Tag: scotland

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UK unemployment to worsen from 40% higher than in Scotland but Scotland’s far lower unemployment level still a secret as election looms

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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 Guardian today, has: Unemployment set to hit 5.3% this year amid ‘worrying’ rise in young jobless. OBR raises forecast from 4.9% and downgrades UK’s growth prospects for 2026 – while also warning of war uncertainty There’s no mention of Scotland and ‘Scotland’s media is offering no such detail. Here’s why: The unemployment rate in Scotland at the end of 2025, was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in 2024.  In crude terms 5.1 is 1.4 greater than 3.7 but … Continue reading UK unemployment to worsen from 40% higher than in Scotland but Scotland’s far lower unemployment level still a secret as election looms

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Disappointment in BBC News as Scotland not even half way to being ‘rape capital’ of the UK

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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 Reporting Scotland flying solo again to hit you with a dose of early morning anxiety, headlining with a story mysteriously and entirely absent, from their website: Why would they pull this one out for the early morning short reports where they feel they have an excuse having no context, as below? See this: Would a bit of context have been useful for readers? This kind of thing? On 25 June 2025, I wrote: The media in Scotland are … Continue reading Disappointment in BBC News as Scotland not even half way to being ‘rape capital’ of the UK

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

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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 As the Herald, today, frontpages the Scottish Conservatives, soon to face a near-extinction event and become only the 5th party in Scotland, to ‘blast’ the SNP Government and suggest once more an affordable homes crisis, there’s no space, it seems for these: For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level down from a peak of 11 158 in 2021 but above the level before 2014 and still almost twice that … Continue reading How can there be an affordable housing ‘crisis’ in Scotland when we beat the building target that Labour just gave up on in England?

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Only 20 years after ‘Scotland was one of the most unsafe countries to live in’, polls reveal Scots worry less about crime than in any other part of Europe

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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 Today, pollster Ipsos are reporting that across Europe, people worry more about crime and violence than anything else, climbing above other concerns from early 2025. Here’s the trend. It may be that for some of the above 30 countries crime and violence is not the number one concern but I can see no data to explore, for that. In Ipsos Scotland‘s most recent poll, December 2025, Crime and anti-social behaviour/law and order was eighth, at 20% and had … Continue reading Only 20 years after ‘Scotland was one of the most unsafe countries to live in’, polls reveal Scots worry less about crime than in any other part of Europe

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A9 – the one way road to Inverness from a city that must not be named in a country that must not be named

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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 Scotland: Highlands Islands, today, has the above and : A man and a woman have been arrested and charged in connection with drug offences after £100,000 worth of cocaine was discovered during a stop-and-search. Police Scotland halted the vehicle on the A9 near Crubenmore in the Highlands at about 12:55 on Friday. They said a quantity of the class A substance and a three-figure sum of cash had been recovered by officers. A 43-year-old man and a … Continue reading A9 – the one way road to Inverness from a city that must not be named in a country that must not be named

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Is there already research evidence on the effectiveness of ‘Walk-in GP centres’? Has the SNP policy even been designed to take advantage of those findings?

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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 As you might expect, Dr John Tobias who, on his cv, claims that during COP26 in Glasgow he was chosen to be a personal physician to Heads of State, did not hesitate to rule on the new SNP walk-in GP centres as failures before they can even begin. You can just hear him – ‘I don’t need researchers to tell me what to think! I know…..’ There is, however, research, lots of it, and I feel the need … Continue reading Is there already research evidence on the effectiveness of ‘Walk-in GP centres’? Has the SNP policy even been designed to take advantage of those findings?

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Clear up rate for all recorded crimes goes up and remains far higher than in England & Wales

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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: the Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: February 2026, published today: Increase in crime clear up rate. The clear up rate for all recorded crimes was 56.0% in 2024-25, up from 54.1% in 2023-24. Crimes against society (93.8%), non-sexual crimes of violence (68.4%) and sexual crimes (56.9%) continued to have higher clear up rates in 2024-25 than crimes of dishonesty (35.1%) and damage and reckless behaviour (31.0%). https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-february-2026/pages/statistics-on-crime-in-general/ The clear-up rates in England and Wales, for the … Continue reading Clear up rate for all recorded crimes goes up and remains far higher than in England & Wales

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BBC Debate Night host shamefully tries to suggest Scottish Child Payment is ‘just sticking plaster’ when it is ‘turning Scotland into a European pioneer in reducing child deprivation’

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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 a Debate Night session in Ayr, after a deeply ill-informed debate on GP access, totally unaware of Scotland’s far better ratio with patients, the far better funding of GPs and lower workload of GPs in Scotland, we witnessed an even more infuriating discussion of poverty where charity reps once more seem prepared to shoot themselves in the foot by failing to recognise and applaud the SNP Government’s achievements. I was very close to chucking something at the … Continue reading BBC Debate Night host shamefully tries to suggest Scottish Child Payment is ‘just sticking plaster’ when it is ‘turning Scotland into a European pioneer in reducing child deprivation’

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Murder cases fall again to 22% lower than pre-pandemic and well below half that under Labour in 2007

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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 Scotland yesterday respond to the latest crime statistics, with: Crimes reported to police in Scotland rose by 3% last year, according to new government data. The crimes that increased the most , include domestic abuse incidents (which rose by 25% between 2024-25), indecent communications (21%), indecent photos of children (20%) and shoplifting (15%). Reports of rape and attempted rape, fire-raising, supply of drugs and dangerous and careless driving also increased. Categories of crime which have decreased include housebreaking (down … Continue reading Murder cases fall again to 22% lower than pre-pandemic and well below half that under Labour in 2007

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Why we should not get carried away with the latest Times MRP poll predicting a ‘stunning’ majority for the SNP

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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 As soon as I saw this Times piece above, I’m sorry to say, I immediately had serious reservations. I hope I’m wrong but, straight off, I thought: However, let’s concentrate on the scientific, objective, reservation based on sampling. Here’s a thorough AI response to: You note – ‘Accuracy depends heavily on sample quality and size.’ Might this be a particular concern regarding this latest poll on the Scottish Holyrood election coming up Yes, sample quality and size can … Continue reading Why we should not get carried away with the latest Times MRP poll predicting a ‘stunning’ majority for the SNP