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There is a marked overall decline in youth violence in Scotland but a surge from 2012 in England as Tory austerity kicked in

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Professor John Robertson OBA Today’s reporting of apparent surges in youth violence across parts of England bears no resemblance to Scotland other than in the bonfire riots in 2023 and before. What is the long-term youth violence trend in Scotland? Overview of Youth Violence in ScotlandYouth violence in Scotland typically refers to violent incidents (e.g., assaults, robberies, or homicides) involving individuals under 18 as victims, perpetrators, or both. Data comes from sources like the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS, a victimization survey), Recorded Crime in Scotland (police data), and cohort studies such as the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions … Continue reading There is a marked overall decline in youth violence in Scotland but a surge from 2012 in England as Tory austerity kicked in

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Internationally acclaimed Scottish writer’s latest on Scotland’s Radicals will open your eyes and even surprise you

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Professor John Robertson OBA Ron Culley needs no introduction from me because AI can do it so much more fully it seems: Ron Culley is a Scottish author and former public sector executive, best known for his work as a novelist specializing in historical fiction, political thrillers, and biographical works with a focus on Scottish and Irish history.Literary CareerCulley has published over a dozen books, often blending fact and fiction to explore themes like Scottish independence, Irish republicanism, and social justice. His notable titles include: His writing has garnered international acclaim, with readers from all seven continents (including Antarctica) praising … Continue reading Internationally acclaimed Scottish writer’s latest on Scotland’s Radicals will open your eyes and even surprise you

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Credible research, ie not from Jack McConnell’s ‘think-tank’, also suggests NHS Scotland has highest satisfaction levels in UK and they’re not falling significantly

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now than it was 10 years ago. Think-tank Enlighten has released findings ahead of a major doctors conference today. Professor John Robertson OBA We have good reason to doubt the above ‘research‘ given what we know about this think tank and their badly under-qualified research director. Enlighten are of course the formerly named Reform Scotland, changed now for obvious reasons and headed up by these two. They seem to be hiding details of their staff now but you may remember their research director, Alison Payne, was a Conservative Party activist and spad, Guide leader and just a mum for BBC … Continue reading Credible research, ie not from Jack McConnell’s ‘think-tank’, also suggests NHS Scotland has highest satisfaction levels in UK and they’re not falling significantly

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Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Bradford today: Two abuse survivors have resigned from their role in the national [sic] inquiry into grooming gangs, the government has confirmed. Fiona Goddard, who was abused by gangs while living in a Bradford children’s home, quit the victims’ liaison panel over concerns about the inquiry’s shortlisted chairs, one of whom is reportedly a former police chief and the other a social worker. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5qkq7zex3o This may trigger another attempt by Scottish Labour in a massive Scottish cringe move, to have a comparable inquiry here. They will of course not remind us of their dark past in … Continue reading Child abuse – Labour and Conservative’s history of neglect, even sickening collusion, ‘Scottish’ Labour MPs call for a pointless grooming inquiry here and how the SNP’s Named Person Scheme could have saved thousands in England

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Inspectors raise Scottish nuclear plant with excess child leukaemia risk to an ‘enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas’ with 300 years to go until it’s ‘safe’

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s annual report on Great Britain’s nuclear industry October 2025, page 28: In July 2024, we increased NRS Dounreay to an enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas: the current condition of a number of site assets (such as buildings, electrical systems, steam systems); management and compliance with various aspects of conventional health & safety legislation (such as COMAH and DSEAR); the level of management & organisational change affecting safety culture. https://www.onr.org.uk/publications/regulatory-reports/chief-nuclear-inspectors-annual-reports/202425 Decommissioning of Dounreay began in 2019 and the plan envisages 50-60 years … Continue reading Inspectors raise Scottish nuclear plant with excess child leukaemia risk to an ‘enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas’ with 300 years to go until it’s ‘safe’

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So, rent controls, second home tax hikes, the child payment, free prescriptions, free tuition…….why would anyone in their right mind ever want a Labour government in Scotland, never mind Reform UK. The SNP, with the support of the Greens, is the only large social democratic party in the UK that cares for the 99%. Get out and vote for it in 2026!

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Telegraph last week had: Scotland plots uncapped council tax rises for second home owners – Green Party’s ‘pile on the costs’ proposal will be ‘gold standard’ for tackling homelessness. Councils in Scotland are poised to be granted powers to penalise second home owners with uncapped council tax premiums. Today, the Herald has the above grudging headline and: Rent controls are set to be introduced in Scotland after the Scottish Government’s housing reform legislation passed at Holyrood. MSPs approved an amendment by the Scottish Greens allowing council tax on second and empty homes to be raised by unlimited amounts, potentially to the 300 per cent already … Continue reading So, rent controls, second home tax hikes, the child payment, free prescriptions, free tuition…….why would anyone in their right mind ever want a Labour government in Scotland, never mind Reform UK. The SNP, with the support of the Greens, is the only large social democratic party in the UK that cares for the 99%. Get out and vote for it in 2026!

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96% of English councils failed to produce audited accounts! Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 By stewartb Imagine if what follows had been in a report from Audit Scotland and concerned the auditing of government accounts in Scotland. I missed this from the National Audit Office (NAO) back in July, presumably because of little or no mainstream media coverage. Source: National Audit Office – ‘Spending watchdog disclaims government’s accounts again’ – Press release, 17 July 2025 (https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/spending-watchdog-disclaims-governments-accounts-again/) ‘The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) 2023-24 has been disclaimed by … Continue reading 96% of English councils failed to produce audited accounts! Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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Latest Labour Government ‘Farage Panic’ to reduce prison population as Scotland’s prison population falls safely to more than 300 below capacity

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the latest unconvincing Labour Government attempt to appear tough, win back Reform UK supporters and free-up prison spaces, currently at 89 042 (98.9%) capacity in England & Wales1 and projected to hit as much as 114 800 by 20282, the situation in Scotland is not being reported. From the data tables for Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: April 2025, we can see that Scotland’s prison population has fallen from a peak of 8 326 in February 2025 to 8 147. Weekly figures fluctuate but suggest no significant growth trend.3 In June 2024, Scotland’s prison population was feared to … Continue reading Latest Labour Government ‘Farage Panic’ to reduce prison population as Scotland’s prison population falls safely to more than 300 below capacity

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This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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By stewartb Another example of the Daily Record plumbing the depths of political journalism in support of a British Labour Party politician choosing to mislead (or just lie) whilst talking down Scotland? (With apologies for the length of what follows but it seems to me to be an interesting illustration of engaging with an AI research tool.) I posed a series of questions to ChatGPT: ‘The Scottish newspaper, the Daily Record had this headline today 7 August: “Gordon Brown warns child poverty in Scotland is getting ‘worse every day’ as he calls for UK Government action”. Is the statistic claimed … Continue reading This headline is, factually inaccurate, misleading and offensive in a democracy

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As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Brian McGowan for alerting me to this: From the Canary factchecker today: The National Audit Office (NAO) has declined to sign off on the accuracy of the UK government’s national accounts for a second time, citing widespread unreliability in, and lack of, data supplied by local councils. The crux of the issue lies in the backlog of local authority audits, meaning only around a shocking 4% of English councils provided data deemed “reliable”. This is down from 10% in 2022/23 – which even then, was a dire reflection on the state of local and … Continue reading As 224 English local authorities submit unaudited accounts based on ‘dodgy data’, Scotland’s authorities have ‘state-run audit systems which have fared significantly better’