Using the ‘Scotland’s’ co-codamol shortage to conceal how for three years now, England’s pharmacists ‘look to Scotland’ for flexible and sustainable solutions

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON BBC UK is headlining the above serious problem, crisis, in the funding of local pharmacies, often a lifeline service in some communities. BBC Scotland, as we’ll see below, cannot just mirror this story but had to find something, anything: BBC England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have this story at all. It’s by BBC Scotland’s Glasgow and West reporter, Jonathan Geddes. Look how it opens: Supplies of prescription-strength co-codamol will be limited until the summer, the Scottish … Continue reading Using the ‘Scotland’s’ co-codamol shortage to conceal how for three years now, England’s pharmacists ‘look to Scotland’ for flexible and sustainable solutions

Drug-related hospital stay rates in Scotland plummet by half as SNP’s unique, World-first, opioid overdose reversal kit programme gets on top of the plague after 8 years

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From Drug-related hospital statistics Scotland 2024 to 2025, published today the above graph and: There were 10,185 drug-related hospital stays (2023/24: 11,148). The European Age-sex Standardised Rate (EASR, see background below for more information) of drug-related hospital stays was 192 stays per 100,000 population. This rate was a decrease from 2023/24 (212 stays per 100,000 population) and continued the decreasing trend observed in hospital stays since 2020/21. Opioid-related stays accounted for 38% of all drug-related stays, the lowest percentage in the time series, continuing a steady decrease from 64% in 2011/12. The … Continue reading Drug-related hospital stay rates in Scotland plummet by half as SNP’s unique, World-first, opioid overdose reversal kit programme gets on top of the plague after 8 years

Another sign that the Western Isles needs modern coherent party-based governance? Righteousness exalteth a nation not working out?

in their council tax bills of 9.5%. That means an annual bill for an average home going up to £1 519. The local council says it’s got a budget gap of £4.5 million and the council tax increase would bring in another £1.5 million. Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. ‘Local’ council? Tell us more. Like this: and this: How competent have these ‘Independent’ councillors been? Financial and Investment Losses: In 1991, it lost £35 million in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International collapse, leading to a sharp council tax increase and the convener’s resignation. An independent … Continue reading Another sign that the Western Isles needs modern coherent party-based governance? Righteousness exalteth a nation not working out?

Last week Scottish Government committed firmly to free higher education tuition, was ignored by ALL news media, but this week BBC Scotland prefers to tell you about London-based thinktank’s doubts

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. BBC Scotland today with London-based Institute [just a bunch of lads really] for Fiscal Studies doubting whether Scotland can continue to afford free higher education tuition for all and ignoring this from last week: I searched for news media coverage to get only this response: The Times Higher Education, read only by some academics, has this below but as you can see above this important news is being hidden from the electorate: ‘We’re looking at all parts of the system – except tuition fees’ https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/were-looking-all-parts-system-except-tuition-fees The THE article by Helen Packer is actually not at all supportive … Continue reading Last week Scottish Government committed firmly to free higher education tuition, was ignored by ALL news media, but this week BBC Scotland prefers to tell you about London-based thinktank’s doubts

UK unemployment 40% higher, youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland, BBC Scotland ‘disappear’ the good news again

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. BBC Breakfast this morning with an extended piece on unemployment not being mirrored by BBC Scotland. The unemployment rate in Scotland at the end of 2025, was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in 2024.  In crude terms 5.1 is 1.4 greater than 3.7 but as a percentage, to take account of the millions of people being referred to, unemployment in England is 37.8% higher. There are about 1.8m unemployed in the UK so if the rate was the same in the UK as it is in Scotland, hundreds of thousands of those would be … Continue reading UK unemployment 40% higher, youth unemployment 40% higher than in Scotland, BBC Scotland ‘disappear’ the good news again

Enfield Measles Outbreak – Is it insensitive to want border control for Scotland when ‘UK’ and Spain lose WHO status as being measles-free after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake?

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From BBC Breakfast above and BBC London yesterday: At least 34 children have been infected by a “fast-spreading” measles outbreak in several north London schools, health officials have said. The cases from Enfield were confirmed in laboratory tests in January, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported. A local GP surgery said one in five children who contracted the illness had been admitted to hospital, all of whom “had not been fully immunised”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev7edxxzm7o Travel between London and Scotland is easy. There have also been serious outbreaks with some deaths of … Continue reading Enfield Measles Outbreak – Is it insensitive to want border control for Scotland when ‘UK’ and Spain lose WHO status as being measles-free after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake?

As Herald today misleads with unreliable methods on ‘corridor care’ figures, reliable transparent A&E figures suggest it is reducing

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. This is the second attempt by the Herald, based on unreliable statistical methods by the Daily Record (No surprise there) to misrepresent the level of ‘corridor care‘ in Scotland’s hospitals. Explicit figures are not published anywhere but there’s a good proxy for corridor care and that’s 12 hour waits in A&E. By definition if you’re waiting 12 hours after triage assessment and maybe some treatment before getting a bed, that is ‘corridor care.’ A fuller AI rationale for the use of 12 hour waits, based heavily on the views of the Royal College … Continue reading As Herald today misleads with unreliable methods on ‘corridor care’ figures, reliable transparent A&E figures suggest it is reducing

As Covid Inquiry reconvenes today, a reminder of how FM, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Government kept excess mortality here at one third lower than the UK average, saving thousands, despite the delay in devolving responsibility and PM Johnson’s callous inertia – saving thousands of lives

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. I’m grateful to @amaccj for reminding me of this and for the link to the source. When the final assessment is made, we need to set the scene with these facts: Two years later, in February 2022, as the pandemic receded, the simple consequences in terms of mortality in different parts of the UK can be see in this table from the September 2023, UK Covid 19 Inquiry report6: Other than the isolated South-west of England, Scotland had the lowest mortality rate of the 4 nations, even lower than Northern Ireland sheltered by … Continue reading As Covid Inquiry reconvenes today, a reminder of how FM, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Government kept excess mortality here at one third lower than the UK average, saving thousands, despite the delay in devolving responsibility and PM Johnson’s callous inertia – saving thousands of lives

The number of women murder victims has fallen dramatically, almost by half, over the SNP period and to 15 last year, but the Sunday Post finds 200 for its front page to help England keep its myth going

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. In 2007/2008, in the the first year of the SNP minority government in Scotland, there were 28 women victims of murder.1 Last year, there were 15, up two from 13 in the previous two years.2 Yet, today, the Sunday Post has nearly 200 victims on its front page. What kind of image of Scotland today does that present? The same one, I suppose that English politicians, some Scottish politicians trying to please them and, of course, most comedians, even today, love to perpetuate. The murder rate with woman victims is the … Continue reading The number of women murder victims has fallen dramatically, almost by half, over the SNP period and to 15 last year, but the Sunday Post finds 200 for its front page to help England keep its myth going

‘Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers’ is just latest in years of reported leaks at Dounreay

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. The National today has as story titled “Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers” (with the subtitle or lead referring to a 1960s bunker at Scotland’s Dounreay nuclear site leaking radioactive water). This is an exclusive/special report by the newspaper. The key source underpinning the article is a new internal investigation report from the site operators (Nuclear Restoration Services, or NRS, responsible for Dounreay’s decommissioning and clean-up). This report was obtained and released to The National (specifically the Sunday National) via a freedom of information (FOI) request. … Continue reading ‘Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers’ is just latest in years of reported leaks at Dounreay