Tag: uk

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The run of bad luck for Labour , much of which is self inflicted, just keeps going on and on

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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 By Liz S Breaking news: “Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid has said ‘she is not part of her husband’s business activities’ after he was arrested on suspicion of spying for China” The BBC have reported that: “Earlier, the Metropolitan Police said men, aged 39, 43 and 68, had been arrested in London and Wales as part of a counter-terrorism policing investigation under the National Security Act” “Reid, who represents East Kilbride and Strathaven, said: “She is “not part … Continue reading The run of bad luck for Labour , much of which is self inflicted, just keeps going on and on

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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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The Emma Caldwell Public Inquiry must ask if the Scottish Labour Government of 20 years ago took its eye of the ball

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From Emma Caldwell Public Inquiry begins work, published yesterday: The independent Public Inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell’s murder in April 2005 has been formally set-up and begins its work today (9 Dec). Justice Secretary Angela Constance informed Parliament on the formal setting-up date and on the Inquiry’s terms of reference through a Government Initiated Question today. The statutory inquiry will examine what went wrong in the investigation carried out by Strathclyde Police into the murder of Emma Caldwell, including the direction given by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. It will examine what steps which could reasonably … Continue reading The Emma Caldwell Public Inquiry must ask if the Scottish Labour Government of 20 years ago took its eye of the ball

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‘Families are dying’ – the awful cost of living near nuclear plants, in Ohio and in Scotland

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With only 5 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian two days ago: ‘Families are dying’: an Ohio town suffering from fallout years after nuclear plant’s closure – As Trump calls for more nuclear power, Piketon, the site of an enrichment facility, knows first hand its ill effects. Three years after starting work as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Vina Colley started getting sick. The huge facility … Continue reading ‘Families are dying’ – the awful cost of living near nuclear plants, in Ohio and in Scotland

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Another ‘Scouse’ county lines gang keeping Scotland’s drug deaths artificially high

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to rtpscott for alerting me to the above. Scouse Jack is not the only Liverpool-based gang whose activities have been clearly identified as fuelling Scotland’s drug deaths. In March 2025, we had: From BBC England, the above and: Five members of a county lines drug gang known as the Scouse Dave Line have been jailed. A total of seven members of the organised crime group, which peddled crack cocaine and heroin between Liverpool, Gosport and Plymouth, were sentenced during the two-day hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd92w0klwy8o When I saw the word ‘scouse‘, I was reminded of … Continue reading Another ‘Scouse’ county lines gang keeping Scotland’s drug deaths artificially high

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Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK is headlining the above as a ‘national inquiry’ though it is clear, reading on, that it is not: The prime minister has announced there will be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs. Sir Keir Starmer said he had accepted the recommendations of an audit by Baroness Louise Casey into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse. Baroness Casey has recommended a national inquiry is required, he said. The inquiry will cover England and Wales. The Guardian, notably, does not clarify that and leaves it to … Continue reading Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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Drug deaths – this is not whataboutery but the means of calling out political hypocrisy and media bias

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By stewartb It could be deemed ‘unseemly’ to make btl comment on something as tragic as drug deaths. Of course the real topic – the real motivation – is political and mainstream media practices amongst those opposed to the Scottish Government. Fundamentally, this is not whataboutery but the means of calling out political hypocrisy and media bias! Many parts of the UK are experiencing, to a worrying degree, the harms and worse of drug misuse. Trend data strongly suggest that present UK drugs policy and associated interventions are proving inadequate. At least in Scotland the mortality rate, whilst still far too … Continue reading Drug deaths – this is not whataboutery but the means of calling out political hypocrisy and media bias

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As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above and: Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer’s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian. The facts behind my headline: From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior reporter not yet ‘inducted‘: Police Scotland is considering a request to send 120 officers to Northern Ireland following several nights of anti-immigration riots in Belfast and other parts of the UK. Jon … Continue reading As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has the lower crime levels, the complete absence of riots previously, lower levels of background racism and the police staffing levels to be able to help other countries

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Police officer strength climbs for second year to 1.7% higher than when Labour left power in 2007 despite a 38% fall in crime

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA From – Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 December 2024, published today: Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published statistics on Police Officer Quarterly Strength, which gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. The … Continue reading Police officer strength climbs for second year to 1.7% higher than when Labour left power in 2007 despite a 38% fall in crime

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Labour hypocrisy well on-track

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stewartb The Scotrail fare rise is covered on the Scotland page of the BBC News website (January 21). The BBC opened the article to readers’ comments and what a catalogue of evidence-free, statistics-free bile! This is the BBC headline ‘ScotRail fares set to increase by nearly 4%’. (By the way, the ’to nearly 4%’ in the headline could have been shorten to the accurate ‘to 3.8%’.) The article adds: ‘Transport Scotland said a 20% discount on season tickets would continue until September and the travel card Flexipass – which offers 12 single journeys for the price of 10 – has been expanded … Continue reading Labour hypocrisy well on-track