who was raped by a stranger has asked politicians to think of victims and abandon plans for the early release of hundreds of criminals. Katie Johnston’s attacker Alasdair McDonald was branded a “faceless, violent and predatory rapist” by the judge who jailed him for 10 years. Under proposals from the Scottish government, long-term prisoners like McDonald would be freed automatically after completing two-thirds of their sentence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgq5pd3pwdjo As always these last 12 or more years, BBC Scotland reports, gutter-low in informative value, telling viewers little … Continue reading Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really.

No other major hospital in the UK is sited so close to a raw sewage processing plant that emits bioaerosols containing bacteria, fungi and viruses

More than one friend of Talking-up Scotland has joined in to feed me useful info on the at-first-sight disturbing and surprising location of the new QEUH approved by Labour-led Glasgow council in 2008. Some are posting as Anon, in email with names and sometimes telling not to mention those.. I’m mixed up so apologies if I don’t credit you but thanks all round. From Anon today: What Allan Bennett’s testimony [specialist scientific advisor on airborne infection risks and ventilation/biosafety matters] omits is that there are two sewage plants surrounding the QEUH / RHCG. The plant actually bordering the west boundary of the … Continue reading No other major hospital in the UK is sited so close to a raw sewage processing plant that emits bioaerosols containing bacteria, fungi and viruses

Two prisoner release stories make no mention of rehabilitation in England for obvious reasons

In their long-running report on the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper and that on a hit-and-run driver (below), there’s not one mention of rehabilitation, probation or of recidivism by BBC UK. BBC Scotland have not even linked to these stories. What don’t they tell us? First, ‘recidivism’, re-offending is 5 to 6 times more prevalent in England than in Scotland: The return-to-custody rate [not just re-offending but also breaching licence conditions] for the early 2025 tranche was only 5%. This was based on a Scotsman newspaper report1 as official data are not yet published. The kinds of re-offending breakdown is not … Continue reading Two prisoner release stories make no mention of rehabilitation in England for obvious reasons

CalMac’s future lies in restoring and growing the Clyde shipyards again

Perhaps thinking that any bad news on CalMac ferries serves the same purpose, to damage the reputation of the SNP Government, the Scotsman serves ours well – to make a case for the Cyde. From BBC Scotland 1 July 2026: CalMac’s newest ship – the Turkish-built MV Isle of Islay – is to be withdrawn from service for repairs later this month, just 15 weeks after carrying its first passengers. The roll-on roll-off ferry entered service on 31 March, but six weeks later a hinge problem with its bow doors meant it has had to operate “single ended” ever since. The issue … Continue reading CalMac’s future lies in restoring and growing the Clyde shipyards again

Drug-related hospital admissions plummet to lowest level since records began, treatment service meets 90% target for last 15 years and world-first opioid overdose reversal programme enters 8th year but BBC Scotland ignore all that and doorstep the minister on one Glasgow Council service closure

From BBC Scotland this morning, the above and: A residential drug service in Glasgow is to close its doors after a long-running financial dispute with its council-owned landlord. The service run by the charity Turning Point Scotland will shut down, while a nearby drug crisis centre will move to the site instead. This had also been run by Turning Point, but will now be taken over by Glasgow City Council and the city’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). It follows a 14-month dispute over rent increases and repair bills with City Property – an arms-length firm that manages the council’s commercial … Continue reading Drug-related hospital admissions plummet to lowest level since records began, treatment service meets 90% target for last 15 years and world-first opioid overdose reversal programme enters 8th year but BBC Scotland ignore all that and doorstep the minister on one Glasgow Council service closure

The BBC should be shut down solely on the basis of its TV licence enforcement policy

By a friend of Talking-up Scotland who received the above letter. Dear Louise, Thank you for your (redacted) letter above which will be recognised by millions around the UK, proportionately more so in Scotland.  Thank you also for at least one preceding email which I noted deploys a surreptitious tracking pixel leading to my blocking any further emails from tv licensing (without prejudice to my wish to be compensated for every instance).  TV licensing’s use of tracking pixels without informed consent is a clear breach of (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) PECR Regulation 6 and I trust that many of those reading this … Continue reading The BBC should be shut down solely on the basis of its TV licence enforcement policy

BBC Scotland’s Mark Daly incoherently tries to give Scotland its own ‘Wayne Couzens Moment’ on the way to hopefully blaming the SNP but STV and Sky don’t see it

case in London are inevitable, and that is because the picture emerging is of an extremely violent sex offender, who targeted vulnerable women, who abused his power undetected for many years. In reporting the case of Alan Greer ‘a police officer who took his own life in May was a violent rapist who carried out attacks and attempted murders of women over at least 14 years, BBC Reporting Scotland reported last night that comparisons with the Met officer Wayne Couzens ,who raped and murdered Sarah Everard in in 2021, were ‘emerging‘ and were ‘inevitable.’ Neither Sky nor STV see the … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Mark Daly incoherently tries to give Scotland its own ‘Wayne Couzens Moment’ on the way to hopefully blaming the SNP but STV and Sky don’t see it

Utterly stupid scaremongering headline on knife crime from BBC Scotland’s David Cowan

From BBC Scotland today: Three senseless killings in the space of six months, all involving teenagers and bladed weapons, have raised concern over youth-related knife crime in Scotland to a level not seen for many years. The deaths of Amen Teklay, Kayden Moy and John McNab last year left many wondering whether the country was going backwards to the shameful time when Scotland endured one of the worst homicide rates in western Europe. The above cluster took place in 2005 with the last in September. Despite two very warm and dry periods this year, there have been no such cases … Continue reading Utterly stupid scaremongering headline on knife crime from BBC Scotland’s David Cowan