The number of women murder victims has fallen dramatically, almost by half, over the SNP period and to 15 last year, but the Sunday Post pads out its front page with the likes of Jack McConnel!

___________________________________________________________ Help Talking-up Scotland keep going. Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 ____________________________________________________ First-off, didn’t that set of images above surprise you? The Sunday Post has an array of the woman victims of violence AND, I thought, their male abusers together. No, it’s the men and some of the women who are those campaigning on behalf of women’s rights. Can you see Nicola Sturgeon there. If not it’s shameful for reasons I’ll come to below. A year or so ago, the Guardian had a similar image but it was all women victims. Why has the … Continue reading The number of women murder victims has fallen dramatically, almost by half, over the SNP period and to 15 last year, but the Sunday Post pads out its front page with the likes of Jack McConnel!

STV on youth violence – Disgusting, shameful, exploitative, scare mongering and all wrong as murder by minors falls to a quarter of the level

STV tonight in a desperate attempt to win viewers, completely misrepresent the world you live in, with this report based on anecdotal evidence only, and ignore once more the facts, the facts that matter so much to all of us if we are to live a life based on what we can expect to experience. The facts: Murder by minors – Only a quarter of the level 20 years ago! The trend is clearly and definitively the other way in Scotland. Above, the official data reveal a steady, statistically significant, falling trend in the number of homicides by minors, over … Continue reading STV on youth violence – Disgusting, shameful, exploitative, scare mongering and all wrong as murder by minors falls to a quarter of the level

Researchers cast serious doubt on reality of hate crimes ‘surging’ in Scotland – I’m certain they’re not – they probably fell by around 4%

BBC Scotland today try to have it both ways in this headline. What percentage of the population is, like TuS readers, media students and other perceptive folk out there, thinking ‘Ah it’s just charges. It might not really be soaring at all?’ It’s not. Hate crimes in Scotland are not ‘soaring.’ I’m as certain as I can be. Why? First, from the same report: A new law introduced in 2024 created a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.1 Broaden the definition of hate crime and more cases are … Continue reading Researchers cast serious doubt on reality of hate crimes ‘surging’ in Scotland – I’m certain they’re not – they probably fell by around 4%

Multiple academic research studies suggest sexual crimes in Scotland are far less common than in 1971 and half the current level in England & Wales so BBC Scotland report today is tasteless, uneducated, dishonest and frankly wrong

No tasteless, titillating for some, exploitative Getty images of tearful young women victims of sexual violence here, unlike in BBC Scotland reporting. From BBC Scotland today: Sexual crimes in Scotland hit record high levels. Sexual crimes recorded by Police Scotland increased by 10% last year and are now at their highest level since 1971, official figures show. The message here is wrong, so wrong. Why? The weight of evidence (stable survey prevalence despite exploding recorded figures, increased reporting, societal improvements in women’s rights/consent norms, and parallel declines in other violence) strongly suggests actual rates for many equivalent traditional/contact sexual crimes … Continue reading Multiple academic research studies suggest sexual crimes in Scotland are far less common than in 1971 and half the current level in England & Wales so BBC Scotland report today is tasteless, uneducated, dishonest and frankly wrong

“Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” but Kevin McKenna has other ideas, dark, smelly ones

I’ve been looking the other way, embarrassed as I can be when confronted with a loud mental health problem in the aisles of a supermarket, by the latest string of fake news from Kevin McKenna, greasing the pages of the Herald, this last few months but, such is my lack of inner peace, today’s utterly fantastic ‘John Swinney and the Scottish Greens have, in effect, given a free pass to pimps’ pushed me over. Why is it, like all of his stuff these days, fake? First, in the year-ending June 2025, there were 72 804 cases of rape and attempted rape, 211 225 sexual … Continue reading “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” but Kevin McKenna has other ideas, dark, smelly ones

Domestic abuse is twice as common in England & Wales but care should be taken in interpreting this

From Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024-25 published today: The police recorded 64,967 incidents of domestic abuse in 2024-25, an increase of 2% compared to the previous year. Despite increasing over the latest two years, this figure remains below the peak in 2020-21. https://www.gov.scot/news/domestic-abuse-recorded-by-the-police-in-scotland-2024-25/ The introduction of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and greater recognition of coercive and controlling behaviour have likely improved identification and recording of some forms of abuse that previously might not have been recorded as such. The statistics show offences under that Act now make up a measurable share of recorded domestic-abuse-related … Continue reading Domestic abuse is twice as common in England & Wales but care should be taken in interpreting this

When Labour’s Helena Kennedy said “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” – Nicola Sturgeon had played the major part in that

The horrific story of Gisele Pelicot dominates discussion of the abuse of women and girls. The comment below may trigger faux rage and deliberate misrepresentation in a few comments. However, to deal with a problem, which Scotland still has ‘in spades’, we have know how we are progressing, if at all. Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords, is no supporter of the SNP in Government, so what she said nearly two years ago is still important. By stewartb In the light of the above BBC Newsnight report of failures by two English police forces, to protect women, from ‘Misogyny – … Continue reading When Labour’s Helena Kennedy said “Scotland has proudly led the way in many areas concerning women’s rights and violence against women” – Nicola Sturgeon had played the major part in that

By any measure (four of them) crime really is way down under the SNP yet they maintain 200 more police officers than the last Labour Government in 2007

From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 March 2026 published tody: 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 key findings of the statistics are: there were 16,430 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2026 and this is an increase of 196 FTE police officers (+1.2%) from the 16,234 FTE police officers recorded at 31 March 2007. https://www.gov.scot/publications/police-officer-quarterly-strength-statistics-31-march-2026/ You can see in the graph above how overall crime in Scotland has plummeted since 2002 but, crucially, has continued to … Continue reading By any measure (four of them) crime really is way down under the SNP yet they maintain 200 more police officers than the last Labour Government in 2007

Violent crime in Scotland has fallen by 27% since 2008-09 with 30 000 fewer Scots experiencing it every year after two decades with no service-cutting right-wing government and the SNP maintaining 24% more police officers

From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026 published today: Non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police increased by 5%, from 70,635 in the year ending December 2024 to 74,384 in the year ending December 2025. Common assault (up 5%) made up the clear majority (83%) of all non-sexual crimes of violence recorded in the year ending September 2025. The SCJS showed that in 2023-24 the volume of violent crime increased by 73% since 2021-22. However, this is still 27% lower than 2008-09 and does not show a statistically significant change from 2019-20. It also showed that … Continue reading Violent crime in Scotland has fallen by 27% since 2008-09 with 30 000 fewer Scots experiencing it every year after two decades with no service-cutting right-wing government and the SNP maintaining 24% more police officers

Increased violence against teachers in English schools DOES make sense

BBC Breakfast today had an extended piece on violence in the classroom increasing. It made sense in the context of worsening youth violence against adults across society, in England. There are similar reports from BBC Scotland. They don’t make such good sense. More on that below. First, of direct relevance, from the Guardian on 31 December 2025: The number of violent offences involving an adolescent attacking their parents or step-parents has increased by more than 60% in the past decade, according to figures recorded by the UK’s biggest police force. Data released by Scotland Yard reveals that there were 1,886 such offences … Continue reading Increased violence against teachers in English schools DOES make sense