Talking-up Scotland

It’s been some time since my last report suggesting that Scotland is a better place than the UK and that its leaders share a set of values driving us further away from it. Some have mistakenly labelled them ‘Scottish values’ when they are just values more commonly held here than in, say, SE England. Some have deliberately misinterpreted my argument suggesting that it is ‘Scottish exceptionalism.’ That’s a deeply ironic notion now as Boris Johnson’s ‘Plucky Britain’ is launched.

To be clear again, a higher percentage of the people living in Scotland seem to hold and be prepared to vote for parties espousing more democratic, egalitarian, collectivist and fairer policies. Around 20% in Scotland seem to prefer more totalitarian, individualistic, competitive values, judging by their support for the Conservative and Brexit parties. Of course, given its much larger population, rUK probably has far more people holding the above democratic, egalitarian, collectivist and fairness values than there are in Scotland. The poor souls are just outnumbered in a way that we are not.

Yesterday in the Guardian I read:

Scotland’s universities are to offer guaranteed undergraduate places to students who have been in care at any point in their lives as part of a ground-breaking effort to increase the number from that demographic doing a degree. The formal announcement by Scotland’s 18 higher education institutions is backed by Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, as a way of helping those who have been in care overcome the barriers they face.

Here are some earlier reports on ‘differences’:

Abuse of women and the disabled far higher in England than in Scotland

Less homicide, less knife crime, less domestic violence, safer cities and now much lower alcohol problems: should Scotland’s old stereotypes be sent south?

Racial hate crimes increase by 33% in England & Wales while falling by 10% in Scotland: Who says we’re not different?

Scottish Muslim students far less likely to report abuse or crime?

Terror de-radicalisation referral rate in Scotland less than one third per capita of that in England

Only in Scotland! ‘A review of small country’s approaches to public policy reform in response to economic, demographic and other pressures found that only in Scotland could this ‘golden thread’ be so clearly discerned’

Scientific evidence that Scots tend to be different from the other groups in rUK?

Who said Scots were not more left-wing than those in the rest of the UK?

With 1 in 4 living wage employers already in Scotland, the Scottish Government aims to make this a ‘Living Wage Nation’

8% of the UK population and 28% of living wage employers. More evidence that we are different enough to want to run the whole show?

80 000 lowest paid workers in NHS England still on poverty wages as NHS Scotland follows Scottish Government policy to pay a living wage to all public-sector employees

Scottish care workers to receive Living Wage for ‘sleepover’ hours while English care workers receive only the National Minimum Wage.

Different Scotland in the UN report on ‘Workhouse Britain’

Scottish values making oil and gas firms a tad different too?

Are Scotland’s employers also different – more willing to pay a decent wage?

With 1 in 4 living wage employers already in Scotland, the Scottish Government aims to make this a ‘Living Wage Nation’

8% of the UK population and 28% of living wage employers. More evidence that we are different enough to want to run the whole show?

Another difference as UK small and medium-sized business people prefer Boris while Scots prefer…

Another difference between Scotland and rUK?

NHS England’s new motto: Who is laike us? Dem few and they err awl daid!

Scottish Government support for small businesses superior to that in non-Scottish parts of UK