Tag: politics

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“Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” but Kevin McKenna has other ideas, dark, smelly ones

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I’ve been looking the other way, embarrassed as I can be when confronted with a loud mental health problem in the aisles of a supermarket, by the latest string of fake news from Kevin McKenna, greasing the pages of the Herald, this last few months but, such is my lack of inner peace, today’s utterly fantastic ‘John Swinney and the Scottish Greens have, in effect, given a free pass to pimps’ pushed me over. Why is it, like all of his stuff these days, fake? First, in the year-ending June 2025, there were 72 804 cases of rape and attempted rape, 211 225 sexual … Continue reading “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” but Kevin McKenna has other ideas, dark, smelly ones

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Major increases in school-leaver employment and university access in SNP years

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From Summary Statistics for Follow-up Leaver Destinations, No. 8: 2026 edition, published today, the above table extract and: This statistical publication provides information on the follow-up destinations, nine months after the end of the school year, of 2024-25 school leavers from publicly funded secondary schools in Scotland. https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-follow-up-leaver-destinations-no-8-2026-edition/documents/ This table shows that as the SNP Government, first elected in 2007, ‘got behind the wheel’ it began to take steps to improve school-leaver employment and HE access and fifteen years alter the results are impressive with 15% improvements in both by 2024/2025. For any who refuse to allow the SNP credit … Continue reading Major increases in school-leaver employment and university access in SNP years

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Scottish media accept that Israeli interference against the SNP may be true and accurate in 2026 while that from Russia on referendum irregularities in 2014 was clearly ‘fake and ‘inaccurate’

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Covered fairly widely in the Scottish MSM and by BBC Scotland last week: Scotland’s first minister was targeted by an Israeli firm spreading online disinformation before the Holyrood election, a French government agency has claimed. John Swinney and the SNP were allegedly targeted in accounts linked to BlackCore – a tech company claiming to “shape narratives” who French authorities accused of trying to smear pro-Palestine election candidates. Disinformation detection service Viginum said hundreds of fake accounts would leave co-ordinated comments on Swinney’s social media posts.Swinney had described the conflict in Gaza as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe” and said a genocide by … Continue reading Scottish media accept that Israeli interference against the SNP may be true and accurate in 2026 while that from Russia on referendum irregularities in 2014 was clearly ‘fake and ‘inaccurate’

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Surge in e bike offences is exacerbation of wider county lines drug gangs plague from England

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From Aberdeenshire Live, last week: Fifty people have been charged in connection with a Police Scotland crackdown on illegal e-bikes in Aberdeen. The city’s Community Action Team identified 154 crimes during a three-week crackdown on illegal e-bikes, with dozens of people charged. Between Monday, May 18 and Friday, June 5, officers working on Operation Armour patrolled known crime hotspots, targeted offenders and gathered intelligence. The initiative followed an increase in reports from the public about illegal vehicle use across the city. https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/50-people-charged-amid-huge-11007759 This is a further exacerbation of the county lines drug gangs plague, based in English cites, now into every corner of Scotland and … Continue reading Surge in e bike offences is exacerbation of wider county lines drug gangs plague from England

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My Party, My Choice – SNP Donors Speak Out

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By Jim Mennie Following Peter Murrell’s guilty plea for embezzling over £400,000 from SNP funds, opposition parties and sections of the media have called for a public inquiry and the “return of funds to donors”. A petition launched by SNP donors in 2024 made one clear point: donations to the SNP are voluntary, unrestricted gifts under UK law. Thousands of us who donated have already said publicly and privately that we do not want our money back. In fact, donations to the SNP have increased since the case concluded. This short ‘Have Your Say’ gives every member and donor the … Continue reading My Party, My Choice – SNP Donors Speak Out

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Scottish independence shouldn’t give you that sinking feeling

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This report will no doubt draw accusations of ‘whitabootery‘ being taken to its logical conclusion, complete daftness, but, if the facts told the opposite story, the media operating in Scotland would just love to give you a sinking feeling to store with all the other ‘Scotland is sh**te‘ narratives they feed you daily. How can the SNP run a country if they can’t stop your house sinking? Luckily, for us at least, it’s the South-east of England, the most affluent and effluent, it has to be said, part of the UK has serious problems. From the Guardian, still opposed to … Continue reading Scottish independence shouldn’t give you that sinking feeling

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Where it counts, NHS Grampian is not ‘troubled’

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BBC Scotland, in their BBC Breakfast insert today, making much of NHS Grampian as ‘troubled‘, misses these key statistics below. The Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio is a reliable measure of the extent to which a hospital is operating normally and safely. The large Aberdeen Royal is only 0.04% above the Scottish average of 1. Smaller hospitals can have less predictable figures but, again Dr Gray’s is within the normal, safe, range shown below: From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios January 2025 to December 2025 published today, the above chart and: No hospitals [including those of NHS Grampian] had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio … Continue reading Where it counts, NHS Grampian is not ‘troubled’

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‘£38.6 million in party funding coming from unknown sources’

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By stewartb There are critical voices raised regarding the financing of politics in the UK but the issue seems to gain little immediate and certainly no sustained MSM attention. (A bit like wider electoral reform?) The Electoral Reform Society on February 19, 2026 published this: ‘Briefing on Political Finance’ (https://electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/parliamentary-briefings/briefing-on-political-finance/ ) It’s very revealing about political financing in the UK, and worrying for UK democracy especially in the context of Westminster’s FPTP voting system that can give so much power to a party achieving a minority of the popular vote, enabled by huge and often ‘dark’ donations and loans. Examples from the … Continue reading ‘£38.6 million in party funding coming from unknown sources’

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Something Wicked This Way Comes – Labour’s funding via hidden donation routes

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Something Wicked This Way Comes Fraud within a political party is serious. Any organisation can suffer from a rogue individual abusing trust, and when that happens it should be investigated properly. But what should concern us more is not money disappearing from political party coffers through ordinary light-fingered theft, but money quietly entering through darker channels. There is a difference between a “dark element” of human nature and what is commonly referred to as “dark money”. The first is familiar. It arises through greed, dishonesty, or opportunism. The second is more corrosive. Put simply, it … Continue reading Something Wicked This Way Comes – Labour’s funding via hidden donation routes

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Latest figures show Scotland’s world-first opioid overdose reversal programme kits being issued in ever greater numbers to fight the effects of the plague of English drug gangs and to reduce the load in hospitals

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From National naloxone programme Scotland – Quarterly monitoring bulletin Quarterly monitoring bulletin October to December (Q3) 2025/26 published today, the above soaring graph and: This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on the number of take-home naloxone kits issued by the National Naloxone Programme (NNP) in Scotland (October to December 2025/26). Figures are presented separately for kits issued from community-based services (mainly specialist drug treatment and non-drug treatment services), kits issued in prisons at the point of liberation, kits dispensed via community prescription, and kits issued by Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). Accidental overdose is a common cause of … Continue reading Latest figures show Scotland’s world-first opioid overdose reversal programme kits being issued in ever greater numbers to fight the effects of the plague of English drug gangs and to reduce the load in hospitals