As the UK news agencies, including BBC 1, agonise over the awful surge in violent crime in England and Wales, BBC Scotland News ignores the obvious newsworthy story – ‘Why do Scotland’s streets now seem less mean than those in much of England and Wales?’ – and scrabble around for anything bad. Today, after the expected one mad cow story, they found that a temporary police officer had sent a sexist email about female armed officers. First thing in the morning they obliged the Minister for Justice to say he condemned the incident and that he was confident the chief of police would handle it. Can you imagine BBC 1 going to the Home Office minister and expecting them to answer for a similar case?
There were 736 murders including terror attacks in England and Wales in 2017/18. This was a fourth consecutive rise and up 12% in one year! Offences involving knives were up 15% in one year!
In Scotland, in sharp contrast violent crime was 35% down since 2008/9 and up only, a not statistically significant, 1%, since 2016/17. There were 59 killings in 2017/18. The population of England and wales is between ten and eleven times greater than that of Scotland. All things being equal, the murder rate in Scotland would be higher than 70. It was 59. Isn’t that newsworthy?
https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0054/00540695.pdf
They claim, when I complain, that they write what is newsworthy. How about:
‘No mean cities anymore?’
They could get someone to sing it to the Stranglers tune.
or
‘Thurrs noa been a murrderrr!’
Talking-up Scotland 
BBC and compliant MSM mainly report news that has a negative content for Scotland. When Scotland is doing better than England, Wales rarely reported or reported with a negative explanation.
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Considering that the Channel 4 News the previous night had mentioned the different trend in Scotland in its report on the figures for England and Wales, it is a reasonable point you make as to why no comparison was made.
The cow with the BSE was worth a mention since, over the years there have been a number of serious concerns about farming standards, although Northern Ireland and Scotland have been notably better in this regard to England and Wales. Although not reaching the hysteria of the time when a dead swan was found in Cellardyke, I thought it was overplayed.
The Police Scotland story was frankly ridiculous and an example of, what the DAILY MAIL! would call ‘political correctness gorn mad’.
The website when I glanced at it to check the weather before going out early, looked like a litany of ‘Scotland is pure bad’ tales.
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It is the cranking up of the mushroom management of propaganda as truthful news.
Blue the distinction between anything good in Scotland and, normally, crap from Mother England.
Shovel so much shite into the headline and maybe the first paragraph relying on the readers’ apathy and disgust to stop reading and then only read in the future a scan of the headlines.
1984ish
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Then of course there is this from the BBC News site earlier today – where not to live [in England] if you are depressed. More on NHS England’s problems with mental health services, or lack thereof.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45895541
Follows on from the story covered a couple of days ago about patients with eating disorders being sent to Scotland
Something else that won’t be reported in Scotland – trumped by a mad cow
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Sorry, belated correction to your piece – the song to which you are referring was not The Proclaimers, but The Stranglers.
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Thanks for your unpaid proofing service.
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How can the Westminster tory govt. fight crime in England when they’re completely consumed with fighting each other?
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