Tag: writing

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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

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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

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Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%

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Last year, the NRS graph, after a one year fall, showed also the trend in a dotted line with a shaded bandwidth of confidence and a fall from the peak of 1 339 to 1 017, 24%. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2024/ For some reason, time maybe, this year’s graph does not show the trend. 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 Today, to a gleeful media feeding frenzy, we see they’ve gone up again, ‘by 11%’ to 1 133, so the fall from 2020 is now 15% but the trend, sorry MSM, is still down. They had a nice … Continue reading Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%

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

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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

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Massive improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences up to three times higher in England & Wales

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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 BBC UK, the above, and: Specialist courts to handle cases of rape and other sexual offences will be introduced across England and Wales over the next two years, the prime minister has announced. Each crown court will have at least one courtroom especially set up to hear such cases, while alleged victims will be able to view proceedings remotely and give evidence from a separate room via video link. Watch out for the media operating in Scotland to call for the same in Scotland and to quickly accuse … Continue reading Massive improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences up to three times higher in England & Wales

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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

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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

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Step We Gaily Over The Line?

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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?

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UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP

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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: UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge – British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments. A total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019, research reveals. The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of … Continue reading UK politics increasingly funded by billionaires as mega-donations surge but not to SNP

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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

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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

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

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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…..

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Arran Ferry – two very good reasons for the Troon move

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin 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 I understand the concerns in Ardrossan about this but the wider picture is important. The summer traffic to Arran warranted the building of larger ferries. Businesses and the islanders campaigned for bigger ferries to cope with and that is where we are. The move to Troon will and understandable disappointment in Ardrosssan will of course be exploited by the media. Here’s the case for it, in two parts: First, Glen Sannox sailing from Troon means the same bus/car, shorter train, journey times from Glasgow … Continue reading Arran Ferry – two very good reasons for the Troon move