Tag: climate-change

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Young Phineas fogs the truth but after two decades away from London party oversight, building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict or demanding than those in England in several key areas

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. In the Guardian today: Even multimillionaires can’t escape Britain’s cowboy builders, it seems. Last week, residents of One Hyde Park, the UK’s most expensive flats, won a £35m court case against the contractor that built their homes. The high court ordered the construction company Laing O’Rourke to fix defective pipework that was discovered to be causing problems in 2014, only three years after the luxury development was completed. At the other end of the economy, tens of thousands of families are facing damp and mould issues also caused by botched building works. A National Audit … Continue reading Young Phineas fogs the truth but after two decades away from London party oversight, building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict or demanding than those in England in several key areas

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Why is the wettest part of the UK, North-east Scotland coping so well? Scottish Government investment pays off

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Look at that Met Office map above and note how awesomely wet January was for Scotland’s north-east. I suppose that photograph must there too. No, it’s Somerset. What is the Guardian saying about that? The Guardian view on heavy rain: England’s flood defences are not strong enough Never, mind, all that rain, folk must flooded out of their homes in North-East Scotland. In January 2026, there was not one image, I can find, on BBC Scotland News, STV News or in any Scottish edition newspaper. Find one and I’ll edit this story. … Continue reading Why is the wettest part of the UK, North-east Scotland coping so well? Scottish Government investment pays off

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Scottish homes will probably not have to be abandoned: how climate crisis has reshaped RumpUK’s flood risk

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Support Talking-up Scotland to keep rebutting the lies almost every day of the year, at https://t.co/xFcIcegHTy In the Guardian today: ‘Homes may have to be abandoned’: how climate crisis has reshaped Britain’s flood risk https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/31/climate-crisis-flood-risk-britain There’s only one mention of Scotland: But it is not just the south-west facing ever more floods as the climate crisis bites. Environment Agency data estimates 6.3m properties in England are at risk of flooding, rising to 8m by 2050, with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also hit hard. Wow, impressive research there…not. In the Guardian 14 October 2025, the above maps showing only two wee bits of Scotland … Continue reading Scottish homes will probably not have to be abandoned: how climate crisis has reshaped RumpUK’s flood risk

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School suspensions fall again to only one-tenth of the level in England and a quarter of that under Scottish Labour as SNP policies embed

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On BBC UK’s Breakfast show this morning, a piece on the shocking increase and overall level of temporary suspension’s and permanent exclusions in England’s schools. There were 10 900 permanent exclusions! They didn’t mention other parts of the UK and BBC Scotland did not cover the issue despite having had frequent reports on various supposed crises in Scottish schools based on supposed evidence from the opposition parties. This may be why they’re not going there: Last year in Scotland’s schools there were 10 647 temporary exclusions, down from 11 672 the previous year and nearly 40 000 (39 553) when … Continue reading School suspensions fall again to only one-tenth of the level in England and a quarter of that under Scottish Labour as SNP policies embed

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Scotland has far far fewer homes at risk of flooding after 19 years of SNP leadership

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From John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today; Labour’s “build, baby, build” housing policy means more homes are being built on green belt land, meaning less natural flood defences, more runoff and increased flood risk for existing homes. Even worse, Guardian analysis has predicted that more than 100,000 of these new homes could be built on the highest-risk flood zones in England. At the same time, extreme weather is increasing because of climate breakdown and the Environment Agency data says 6.3m properties, residential homes and businesses are in areas at risk of flooding, rising to 8m by 2050. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/02/flood-home-unsellable-britain Predictably … Continue reading Scotland has far far fewer homes at risk of flooding after 19 years of SNP leadership

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Why the wind doesn’t need to blow all the time – breakthrough in new technology to blow all Scottish Labour arguments for nuclear ‘out of the water’

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EBARGOED UNTIL 15 Dec 2025 00:01 Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland, three days ago: In East Lothian, council leader Norman Hampshire has asked UK ministers to draw up a “characterisation” of the Torness power station site in the hope that it could still be considered for a replacement. The Labour councillor says the closure of Torness without a replacement would be devastating to the community in Dunbar and across Scotland. “There’s a lot of jobs… and all of that feeds into the local economy. So, if Torness isn’t there it’s going to be a huge blow and there’s … Continue reading Why the wind doesn’t need to blow all the time – breakthrough in new technology to blow all Scottish Labour arguments for nuclear ‘out of the water’

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“National value destruction” – a “masterclass” in causing uncertainty, speculation and lack of investment! Successive UK governments’ track record over Scotland’s offshore oil & gas condemned by authoritative energy industry source.

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By stewartb “Devastating” WoodMac damns governments approach to North Sea’: this was the headline published December 11 by the respected energy news website, Energy Voice.  It comes from its reporting of a new assessment of successive UK governments’ approach to the offshore oil & gas assets present on the UK Continental Shelf – assets of course mostly present offshore Scotland. The critique of Westminster/Whitehall governance comes from the respected provider of energy industry/market statistics and insight, namely Wood Mackenzie (aka WoodMac). It’s from an end of year review of key industry talking points internationally: among the top five issues, it … Continue reading “National value destruction” – a “masterclass” in causing uncertainty, speculation and lack of investment! Successive UK governments’ track record over Scotland’s offshore oil & gas condemned by authoritative energy industry source.

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Storm Brann fails to breach even one of Scotland’s flood defences after 18 years of SNP Government but 8 500 fail in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA Yesterday, Sepa forecast widespread and intensive flood risk across the most populous parts of Scotland. Today BBC England had Thousands of flood defences meant to protect multiple homes or businesses in England were below the required condition when winter began, a new analysis has found. The 6,498 “high consequence” defences were among about 8,500 that were not fully working as intended due to erosion, damage or being overgrown. BBC Scotland and all of Scotland’s newspapers have nothing at all on flooding. In 2022, BBC Scotland reporters were all over the North-east interviewing the flooded and letting … Continue reading Storm Brann fails to breach even one of Scotland’s flood defences after 18 years of SNP Government but 8 500 fail in England

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Scotland’s natural gas surplus is worth more than £40 billion per year

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: Without secure supplies and adequate subsurface storage, the UK has come close to running out of gas, most notably in March 2013, when we were within hours of doing so. Given that 85% of the roughly 30m homes in the UK currently rely on gas for heating and cooking, pivoting away from the energy source is not going to happen soon. Furthermore, gas provides more than half of our electricity base load on cold, windless and dark days, meaning it’s critical that we have supplies for national security. As … Continue reading Scotland’s natural gas surplus is worth more than £40 billion per year

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Scotland produces 5-6 times more gas than it consumes annually, making it a net exporter.

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In the Guardian today: Report detailing risk to UK gas security was not one to bury on budget day – In short, Neso found there is an “emerging” risk of Britain running out of gas if an important piece of kit were to be out of action at a bad moment. It modelled five “pathways” for gas demand out to 2030 and 2035 and tested against a prolonged spell of very cold weather. Here is the key sentence: “In the unlikely event of the loss of the single largest piece of gas infrastructure, gas supply falls short of demand for all pathways … Continue reading Scotland produces 5-6 times more gas than it consumes annually, making it a net exporter.