Far more police officers and far less crime – what today’s Reporting Scotland team will never tell you in this election year

In BBC Reporting Scotland’s, BBC Breakfast, inserts and all today today, you’ll be hearing this meaningless fact – ‘but officer numbers have fallen 5% over five years.‘ BBC Scotland, the Daily Record, the Herald and the Scotsman are now fully dedicated to platforming Scottish Labour’s stash of manipulated Freedom of Information data on any aspect of public service that might look bad for the SNP Government. Recently, it’s been police officers giving up on the job or failing training courses. I could try to dig into these and find the usual lack of any methodology and sneaky fiddling with the figures, I’ve found several times … Continue reading Far more police officers and far less crime – what today’s Reporting Scotland team will never tell you in this election year

After 8 years of English drug gang terror in the North of Scotland, BBC Scotland will still not mention this stain on their Union

From STV and in the Aberdeen-based Press & Journal today, the above headline, carefully avoiding the origins of the dealer, in England:: A county lines drug dealer from Liverpool will serve almost six years for using a stolen BMW to supply class A narcotics in Scotland. James Stephen, 31, was arrested on June 17 last year after police in Aberdeen tracked down a white car that had been stolen from a home in the city the previous month. https://news.stv.tv/north/drug-dealer-caught-using-stolen-bmw-to-take-heroin-and-cocaine-into-scotland The report tells us little of what County lines gangs do and the effects they have. Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn … Continue reading After 8 years of English drug gang terror in the North of Scotland, BBC Scotland will still not mention this stain on their Union

Glasgow hospital infection inquiry – How under Scottish Labour, hospitals were ‘death traps’ of hospital acquired infections and how Nicola Sturgeon sorted it reducing the level to an eighth of the level in England and a third of the level in Europe.

In the midst of the frenzy of ill-informed reporting on the Glasgow hospital infections inquiry, important facts you’ll never hear. From the Journal of Hospital Infections in November 2012: The prevalence of HAI was 4.9%, 2.5%, 6.1% and 1.2% in acute, non-acute, paediatric and independent hospitals respectively [in Scotland in 2006].  https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(12)00277-0/abstract From the Scottish Public Health Observatory, in 2024: The most recent comprehensive data on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in Scotland comes from a 2021 study led by Glasgow Caledonian University, commissioned by the Scottish Government. This study, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, found that approximately 1% of hospital patients … Continue reading Glasgow hospital infection inquiry – How under Scottish Labour, hospitals were ‘death traps’ of hospital acquired infections and how Nicola Sturgeon sorted it reducing the level to an eighth of the level in England and a third of the level in Europe.

Latest – In final statement Glasgow hospital correctly and based on repeated research denies evidence of definite link between the hospital environment and specific individual cases of infection

From BBC Scotland in the last few minutes, the above puzzling choice of headline and buried in their report: NHSGGC offers an unreserved apology for the distress and trauma experienced by patients and families during this time. But while the health board acknowledged a casual [sic] connection to increased infections, he stressed that there was no definite link between the hospital environment and specific individual cases of infection. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgkz2e5nr5o The above assertion is the key outcome of today’s session. To be clear, the health board is not accepting responsibility for any of the high profile cases, including that of Millie … Continue reading Latest – In final statement Glasgow hospital correctly and based on repeated research denies evidence of definite link between the hospital environment and specific individual cases of infection

SNP Government’s world-first opioid overdose reversal programme increases reach to 84% and its protection of hospitals as it fights the effects of the English County Lines drug gangs plague in Scotland

From the National naloxone programme Scotland – Quarterly monitoring bulletin Quarterly Monitoring Bulletin April to June (Q1) 2025/26 published today: The overall aim of Scotland’s NNP is to prevent fatal opioid overdoses. Administration of naloxone provides time for emergency services to arrive and for further treatment to be given. Following suitable training, THN kits are issued to people at risk of opioid overdose, their friends and family and service workers in order to help prevent overdose deaths.  Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year in a row after Scottish Government’s ‘world-first’ opioid overdose reversal Naloxone initiative but are not being … Continue reading SNP Government’s world-first opioid overdose reversal programme increases reach to 84% and its protection of hospitals as it fights the effects of the English County Lines drug gangs plague in Scotland

US authorities seize shrimp with lethal radioactivity level only a fifth of that found on a Scottish beach upstream from Sellafield nuclear plant in North-West England

From the Washington-based The Hill, two days ago, the above and: The specter of radioactivity in food just reared its head again, with another shipment of imported shrimp recalled for possible Cesium-137 contamination.   The MAHA Commission 2025 report unfotunately ignored radioactivity as a possible cause of rising cancer and chronic illness. But even leaving aside nuclear accidents, studies show living near nuclear plants elevates cancer risk. Nuclear reactors generate radioactive waste and ionizing radiation, which get into the environment, contaminating air, water, soil and food. Harmful isotopes like Cesium-137 aren’t natural; they’re made only in reactors, but persist in the environment and food for centuries. Decades after Chernobyl, for instance, researchers found Cesium-137 in meat from domestic … Continue reading US authorities seize shrimp with lethal radioactivity level only a fifth of that found on a Scottish beach upstream from Sellafield nuclear plant in North-West England

Scotland’s schools narrow attainment gaps across the board and ‘most deprived’ 14/15 year-olds make major strides in literacy

From Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels, 2024-25 published on 9 December 2025: The statistics also provide information on the gap in attainment between pupils from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland: For literacy, there was an increase in the proportions of primary pupils (P1, P4, P7 combined) that achieved the expected level, from both the least deprived and most deprived areas with a larger increase in the most deprived areas. As a result, the gap reached its narrowest ever level of 19.4 percentage points. For primary numeracy, the gap narrowed to 16.6 percentage points, which was … Continue reading Scotland’s schools narrow attainment gaps across the board and ‘most deprived’ 14/15 year-olds make major strides in literacy

Literacy and Numeracy at record highs in Scotland’s schools

Support Talking-up Scotland -In this election year in Scotland, the 90% pro-Union media and their sponsors in the opposition parties will do everything they can to undermine the pro-independence parties. Thought vastly outnumbered, we will do our very best to counter their lies and get you, every day, the true stories and the sources of evidence to prove them. Help us if you can at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-get-the-facts-for-you From the National Standardised Assessments for Scotland National Report for Academic Year 2024-2025, published today, we can see the one year results but no trends. This is a classic example of a task where … Continue reading Literacy and Numeracy at record highs in Scotland’s schools

BBC Scotland repeating the lie that hospital infections ‘led to deaths in patients’ in reporting that exploits tragedy for political purposes

For the second day running, BBC Scotland seeks to misrepresent the findings of an official inquiry into a hospital-acquired infections inquiry. They tell us: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) had consistently denied bacteria in the water was responsible for causing some infections which led to the deaths of patients. But in closing submissions to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, external it has now admitted “on the balance of probabilities”, that there was a “causal connection” between some infections and the hospital environment. That’s correct, true, but you need to have your wits about you for for their next sneaky move. The above is … Continue reading BBC Scotland repeating the lie that hospital infections ‘led to deaths in patients’ in reporting that exploits tragedy for political purposes

How a London-based think-tank is more trustworthy than a Glasgow one with a bias against the SNP

By stewartb It’s been interesting to compare and contrast how two economic think tanks chose to comment upon the Scottish Government’s recent budget statement and Spending Review. Let’s take the Glasgow-based Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) on the Budget first: FAI (January 13) ‘A Budget where the silences were loudest.’ The up front framing made a good start! And on what the Cabinet Secretary did say, it’s tough to find anything remotely positive in the commentary. The FAI offers this further characterisation of the Budget: ‘Another case of delaying adjustment into the future’. Such a remark emphasises where the FAI ‘s own … Continue reading How a London-based think-tank is more trustworthy than a Glasgow one with a bias against the SNP