Tag: scotland

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Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs from cities in England of such horrors and what can we do about them? Easy!

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Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs in small-town Scotland from cities in England in the last ten years that Scottish drug gangs at street level pushing drugs, were involved in cuckooing the vulnerable, using child drug mules, using extreme violence, diversifying into sex trafficking and adopting the business model exploiting markets in smaller towns and even in villages, across all of Scotland? I can’t be fully trusted. I’m angry, deeply angry at how the media operating in Scotland hides the reality of this deadly invasion. Heavy, experienced and familiar with the prison system in … Continue reading Is there any evidence before the arrival of County Lines drug gangs from cities in England of such horrors and what can we do about them? Easy!

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Red Letter Days and Red Reminders – More gas, more electricity, more promises and still the bills arrive

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Politicians announce new energy projects, celebrate investment and promise jobs, energy security and economic growth. Then the red reminders arrive. The electricity bill. The rising direct debit. The shrinking household budget. For people struggling to heat their homes, the question isn’t how many announcements smiling politicians can make. It’s how those smiles translate into a tangible difference to the bills people pay. The UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Energy and Jobs has recently been promoting a community-owned energy project in Argyll expected to power 800 homes. And only yesterday, the same minister welcomed … Continue reading Red Letter Days and Red Reminders – More gas, more electricity, more promises and still the bills arrive

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Stories never told – 63% improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences more than twice as high per head in England & Wales

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In BBC Scotland’s, 2-3 minute insert in BBC Breakfast this morning, the above story, and on the website: Walking into a witness box to give evidence is one of the most daunting things a person can do. Giving evidence as a victim of a sexual assault case is even more challenging. That’s something rape survivor Sarah Lee knows too well. Fears about being judged on her appearance added to that pressure. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4g17plp75eo Clearly a worth cause but there are other related news stories of great significance, to all of us, of course, but in particular to women, important for how … Continue reading Stories never told – 63% improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences more than twice as high per head in England & Wales

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Wrong, Kevin – As Protestants increasingly find a home in Reform UK, Scotland’s Catholics support for the SNP surges from 18% to 48%

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Kevin McKenna at the Herald is in SNP Overdrive these days. I keep ignoring it as best I can but something pees me off too much and here I am again. I come from a ‘Rangers’ family going back decades. My dad, working in an American factory with no closed shops found out Catholics were not aliens and left with me for Falkirk FC. I married Bernadette, in the Chapel and signed things. With a useless Higher History (B) I taught myself about the Empire and it’s atrocities in Ireland. Why is McKenna’s claim pure excrement of the male bovine? … Continue reading Wrong, Kevin – As Protestants increasingly find a home in Reform UK, Scotland’s Catholics support for the SNP surges from 18% to 48%

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10.1% wait for more than half a day in NHS England’s Type 1 Emergency departments but only 5.4% do in Scotland – thousands saved after years with no strikes

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For some time now, if I offer any criticism of the media activity of Royal College of Emergency Medicine (Scotland) officers, I get long ‘hurt’ comments from Anonymouses. The media keep calling trade union reps, oh, OK ‘royal college’ reps, ‘leading’ doctors. They’re not especially though all of them are more impressive figures than me. It’s misleading and offensive to all the other doctors, some actually leading large teams, some at the ‘leading edge’ of new methods. Second, they insist on a ‘crisis’ when performance is demonstrably better than in NHS England where their colleagues seem less concerned to condemn … Continue reading 10.1% wait for more than half a day in NHS England’s Type 1 Emergency departments but only 5.4% do in Scotland – thousands saved after years with no strikes

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Jackie Baillie hides Matt Hancock’s denial of PPE to Scotland and our gift of two million facemasks to England

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Jackie Baillie yesterday knowingly, I’m sure, twists the truth of PPE supplies during the pandemic to blame the SNP for the sins of the UK Government as it tried to reserve PPE supplies, paid for by all across the UK, just for English care homes, in a desperate attempt to head of the storm of death they faced. She also omits to remind us of the failures of the privately owned care homes in Scotland, under-resourcing PPE themselves and underpaying staff so that those infected were unable to afford to stay at home. 15 July 2026, The Times had the … Continue reading Jackie Baillie hides Matt Hancock’s denial of PPE to Scotland and our gift of two million facemasks to England

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Devolved First Ministers offer expert advice on tackling poverty to UK Ministers but BBC Scotland won’t be telling you about that when they have a 32 year-old murder and Andy’s buses for you

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Published earlier today but as yet nowhere to be seen on BBC Scotland – Joint letter from the Scottish and Welsh Governments calling on the UK Government to scrap “punitive” welfare policies, adopt plans to cut energy bills, and to further devolve powers to help drive continued progress in tackling poverty, posted in full here: To: The Rt Hon Pat McFadden MPSecretary of State for Work and Pensions To: The Rt Hon Lucy Powell MPSecretary of State for Education 20 October 2026 Dear Pat and Lucy, We are writing jointly to congratulate you on your appointment and to restate our … Continue reading Devolved First Ministers offer expert advice on tackling poverty to UK Ministers but BBC Scotland won’t be telling you about that when they have a 32 year-old murder and Andy’s buses for you

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

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In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

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Aren’t billionaires who tried to ‘help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood’ by using their money the undemocratic dictators?

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By Liz S BBC Website headline: “McGill’s accuse Swinney of behaving like dictator over bus plans” Surely the real headline should be “Labour donors , who own McGill’s, accuse Swinney of behaving like dictator over bus plans”. I mean let’s get some context here. Prior to the Scottish elections in May Sandy & James Easdale , owners of the McGill Bud Group, pledged a conditional six-figure donation to Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Labour Party ahead of the May 2026 Holyrood elections. The brothers stated their goal is to “help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood”. In this latest … Continue reading Aren’t billionaires who tried to ‘help remove the SNP from power at Holyrood’ by using their money the undemocratic dictators?

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London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations

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In the Guardian today: ‘We’re living in darkness’: six years of scaffolding, still no post-Grenfell cladding’ Building safety regulator delays leave London tower block beset by security and vandalism problems. The block’s residents are among thousands of people across the country bearing the cost of delays by the building safety regulator (BSR) to approve construction works required by post-Grenfell building safety rules. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/19/london-tower-residents-fear-disaster-post-grenfell-scaffolding Ironically, Scottish Labour have ‘blasted the SNP for ‘dragging their heels’ over dangerous cladding programme. https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-blasted-dragging-heels-over-29368512 Here’s why Scotland’s tower blocks do not require new cladding to avoid a Grenfell event. From BBC Scotland, 7 March 2026, … Continue reading London’s Labour Mayor fails to remedy it’s all-too-real fears of towering infernos as Scotland’s sixth tower block fire is contained on one floor due to tighter regulations