Tag: scotland

5 Comments

As Maggie’s ‘broken children’, drug users from the teenage wasteland of the 1980s, fall off the graph, Scotland’s drug deaths will fall below those of England in ten years or less

johnrobertson834

Channel 4 News tonight reminded me of something important, positive, about Scotland’s drug deaths – age. Look at this – Age-specific mortality rates of drug use deaths by broad age group, registered in 2000 to 2025: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2025/ There were 21.4 drug use deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, after adjusting for age. However, when you have a think about the rate in each of the 5 age groups, you should be able to see signs of a tipping point coming when overal drug deaths plummet. This drama all started more than 40 years ago, in the years after Margaret Thatcher … Continue reading As Maggie’s ‘broken children’, drug users from the teenage wasteland of the 1980s, fall off the graph, Scotland’s drug deaths will fall below those of England in ten years or less

5 Comments

Much as he’d like to James Cook does NOT know that Scotland’s drug death figures ‘remain worst in Europe’ – Nobody with half a brain thinks they do

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 With the help of Aimee Stanton, data journalist, James Cook has produced an extended piece with the above headline but little evidence for it. It’s utterly untenable. More on that below. I suppose I’m disappointed more with Aimee who has even had the Royal Statistical Society’s Award for Statistical Excellence in Journalism 2020. James, ‘a British journalist and broadcaster’, unless he’s modestly hiding stuff, is described only as ‘Educated at Forfar Academy, Cook began his career at Radio Tay in Dundee where he first read the news at the age … Continue reading Much as he’d like to James Cook does NOT know that Scotland’s drug death figures ‘remain worst in Europe’ – Nobody with half a brain thinks they do

10 Comments

How Scottish Labour’s betrayal of Glasgow in the 1980s created a place of excess child death that even 20 years of Scottish Government success in reducing child poverty cannot remove

johnrobertson834

rate of any UK nation. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 It’s true, 10.1 deaths among 1 to 15s in 2024, compared to 8.5 in England, 6.4 in Wales and 10.0 in Northern Ireland. It’s been like this for decades. Why? These guys knew 10 years ago: The RCPCH report itself states that social and economic disadvantage in early childhood is closely linked to higher child mortality. What follows is based on the research published by the above researchers, comparing Glasgow with Liverpool and Manchester. The long-standing “Scottish effect.” Even after researchers adjust for current … Continue reading How Scottish Labour’s betrayal of Glasgow in the 1980s created a place of excess child death that even 20 years of Scottish Government success in reducing child poverty cannot remove

2 Comments

Agricultural support payments – 81% paid in Scotland and ‘extreme cashflow difficulties’ in England

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From the Scottish Government today at 10.30am but getting no coverage even on the BBC Business site. More than £296 million in agricultural support has been paid out to Scottish farmers and crofters since the start of September. As of 11 September, Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening funding has been paid to 81% of anticipated eligible businesses, with the payment window closing in July next year. The Scottish Government’s BPS supplements agriculture income, while Greening payments encourage agricultural practices that benefit the environment and climate. and notably this … Continue reading Agricultural support payments – 81% paid in Scotland and ‘extreme cashflow difficulties’ in England

4 Comments

Scotland’s drug deaths are expected to rise to maintain the reputation BBC Scotland love to trot out but deaths in England being seriously under-counted

johnrobertson834

official figures are published on Wednesday. BBC Scotland seem to know already that drug-related deaths will be up on Wednesday coming, and that their ‘Scotland is drug death capital of Europe’ line will be still available to them. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 We won’t be hearing this from them to put things in context. Drug deaths in England being seriously under-counted Opioid deaths in England 50% higher than recorded In September 2025 (most recent data for this purpose) , BBC UK reported: More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off … Continue reading Scotland’s drug deaths are expected to rise to maintain the reputation BBC Scotland love to trot out but deaths in England being seriously under-counted

Leave a comment

Deaths in England attributed to nitazenes have nearly quadrupled since 2023.

johnrobertson834

By stewartb Once again, the way BBC Scotland reports on issues of importance and serious concern smacks of a preference to gaslight voters in Scotland – and in the process undermine the government in Edinburgh – rather than ‘educate’/inform by providing context, perspective and relevant comparative analysis. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In its response to the latest drug deaths in England and Wales based on ONS reporting, the Scottish Drugs Forum (October 2025) stated: ‘The latest report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that drug-related deaths in England and Wales … Continue reading Deaths in England attributed to nitazenes have nearly quadrupled since 2023.

8 Comments

Step We Gaily Over The Line?

johnrobertson834

By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Reports in today’s Sunday newspapers are suggesting that Gordon Brown was taking a “very keen interest” in Operation Branchform. Apparently he raised the investigation into SNP finances with his friend, the then Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Sir Iain Livingstone, several times. And before anyone says — “so what? It’s just another resurrection of Auld Broon” — remember what Branchform became. It wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill police investigation. It became one of the biggest political stories in Scotland, engulfing the SNP leadership and doing … Continue reading Step We Gaily Over The Line?

6 Comments

James Cook still still trying to hide UK Police Chiefs’ evidence that Scotland is victim of drug gangs from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool crossing border to keep drug deaths high

johnrobertson834

There’s no mention of England in James Cook‘s report nor is there in the fuller report on the BBC Scotland website. This is political. The drug-related death statistics coming out this Wednesday 23 September are, it seems, expected to show an increase and that is being connected to new more powerful synthetic opioids like Nitazene. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In both reports, there are attempts to locate the supply in Scotland and avoid the real story, below. Is there evidence in other sources that these gangs are based in large cities in England? … Continue reading James Cook still still trying to hide UK Police Chiefs’ evidence that Scotland is victim of drug gangs from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool crossing border to keep drug deaths high

2 Comments

Children’s care homes in places like Rochdale could not just rely on ‘committed people.’ They needed regulation and inspection of the kind Alex Salmond brought to Scotland nearly 20 years ago

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian yesterday: Children’s care homes rely on committed people – While there are good private children’s homes (I’ve worked with some), they are defined by personal and family commitment, not profit. The same relationships are required whoever runs a children’s home, whether a charitable organisation or local authority. Without the personal, unflinching commitment of councillors, managers, social workers and, crucially, the grownups who work in the home, it can’t be a loving home. We have been led to believe that regulation and inspection ensure good care. Do … Continue reading Children’s care homes in places like Rochdale could not just rely on ‘committed people.’ They needed regulation and inspection of the kind Alex Salmond brought to Scotland nearly 20 years ago

2 Comments

‘Cost of housing crunch in England looms for low-income families, warns Resolution Foundation’ but it does not mention Scotland because…..

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In the Guardian today: More than 1.1 million low-income families in rented homes face a “cost of housing” crunch without action from John Healey in next month’s budget, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has warned. Local housing allowance (LHA) has been frozen in cash terms since autumn 2024. In a new report, Saving Private Renters, the thinktank found that rising rents since then have led to a widening gap between what families claiming LHA can afford, and the realities of the market. It said a low-income family renting a typical … Continue reading ‘Cost of housing crunch in England looms for low-income families, warns Resolution Foundation’ but it does not mention Scotland because…..