On a bridge too far in a tank and with a splitting headache

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 By Liz S “Labour Government promises” Aye don’t they just……..their only problem being that they then fail to deliver. An SNP investigation has revealed Starmer’s failed Brit card scheme cost the public almost £1 million – despite never being implemented. That reminds me of this………… The feasibility study into Boris Johnson’s bridge/tunnel connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland that proved to be , yet (another) flawed vanity project by Johnson , to then be considered as being totally unfeasible…….. As a feasibility study it … Continue reading On a bridge too far in a tank and with a splitting headache

There are currently NO publicly detailed specific cases of child rape ‘grooming’ gangs being actively investigated by Police Scotland as UK Government considers 700 groups and 115 000 victims in just one year in England

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 From BBC Stoke & Staffordshire yesterday, the above and: Council leaders have given their backing to their county’s first ever community safety strategy. The document sets out how Staffordshire County Council aims to work with other organisations to protect residents and cut crime over the next three years. Priorities included protecting vulnerable people, with “zero tolerance for grooming gangs, county lines and child exploitation”, a report stated.1 When I saw the reference to ‘grooming gangs’, I have to … Continue reading There are currently NO publicly detailed specific cases of child rape ‘grooming’ gangs being actively investigated by Police Scotland as UK Government considers 700 groups and 115 000 victims in just one year in England

Healthy live expectancy falls across Scotland but it might have been even worse

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 From BBC Scotland today, the above and: People in Scotland are spending a greater proportion of their life in poor health than in previous years, new figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS), external show. The latest figures for the 2022 to 2024 period shows healthy life expectancy is now 59.1 years for men and 59.4 years for women. Healthy life expectancy, which is the number of years a person can expect to live in good health, has been … Continue reading Healthy live expectancy falls across Scotland but it might have been even worse

How can there be an affordable housing ‘crisis’ in Scotland when we beat the building target and Labour just give up in England?

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 Under a tasteless example of a poverty porn photograph of a street beggar, the Guardian editorial has: Rough sleeping in Scotland has risen by 106% over the past three years. Record numbers of children are now living in temporary accommodation, official figures released this month show. In Glasgow, the city council leader warned last year that the authority had run out of temporary housing. This looks like a system approaching crisis point. The paradox is that Scotland has some of the … Continue reading How can there be an affordable housing ‘crisis’ in Scotland when we beat the building target and Labour just give up in England?

Supporting the Guardian if you are for Scottish Independence – an open letter to the editor

Katherine Viner, Editor, the Guardian, katharine.viner@guardian.co.uk Dear Katharine I’d really like to contribute to the Guardian but cannot because of the 12th September 2014 editorial, telling Scots to vote No in the referendum on independence, a few days later:  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/12/guardian-view-scottish-independence In 1967, aged 16, starting Higher History classes in an industrial Scottish town, our teacher suggested we needed to start reading a serious newspaper, and on the following Sunday, I walked into town, had a look around and bought the Observer. I was stunned by its content. My parents took a tabloid, and I had no idea such rich, fascinating material … Continue reading Supporting the Guardian if you are for Scottish Independence – an open letter to the editor

News houses built in flood risk areas – 1 in 9 in England but only 1 in 200 in Scotland

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 In the Guardian today, the above, and: One in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were constructed in areas that could now be at risk of flooding, according to new data. The figures show the number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise – a previous analysis showed that between 2013 and 2022, one in 13 new homes were in potential flooding zones. The research comes with the government under huge … Continue reading News houses built in flood risk areas – 1 in 9 in England but only 1 in 200 in Scotland

Reported cases of paedophilia far fewer per head in Scotland than in other parts of UK

No tasteless images here. 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 This is a classic example of why the SNP or the Scottish Government would never employ me but I do not see why, in this struggle against the odds, we should refuse to consider any evidence as to why we’re different enough to be a nation, self-governing. You can be sure if the results were different, the Unionist media would report ‘Child Abuse Capital of Europe‘ or similar. The Guardian today has: Police arresting … Continue reading Reported cases of paedophilia far fewer per head in Scotland than in other parts of UK

As Scotsman’s unnamed ‘medical professionals’ dream up another NHS crisis how proper monthly statistics reveal NHS Scotland’s A&E is improving and how nearly THREE times as many emergency patients per capita wait 12 hours or more in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

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 The Scotsman today, front page claim – A&E system ‘in perpetual crisis’ as target missed again, is based on a statistically meaningless, one week variation, of only 0.4%, in a winter week of ice and snow, and fails to look at more meaningful monthly trends over years. Also, is any A&E system, in the world, hitting targets, post pandemic? Next post! From A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2025-26, 59.6% were treated in England’s Type 1 A&E departments, within 4 … Continue reading As Scotsman’s unnamed ‘medical professionals’ dream up another NHS crisis how proper monthly statistics reveal NHS Scotland’s A&E is improving and how nearly THREE times as many emergency patients per capita wait 12 hours or more in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

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

Laughable – the Scotsman’s ‘top economist’ casting doubt on the SNP budget is not even vaguely one of those

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. In the Scotsman, 4 days ago, and influencing other reports in Scotland’s media: SNP budget ‘looks increasingly detached from reality’, top economist warns – SNP ministers have not got the money to pay for doctor’s pay deals with next year’s budget looking ‘increasingly detached from reality,” atop economist has warned. and: David Phillips, an economist with IFS, said: “The Scottish Government’s funding allocations for health in 2026/27 look increasingly detached from reality. To get a job as a university lecturer in Economics, you’d need a PhD and one or two research-based papers … Continue reading Laughable – the Scotsman’s ‘top economist’ casting doubt on the SNP budget is not even vaguely one of those