Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

Call that a wildfire crisis? See this: 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 Bella Caledonia is great, nearly all the time. They have a lot of high quality writing, often putting our more prosaic percentages and line-graphs stuff in the shade but, every so often, show considerable political naïveté or lack of concern, platforming attacks on the Scottish Government which can only damage the wider movement – if you can’t run a…how can you run a country? Two days ago they had the above from an SWP member on behalf … Continue reading Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning

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 Quick as you don’t like, BBC Scotland‘s ‘Education Correspondent’, with barely a thought it seems, is taking the latest Pisa data on reading all-too-dimly. Who is she? Lucy Adams at the University of Glasgow -She studied for an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow between 2006 and 2008. This is an interesting part of her background because creative writing can strengthen narrative skill, precision of language and the ability to bring lived experience vividly onto the page. She also completed a … Continue reading When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning

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

BBC Breakfast today reporting a damning assessment of the standard of policing in England & Wales. 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 Many police forces in England and Wales still need to make improvements in the way they investigate crime and other “basics” of policing, according to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC). In her annual report, Michelle Skeer also said too many victims were not receiving the quality of service they should expect. Forces continue to struggle when it comes to gathering evidence, identifying and progressing lines of … Continue reading Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really and many of you know it

The Power of Nightmares Episode 147 – ‘A [one] mother whose son was murdered in a knife attack’

the First Minister today. 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 BBC Scotland’s Reporting Scotland team’s wee insert in BBC Breakfast, several times today, returns to Scotland’s supposed knife murder crisis, exploiting another traumatised parent shamelessly to misrepresent this country. This is yet another of those reports, we’ve grouped together under the term ‘The Power of Nightmares.’ The most recent example was their ‘Welcome to Glasgow’ report. For our analysis, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/08/24/the-power-of-nightmares-the-real-reasons-why-the-bbc-made-that-glasgow-documentary/ Is there a fuller report at the website? When a story headlines Reporting Scotland but does not appear on … Continue reading The Power of Nightmares Episode 147 – ‘A [one] mother whose son was murdered in a knife attack’

Another desperate attempt to drag us into the surging violence and hatred of the UK

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 Headlining for BBC Scotland today above, and: A 25-year-old Scottish man has been jailed for racially-motivated “violent disorder” linked to rioting in Belfast during the summer of 2024. Reece Dunnett, from Dunfermline in Fife, pleaded guilty to rioting and criminal damage offences at Laganside Crown Court on Friday. He received a 27-month sentence – half of which to be spent in prison and half on licence after his release. Dunnett committed the offences after trouble arose in the Sandy Row and Donegall Road areas … Continue reading Another desperate attempt to drag us into the surging violence and hatred of the UK

The BBC in Scotland platform ‘experts’ who all have a rabid #SNPBAD angle in their opinions

By Liz S 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 The BBC in Scotland platform those (same) ‘experts’ who are to be assumed to be neutral , but as experts , they all somehow always seem to have a rabid #SNPBAD angle in their opinions . So then with many of these guests being presented as politically ‘neutral’ you then find that after you do just a wee bit of research, or you already know who they are, it is clearly obvious and so then firmly established that they have an affiliation with some opposition political party to … Continue reading The BBC in Scotland platform ‘experts’ who all have a rabid #SNPBAD angle in their opinions

Lucy Whyte didn’t appear to know that freezing the cost of supermarket staples was a Scottish Labour manifesto pledge

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 Liz S As Jackie Baillie was interviewed by the BBC radio in Scotland in a softly softly interview that was mostly, as per, an opportunity for her to have yet another public platform to scream #SNPBAD via the BBC in Scotland. Yet here is what I found online in the ‘Scottish’ Labour manifesto for the 2026 Scottish elections. 30 April 2026 “100 Days of Change” This was on the ‘Scottish’ Labour website: “If international instability continues, deliver £100 million of emergency support including … Continue reading Lucy Whyte didn’t appear to know that freezing the cost of supermarket staples was a Scottish Labour manifesto pledge

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 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

There are no plans in Scotland to end indefinite sentences where there is a high risk of violent re-offending

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

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

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