Tag: news

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Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

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Above, the bigger picture for fire services in the UK, but the Scotsman today is platforming a trade union they used to habitually attack before they became useful for the Union: The Scotsman above pushing the ill-informed scare story about fire service cuts in an evidence vaccuum. Badly mixing my metaphors let me shine some light on that vacuum. From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026, the above and : Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There … Continue reading Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

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

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No images of the traumatised here, just the facts. BBC Scotland today, headlining: A woman who was raped by a stranger has asked politicians to think of victims and abandon plans for the early release of hundreds of criminals. Katie Johnston’s attacker Alasdair McDonald was branded a “faceless, violent and predatory rapist” by the judge who jailed him for 10 years. Under proposals from the Scottish government, long-term prisoners like McDonald would be freed automatically after completing two-thirds of their sentence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgq5pd3pwdjo As always these last 12 or more years, BBC Scotland reports, gutter-low in informative value, telling viewers little … Continue reading Far more police officers and probation officers. Far lower crime levels and far less re-offending – that’s where you live, really.

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They are certainly better together

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By Liz S I also saw on the BBC website today under their ‘Scottish’ page , the front page headlines of the newspapers where it included: The most certainly not ‘Scottish’ Daily Mail front page: “We really are better together” “Being part of the Union worth record “2.7k to every Scot”. “Known as the Union dividend”. First of all this is not a Union that Scotland is a part of. Second of all , the English gutter press constantly promoting that the UK somehow benefits Scots more than other citizens living elsewhere within the UK, is completely and also conveniently ignoring what Scotland contributes to their UK State . For example the … Continue reading They are certainly better together

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Six existing examples of Chinese investment in the UK to reveal the Ardesier denial in Scotland is deliberate de-industrialisation and economic civil war

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By Liz S So the UK Labour government vetoed the wind turbine factory in the Highlands by the Chinese firm Ming Yang Smart Energy citing “national and cyber security risks”. Yet there is already existing Chinese investment within the UK: Heathrow Airport: The Chinese state-owned sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), holds a 10% stake. Utilities: Hong Kong-based tycoon Li Ka-shing’s group owns UK Power Networks and a 75% stake in Northumbrian Water Group. CIC also holds minor stakes in National Grid’s gas distribution and Thames Water. Nuclear Power: China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has been involved in the Hinkley Point C project and planned … Continue reading Six existing examples of Chinese investment in the UK to reveal the Ardesier denial in Scotland is deliberate de-industrialisation and economic civil war

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The Hammer Of The Scots – Can Scotland afford to remain part of the Union?

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Every August, a report drops like a hammer — GERS. The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report arrives with the same ritual timing, and the same ritual headlines. Scotland, we are told, is broke. Scotland, we are told, is subsidised. Scotland, we are told, cannot stand on its own two metaphorical feet. I must admit, it is an interesting annual event. But I really don’t want to talk about the methodology of GERS, or the fact that 25 of its 26 figures are more guesswork than estimates. Those arguments have been made many times before … Continue reading The Hammer Of The Scots – Can Scotland afford to remain part of the Union?

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Most of the heavier crude oil from Rosebank will be sent to the Netherlands because only Grangemouth could refine it

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By Liz S “The new and upgraded high-voltage transmission infrastructure in Scotland (new pylons, higher-capacity overhead lines, substations, and related works) is primarily required to transmit surplus electricity across the border into England and the wider Great Britain system” Yes indeed, but it’s not just electricity as the BBC website has this article, dated 11 August 2026, on their website on the Scottish Politics page: “What is happening with the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields”? Included within this BBC article are the below statements of how, once again , the UK/Britain are again reliant on assets/resources sourced from Scotland , that are … Continue reading Most of the heavier crude oil from Rosebank will be sent to the Netherlands because only Grangemouth could refine it

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Three more French nuclear power stations shut down as jellyfish swarm cooling pipes will any Scottish reporter ask Scottish Labour how they plan to deal with this?

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Thanks, once more, to Frances McKie for alerting us to this and who comments: It keeps coming back to basic things like plumbing, blockages and corrosion…..at Dounreay, they never found a way to stop seaweed blocking their intake pipes…Here it’s jellyfish. From Reuters yesterday: Three reactors at ‌France’s Gravelines nuclear power plant were shut down late on Monday due to a massive swarm of jellyfish, triggering preventative measures put in place last year after the entire plant went offline, operator EDF said. The plant in northern France is one of the ​largest in the country and is cooled from a canal … Continue reading Three more French nuclear power stations shut down as jellyfish swarm cooling pipes will any Scottish reporter ask Scottish Labour how they plan to deal with this?

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Sludge leaks, spills, and fails to be contained so build your super-hospital further away

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Once more, deep thanks to our friend who shared this ‘sludge’ with us. From: Olden, R. (2016) Sludge. Cultural Geographies, 23(4), pp. 715719. (doi:10.1177/1474474016630966) We are standing over the inlet of Shieldhall Wastewater Treatment Works where the rush of stuff banished to an underworld of sewers and culverts spews from a protruding pipe to meet the light of day once again: the sewage and wastewater of half a million people….Here at Shieldhall, Scotland’s largest wastewater treatment works, the task is to separate water from waste. Wastewater runs a course which sees it filtered, settled, dredged and then metabolised by nitrifying … Continue reading Sludge leaks, spills, and fails to be contained so build your super-hospital further away

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‘Panic’ and fear of ‘serious sexual or violent re-offence or even murder’ in England because of the demands on probation staff with only half the level in Scotland

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BBC UK online and repeated across BBC Breakfast today, has dramatic and deeply disturbing news: The chief inspector of probation for England and Wales has told the BBC the early release of thousands of prisoners could lead to “a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder” because of the demands on probation staff to monitor offenders. and One probation officer told the BBC the upcoming releases had put him and his colleagues into “a state of panic”. We can’t cope with this – we’ve been saying that to anybody who will listen. At the minute I think it’s pure … Continue reading ‘Panic’ and fear of ‘serious sexual or violent re-offence or even murder’ in England because of the demands on probation staff with only half the level in Scotland

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GERS does not even claim an independent Scotland would have faced a deficit last year but BBC Scotland still pretend it does

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Scotland would have faced last year. You decide – BBC Scotland staff are thick as mince or institutionally corrupt? Is this claim today by BBC Scotland, true? No. It’s a dirty big lie. The GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures published on 12 August 2026 for 2025-26 report a notional net fiscal balance (deficit) of £25.3 billion, or −10.9% of GDP, for Scotland as part of the UK. This is an estimate of the gap between revenue raised in Scotland and public spending for/on behalf of Scotland under existing UK arrangements; it is not a figure for the deficit … Continue reading GERS does not even claim an independent Scotland would have faced a deficit last year but BBC Scotland still pretend it does