Tag: scotland

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BBC Crime show confuses ‘Two a week!’ femicide rate in England with ‘One a month’ in Scotland

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In BBC Crime Files, broadcast two days ago, Professor David Wilson, after just hearing there were only 45 murders in Scotland last year, reflects: So in ten years’ time, could we ever get to the point where there will be no murders in Scotland at all? Or to get there, will we have to challenge misogyny so much that we will get rid of that appalling statistic that two women a week are murdered in this country? His interviewee, Karen McCluskey of the the Violence Reduction Unit, apparently accepting that claim then says: Oh wouldn’t that be wonderful. When I … Continue reading BBC Crime show confuses ‘Two a week!’ femicide rate in England with ‘One a month’ in Scotland

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Pandemic Inquiry – ‘Disinterested in working with, or hearing the concerns of the Devolved Administrations’

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By stewartb The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has just published its latest report, on Module 5: Procurement. (see https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/09094028/E03444965_Covid-Inquiry-M5-Inquiry_Web-Accessible.pdf ) The Inquiry’s overarching conclusions for this module focus on: (i) the UK’s unpreparedness in terms of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other clinical supplies for a pandemic, including below-target volumes and expired equipment in national pandemic stockpiles; and (ii) huge levels of waste amongst the PPE procured. A search of the document for references specific to ‘Scotland’ yields no especially or uniquely damning findings to ‘excite’ committed opponents of the SNP and the Scottish Government. Nevertheless, the search did throw up some references worthy … Continue reading Pandemic Inquiry – ‘Disinterested in working with, or hearing the concerns of the Devolved Administrations’

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‘So no I will not support England’

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By Liz S “If they win we’ll never hear the end of it” Indeed In fact every time they have a game in this world cup then every TV channel news programme and daytime trash TV programme cannot stop talking about it. In fact , as a Scot, you almost feel as if you are in a foreign country and watching foreign Television programmes. Then of course the , checks notes, UK PM posts constant motivation comments on ‘X’ to the England team and also if England win their game he then posts comments on ‘X’ praising them. However I did not … Continue reading ‘So no I will not support England’

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How Nick Hancock ordered PPE manufacturers not to send supplies to Scottish care homes for the elderly in 2020 – The pandemic exposed the Union for what it is

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Yesterday, BBC Health had: The lives of NHS staff and patients were put at risk in the pandemic because of a lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), with almost £10bn of taxpayers’ money wasted in a scramble to buy more, the Covid inquiry has said. The chair Baroness Hallett criticised the “vast” waste in procurement, put at £9.9bn – two-thirds of the £14.9bn the government spent on PPE. The UK entered the pandemic with its stockpile of masks, gowns and gloves in a perilous state and was unprepared for the global race to secure supplies, she added. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czrxrlydyzzo BBC … Continue reading How Nick Hancock ordered PPE manufacturers not to send supplies to Scottish care homes for the elderly in 2020 – The pandemic exposed the Union for what it is

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Protecting politicians – do the Widdecombe lessons not apply to Nicola Sturgeon too?

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By Liz S In Talking-up Scotland yesterday? BBC Scotland today, surprisingly, given the Widdicombe murder obsession of all the press… However on the BBC website headline today is this: “Investigation into Widdecombe’s death rekindles debate over how to protect politicians” Also today on the BBC website is this headline: “Sturgeon’s police statement on SNP finances won’t be released, says lawyer” This is a long article that also includes “How the Peter Murrell case unfolded” which includes a timeline and a breakdown of yet another regurgitated BBC report on this past case , that as a criminal case has now been concluded , as the … Continue reading Protecting politicians – do the Widdecombe lessons not apply to Nicola Sturgeon too?

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A more than 3 000 extra violent crimes surge in Scotland’s once low crime areas is more in the public interest than going to a murder pub in Spain over 84 ‘offences’ in Scotland

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BBC Scotland today, surprisingly, given the Widdicombe murder obsession of all the press, has headlined: Gang feud ended with ‘resolution of differences’ between rivals – police – Ross McGill (centre), the former head of Rangers Football Club’s ultras fan group the Union Bears, was a key figure in the feud – Police have revealed that a violent gangland feud spanning six months came to an end through dozens of arrests and a “resolution of differences” between rival groups. The trouble began in Edinburgh last March and led to a series of fire-raisings and attempted murders across the central belt, totalling … Continue reading A more than 3 000 extra violent crimes surge in Scotland’s once low crime areas is more in the public interest than going to a murder pub in Spain over 84 ‘offences’ in Scotland

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As youth violence and murder by minors plummet is this the Herald’s most inaccurate, misleading and unethical piece of clickbait ever?

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I know, I’ve already sorted the Herald‘s front page in an earlier report this morning but this email alert version above takes their dishonesty to a new level with the suggestion that ‘new data‘ from schools, on possession, exposes a rise in actual youth violence. It’s utterly untrue, a disgraceful lie aimed at clickbait at the expense of our mental health. So, to repeat: Recorded crime incidents in schools where a blade article or ‘point’ was ‘concerned’ fell from 149 to 127 last year. That’s 0.04% of the secondary school population. The above term does not in any way simply equate to … Continue reading As youth violence and murder by minors plummet is this the Herald’s most inaccurate, misleading and unethical piece of clickbait ever?

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Glasgow disorder orchestrated by individuals not from Scotland

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In the Glasgow Times, two days ago: Disorder in Glasgow this week has been branded as “disgraceful” and is said to have been ‘orchestrated by individuals who are not from the city’. Protests took place outside homes in the Cranhill and Castlemilk areas earlier this week after claims spread locally and online that ‘suspected sex offenders’ were living there. A significant police response was deployed to both incidents to try and control crowds who could be heard shouting “get them out” and ‘no peace for the beast’ at the properties. David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file … Continue reading Glasgow disorder orchestrated by individuals not from Scotland

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SNP’s progressive policies have not destroyed growth and may have helped

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Thanks to Dottie again for this one: From What can Scotland teach Andy Burnham about devolution? Scotland’s economy has outperformed its neighbours in Future Economy Scotland yesterday, the above and: and: and my favourite: and: Taken together, the evidence is difficult to dismiss. Whether measured by GDP, productivity, earnings, disposable income or the prevalence of low pay, Scotland has generally outperformed the UK since devolution. Across most of these measures, it sits at or near the top of the UK’s league table. None of this proves that devolution itself caused these stronger outcomes. Scotland’s economy differs from England’s in important ways, and … Continue reading SNP’s progressive policies have not destroyed growth and may have helped

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The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements

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While AI has often been taught to favour broadly establishment positions, reinforced by their dominance of the media landscape it relies upon, I have found that, if you keep your wits about you and counter those positions with evidence you have, it will often come to offer a more independent evidence-based answer than you will get from even the most respected but all-too-human academic, like me. Based on the evidence from the time such as the lack of a formal act of union, the unbroken, largely unchanged continuation of the parliament in London and the end of such in Scotland … Continue reading The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements