Tag: history

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Researchers prove that Scotland’s drug death surge was the simple and tragic consequence of the UK Conservative Government’s brutal austerity strategy from 2012 to 2019

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With only 3 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: 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 Drug deaths have always been more prevalent in poorer communities. In Scotland, half of all drug deaths are from among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods.1 According to research recently published by David Walsh and Gerry McCartney2, of Glasgow University, drug deaths amongst the most deprived communities in Scotland had begun to climb from around 2003 to 2009, under New Labour and then again, but far more dramatically, from around 2012 … Continue reading Researchers prove that Scotland’s drug death surge was the simple and tragic consequence of the UK Conservative Government’s brutal austerity strategy from 2012 to 2019

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Scotland has ring-fenced convicted sex offenders from emergency early release

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From the Guardian today, the above and: More sexual predators in England and Wales could be freed instead of jailed because of the pressure on courts and prisons, police sources have told the Guardian. The warning comes after the Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, on Thursday condemned the release on bail of a man after he admitted taking pictures of children and women, and then using AI to sexualise them. Zafer Dogan was bailed to his flat overlooking a children’s playground, from which he committed some of the offences … Continue reading Scotland has ring-fenced convicted sex offenders from emergency early release

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Fire and rehire is typically driven by the pressing need to address equal pay and equality issues

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By stewartb It is frankly remarkable that in its multiple lengthy articles on the BBC News website in recent days, BBC Scotland’s journalists have avoided providing any reference to the origin story regarding Glasgow City Council’s predicament over changing staff terms and conditions. Whatever the rights and wrongs of ‘fire and rehire’ as a process, its proposed abolition in Westminster legislation for the whole UK prompted warnings last year from the Local Government Association in England: ‘Councils issue warning over removal of ‘fire and rehire’ without replacement mechanism for … Continue reading Fire and rehire is typically driven by the pressing need to address equal pay and equality issues

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Labour now holders of the Brass Neck Champions of the World Award 2026

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Liz S It get’s worse. The Glasgow Labour Group at Glasgow City Council posted this on the 20 August 2026: “Glasgow Labour is clear: Equal Pay must be delivered, but it must be delivered fairly and with Glasgow’s workforce, not imposed upon them. Today we’re setting out the action we believe is needed to protect workers and secure a fair deal. Here’s our position”. ” We will fight any attempt to use Fire and Rehire against Glasgow Council workers” “Equal pay should deliver justice for workers, not come … Continue reading Labour now holders of the Brass Neck Champions of the World Award 2026

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‘The SNP have been useful advocates of pragmatic drug reform…often stymied by legal constraints imposed from Westminster’

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By stewartb “Reform UK MSPs are scapegoating and supporting calls for the abolition of the Scottish Parliament” – and so place drugs policy solely under the responsibility of the Westminster government and specifically the Home Office? That’s their plan? Nobody would deny Scotland has a serious drugs problem but if this is the proposition then it seems reasonable to ask Reform this: when will the UK government act to replicate in England and Wales the downward trend in drug deaths being seen in Scotland? The last release of statistics … Continue reading ‘The SNP have been useful advocates of pragmatic drug reform…often stymied by legal constraints imposed from Westminster’

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Violent crime in England & Wales is 8 times more common than in Scotland…per square mile

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 When rtpscott replied in https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/09/25/drug-deaths-simple-language-not-simplistic-solutions/: The population of England in 2026 is estimated to be approximately 58.8 million people, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Scotland’s population was estimated at 5,545,500 as of mid-2025 by the National Records of Scotland (NRS), marking a slow growth of less than 0.1% from the previous year Maybe I am being stupid but using these two figures how is it that Scotland has more recorded drug deaths than England I doubt that MSM will look into that,anything to do down … Continue reading Violent crime in England & Wales is 8 times more common than in Scotland…per square mile

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DRUG DEATHS – SIMPLE LANGUAGE. NOT SIMPLISTIC SOLUTIONS.

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Scotland is regularly described as having the highest drug-death rate in Europe. Although there is an argument to be made that this comparison is based on a false equivalence, today has been no different. And as a quick-fix, Reform UK MSPs are scapegoating and supporting calls for the abolition of the Scottish Parliament. But what exactly would abolishing Holyrood achieve? Scotland’s drug problem did not begin with devolution. It began decades before it. During the 1980s and 1990s, Scotland developed a particularly large population … Continue reading DRUG DEATHS – SIMPLE LANGUAGE. NOT SIMPLISTIC SOLUTIONS.

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Baillie silent as Scotland has no pharmacy loss since 2017 and pharmacists in crisis in England lose 1 500 and still ‘look to Scotland’s contract

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Dramatic news from BBC Breakfast this morning. Scotland? No mention but a big story on a murder…….in LA. Scotland has not seen a large net loss of pharmacies since 2017. Numbers have stayed broadly stable, in contrast to England. There were 1 253 on the register in December 20171 and 1 283 in 20262. Scotland’s contract and funding model has been cited as offering more protection than England’s. BBC Health made this explicit. BBC Scotland looked the other way. Pharmacists in England look to Scotland, where a scheme called … Continue reading Baillie silent as Scotland has no pharmacy loss since 2017 and pharmacists in crisis in England lose 1 500 and still ‘look to Scotland’s contract

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Anti-immigration protest – Why is the Ferret ‘fact-checker’ so desperate to make Scotland look like the rest of the UK when it’s demonstrably not?

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Based on the above in June 2026 More in Common poll graphic, we can see that immigration matters less to voters across most of Scotland than in most of England. The purple areas in the South-west and in the North of Scotland may well be, at least in part, a result of English, middle-class, entitled, retiree internal migrants pushing house prices up and loudly dominating local organisations. The Ferret today with another vain attempt to talk Scotland down and and to drag us into the swamp with the rest of the UK. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort … Continue reading Anti-immigration protest – Why is the Ferret ‘fact-checker’ so desperate to make Scotland look like the rest of the UK when it’s demonstrably not?

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How long do ‘Vietnamese’ trafficking gangs have to live and work in England until they become ‘English’ before 16 years later they spread into Scotland?

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BBC Scotland today reporting ‘Vietnamese’ people trafficking gangs operating in Scotland, leaving viewers to think they came directly from and are managed from, say, Hanoi. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Readers will know that County Lines gangs terrorising Scotland from Dumfries to Wick, arriving here as ‘heavies’ from Liverpool, Birmingham, Bradford or London are never referred to in Scottish media, as Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Somali, Irish, Jamaican or, heaven forfend, ‘English’ though the communities they come from are described as such in England. So, why is BBC Scotland so comfortable with ‘Vietnamese’ when refugees from … Continue reading How long do ‘Vietnamese’ trafficking gangs have to live and work in England until they become ‘English’ before 16 years later they spread into Scotland?