Talking-up Scotland

We recently watched as BBC Scotland attempted to scare its audience by trying to spread England’s knife crime crisis to Scotland as part of their wider campaign to question the notion that Scotland is becoming a bit different from England, even, dare I say, a better place. See this:

BBC News tries to spread knife crime crisis into Scotland to tell us: ‘You’re no different. Don’t get any ideas!’

Today, they had another go and, this morning at 06:00 am but repeated five or six more times, before 09:00 am, BBC Salford opened with:

‘Serious organised crime like gun smuggling, modern slavery and sexual exploitation are the greatest threats to national security.’

and reported that there are more than 4 500 gangs involved. The figures from the National Crime Agency (NCA) are presumably UK-wide figures.

Clearly not to be left out, BBC Scotland, at 06:26 and repeated five or six more times before 09:00 am, headlined:

‘Feuds and rivalries between organised crime gangs in the Central Belt pose an increasing threat to the public.’

and reported that there are more than 160 crime gangs here.

The BBC Scotland website repeated and extended the story:

‘Feuds and guns raise threat of crime gangs in Scotland. “Ongoing feuds, violence and firearms” in the central belt are increasing the threat posed by crime gangs, according to a report. An assessment of organised crime by the NCA has found the number of criminals involved is falling Police warned that despite increased activity in the central belt and recent firearms seizures, these groups still have ready access to such weapons and some are prepared to use them in public.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-44101927

So, first, contrary to the BBC Scotland broadcast story, the NCA report does not mention an increasing threat to the public but only a willingness to use weapons in public.

Second, the BBC Scotland online story uses only the case of a single ‘gangland’ shooting, in a deserted Kinning Park at 11.40pm as evidence of this willingness to kill, in public. Strictly speaking it was in public but the public were not there to witness it.

Third, but not mentioned for context, this was the only murder by shooting recorded in police records for the whole of 2016/17.

Fourth, and also not mentioned as context, if there are only 160 gangs in Scotland yet 4 500 in the UK as a whole, then Scotland has, per capita, far fewer gangs than the rest of the UK. Indeed, Scotland has 8% of the population yet only 3.5% of the gangs. It’s good to see my 8% meme back in use. If you want to see the others, search the blog for 8%.

It’s impossible to know for certain what goes on in their wee journo-minds but are they getting worried that too many Scots have begun to distrust their reporting on crime? See this:

Are Scots less concerned about crime not just because there is less but also because they are learning not to trust media distortion?

Finally, just how desperate are they to stop any of us thinking that things are getting better and connecting that with SNP government? See:

As knife and gun crime rockets across England and Wales and falls in Scotland, Scotland has far more police officers per head of population

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

It’s really difficult to see how a newspaper purporting to support independence for Scotland could headline a story like this wrongly characterising a leading figure in the movement as some kind of stooge for the Kremlin. The story would be at home in the Sunday Telegraph.

I wrote of my suspicions of the Sunday Herald and other ‘moderate’ (ie anti-SNP, Wings) ‘supporters’ of the Yes campaign back in September 2016. The full text is still at:

https://indyref2.scot/are-the-snps-critical-friends-really-helping-or-just-posturing

After it was published, I was cast, again, as ‘off the rails’. However, as the National continues to publish the unconvincing changelings, McKenna and Fry, as Common Space continues to find hard, disciplined, attack on the Union and all its hangers-on, just too coorse for its liberal-bourgeois-academic sensibilities and as they all despair over the successes of the Wings over Scotland blitzkrieg on their still-pals in the ‘mainstream media’, the Sunday Herald has come out, all pea-shooters popping, in ill-judged attacks on its own readers and on the SNP.

This front page, its choice of headline and image, triggered justifiably angry online responses. Failing to take pleasure in or to headline the massive march and, in the photograph,  choosing to foreground the handful of frankly abusive Unionists there, it seemed designed to offend all Yes supporters.

 

Getting the response they must have expected, the Sunday Herald was unrepentant, indignant, and chose instead to attack the whole movement by conflating it with a few abusive trolls and by a pompous over-reaction to any criticism:

 

Here’s the frankly ridiculous ‘must-read’ or self-important ‘Big Read’ promised for today.

 

Look at the words in red. They are ‘cut’ by the criticism and feel the need to remind us of their messianic role.  I stopped buying the Sunday Herald quite soon after its launch in 2014. It was always going to be a corporate project, staffed by journos who think they are somehow special and, crucially, embody values bigger than the Yes movement. I understand its sales are plummeting. Its days are numbered.

 

(c) arc 2020

Here’s today’s headline from BBC Scotland:

‘Delay to Scottish EU farm subsidy review’

It doesn’t sound like much for the pro-independence movement to be concerned about, does it? Kevin Keane then opens with:

‘A long-anticipated review into how EU farm subsidies are distributed between Scotland and the rest of the UK has been delayed. EU Convergence Uplift payments of £190m were triggered because of the low rate paid to hill farmers in Scotland. But the money was shared out by the Treasury across the UK farming sector.’

Then it dawns on you. Subsidies justified entirely by the particular economic circumstances of Scottish hill farmers are being paid to English (and Welsh?) hill farmers whose economic circumstances would not have triggered the EU payment in the first place. Does that headline capture the essence of the story or does it conceal it and, in so doing, does it avoid feeding the independence movement?

How many, seeing the headline, read on?

STV, the Scotsman and Herald ignored the story.

Compared to the subsidies we already pay to the British post-imperial project’s attempts to project power globally, this isn’t much, but it tells you a lot about our status in this ‘partnership’.

And, this is an old story being ignored, it seems. See this from 2013:

Has Westminster taken E230 million of Scottish farmer’s money?

10 November, 2013 Peter Crosskey Latest from EU Member States, Main stories

“I’m beyond angry at this remarkable decision”. So said Scottish MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, Alyn Smith, who was incandescent with rage over UK government’s trickery: “I had in my naivety taken it to be a foregone conclusion, especially after the very sensible cross party consensus at Holyrood united to fight Scotland’s corner,” he fumed. So what, exactly, has the UK government done?

Scottish farmers and parliamentarians have reacted angrily to the UK government’s decision to withold hundreds of millions of euros from Scottish agriculture that had been allocated specifically by the European Commission to level up Scotland’s historically low payment levels per hectare. Referred to as convergence uplift, the European Commission had allocated an additional EUR 60 million per year specifically for Scottish farming, worth a total of about EUR 230 million over the life of the coming CAP budget.

http://www.arc2020.eu/has-westminster-taken-e230-million-of-scottish-farmers-money/

 

Ipsos MORI’s recent poll pays little attention the Scottish data it contains and concentrates on an apparent panic in England and Wales. Their headline, with the above map, is:

‘Concern about crime reaches a seven-year high’

It’s not clear, from the report if the Scottish figure is higher than in previous years but it is significantly lower than in England and Wales. Indeed, the level of concern about crime is apparently twice as high in the north of England and approaching three times as high in London.

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/issues-index-concern-about-crime-reaches-seven-year-high

This is encouraging given that our perceptions of crime levels are mostly constructed for us by the media coverage we consume, and, in Scotland, we face daily and intense coverage of any violence that can be found, along with a prolonged campaign to undermine Police Scotland and to cast doubt on its competence. That Scots seem less anxious seems, to me, quite remarkable in the circumstances and a matter for some pride. The scale of the distortion, of the Police Scotland attacks and the failure to contextualise with comparative statistics, can be seen in these earlier reports:

As knife and gun crime rockets across England and Wales and falls in Scotland, Scotland has far more police officers per head of population

BBC News tries to spread knife crime crisis into Scotland to tell us: ‘You’re no different. Don’t get any ideas!’

Lib Dems, Tories and Labour take turns to help Scotsman, STV and BBC Scotland cast unjustified doubt on successes of Police Scotland, as crime plummets regardless

As crime falls, Scots feel safer than ever before

As hate crime falls in Scotland and soars elsewhere, STV and BBC Scotland report fake news of an increase

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

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

Scotsman acts as Tory propaganda outlet in fake news about knife crime as statistics reveal dramatic fall in possession and use across Scotland

Better together? As crime falls in Scotland, English drug gangs invade Scotland. Build a wall?

I’ve always believed that one of the few demonstrable media effects is levels of anxiety in the general population, about crime, health, migration and other issues which are higher than that which the evidence supports, so once more, well done Scots!

(c) http://expeditionsonline.com

I’ve already reported on individual initiatives by the Scottish Government to reduce the impact of Brexit and to protect Scotland’s vital trade and cultural links with, especially, Scandinavia, the Arctic Circle, the Baltic and Ireland. See:

Scotland to strengthen links with Ireland as well as Scandinavia and the Baltic as SNP Government prepares for Brexit

Scotland moves closer to the Arctic Circle

SNP leadership on hectic northern hemisphere mission, from the Baltic to Canada and a’ pairts atween thaim, to save Scottish Economy from Tory incompetence

It’s now clear that, in just over a year, from early 2017, they have completed more than 200 such engagements. See this:

‘More than 200 engagements between Scottish Government ministers and European governments, institutions and organisations have taken place since the start of 2017. The ‘strong desire’ to connect with Scotland and listen to our views signals that the EU continues to see Scotland as an important partner – according to External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop. In just 16 months, Scottish Government ministers have initiated or accepted more than 200 meetings and visits with European partners, which on average means a European engagement has taken place at least three times per week.’

Some of the more notable engagements have included:

1. The opening of Scottish Government Hubs in Berlin and Dublin
2. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s visits to Dublin, Bonn and Utrecht
3. Engagements by the First Minister and Michael Russell in Brussels
4. High level meetings by Fiona Hyslop in Paris, The Hague and Berlin
5. Engagements by Europe Minister Alasdair Allan in Oslo, Riga and Bratislava
6. Hosting an Arctic Circle gathering in Edinburgh
7. Hosting visits by delegations from EU member states and institutions to Scotland
8. Co-hosting in Edinburgh the OECD Rural Development Conference
9. Briefing sessions with the Scotland-based Consular Corps
10. Meetings between Scottish Ministers and EU Ambassadors

https://news.gov.scot/news/not-the-final-europe-day

Isn’t this kind of impressive? Yet, somehow, much of it has been invisible to BBC Scotland and the British press in Scotland.

According to Reuters, Brent crude touched $77.20 per barrel, yesterday. Today, Alex Kemp, professor of petroleum economics at Aberdeen University predicted that Oil could breach $80. This prediction was triggered by President Trump’s intended sanctions against Iran, but higher prices have long been predicted, based on the massive growth of the South and East-Asian middle classes. See:

Will Scotland’s oil hit $100 (or more?) a barrel again after 2020?

Is a third forecast that Scotland’s oil will hit $100 per barrel again, a sure sign?

Further strengthening the expectations of continued wealth from North Sea Oil, is the evidence emerging that peak oil is some way off. See:

20 years till peak demand for Scotland’s oil, time to get our share?

This suggest massive taxation possibilities which could accrue to an Independent Scotland, assuming our Treasury has the will to properly tax the producers, which the UK Treasury mysteriously does not. See:

Correction: Office for Budget Responsibility massively underestimates North Sea oil revenues

Scottish GDP grows by 10 times UK rate in first quarter of 2018 or could that be 30 times with proper taxation of oil revenue?

While I agree that the case for independence should not be reliant on oil, surely we cannot ignore this gift next time and must make sure it is common knowledge that Scotland should be rich?

(c) churchofscotland.org.uk

We’ve already heard from Anas Sarwar that Scotland’s reputation for tolerance and welcoming strangers is more mythical than real. I’ve rebutted that here:

12 reasons why Anas Sarwar is wrong about Scotland’s racism problem….other than in the Scottish Labour Party?

Today, we see further evidence to support my case with this announcement from the Scottish Government:

‘Refugee families: Support arranged ahead of arrival in Scotland. Refugees can now organise financial support for family members before they are reunited in Scotland. Up to £100,000 in Family Reunion Crisis Grants will smooth the path for new arrivals, bridging the gap before they can be assessed for benefits entitlement. The grants provide assistance with initial living costs, as well as essential items, such as beds, for those arriving in Scotland under family reunion rules.’ 

The Equalities Secretary, Angela Constance, also commented:

‘Scotland is a welcoming country and we want everyone who chooses it as their new home to be able to do so with a sense of safety, security and hope for their future here. We firmly believe in supporting refugees from the day they get here, and these grants are an example of how we can provide practical support for people to get back on their feet and take their place as valued members of our communities.’

https://news.gov.scot/news/refugee-families

This is further evidence of the increasingly compassionate and unique nature of the SNP government in Scotland which, of course, reflects wider values prevalent in the population. See:

Scotland rehomes 2 000 Syrian refugees three years early

Scotland takes nearly 26% of Syrian refugees settled in UK with only 8% of the UK population

Refugees: The Kindness of Our Ancestors

Why Scotland’s welcome for 1000 Syrian refugees should be a matter for pride but still kept in context

As crime plummets in Scotland, BBC Scotland News resorts to misrepresentations of research findings in the 2018 Global Drug Survey to suggest another ‘crisis’ in Scotland. Headlined in TV broadcasts throughout the morning and online, as:

‘Drug users in Scotland ‘consume most cocaine’ in one session’

and leading with:

‘Drug users in Scotland consume the most cocaine in a single session, according to a worldwide survey of drug-taking habits. The 2018 Global Drug Survey looked at the recreational drug use of 130,000 people across 44 countries. In Scotland the amount of the drug consumed per session was more than double the global average. Researchers, who quizzed 15,000 cocaine users, said the drug can be delivered “more quickly than a pizza” in Glasgow.’

BBC Scotland have either misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented the findings.

First, on the third page of the report, we find this careful disclaimer by the authors:

‘Participation is voluntary. Our survey is not a general population survey and should not be used to determine the prevalence of drug use within a population.’

With regard to the BBC’s claim that ‘the amount of the drug consumed per session was more than double the global average’, this is not reliable because we don’t know how many Scots responded as a percentage of the overall population, we do not know how representative they are of the overall drug-taking population, we do not know if they had a tendency to ‘brag’ about doses or whether they were telling the truth and we don’t know how pure the doses are in different countries. Could the Scots cocaine-users who did respond be a bit more gallus and prone to exaggerate their consumption? Could the typical dose in Scotland be known to be weaker than elsewhere?

By ignoring the reservations declared by GDS on page three and then using certain language such as Drug users in Scotland consume the most cocaine and In Scotland the amount of the drug consumed per session was more than double the global average, BBC Scotland are effectively using lies to deceive and to panic their audience.

Also, in saying Researchers, who quizzed 15,000 cocaine users, when in fact the users merely completed an online form in an ‘encrypted anonymous web survey’, the reporter has misled the reader into thinking the research was more valid than it could be – quiz 15 000 users? How many researchers did they hire?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-44048083

https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/gds-2018/

Footnote: Is this the real news story in the research findings?

UK among world’s biggest buyers of drugs on dark web as illicit trade grows, survey finds

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/drugs-dark-web-net-online-sales-uk-biggest-global-survey-research-law-a8341966.html

 

There were 26 489 attendances at Scotland’s A&E departments in the week ending 29^th April 2018. 90.6% or 24 000 were seen within four hours.

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Emergency-Care/Publications/2018-05-08/Summary-Weekly/index.asp

NHS Scotland continues to fight to reach its targets. NHS England has been told to just give up. See:

‘A&E waiting times are SCRAPPED by NHS England with bosses suspending four-hour targets until April 2019 amid cutbacks’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5346945/A-E-waiting-times-SCRAPPED-NHS-England.html

(c) ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA

Scotland does have a racism problem. Every country has one. There is, however, clear evidence that Scotland is a more tolerant and welcoming country than most and certainly more so than England.

In the Herald today, former Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar suggests:

‘Scottish ‘myth-making hides’ country’s racism problem’

He has based his piece on a new academic book, ‘No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland’ which argues that the Remain majority north of the border on Brexit has given the exceptionalism myth a “new lease of life”.

The Herald report says:

‘The vote is routinely cited as evidence Scotland is inherently more welcoming to migrants. However, the book warns against such self-flattery and says a better Scotland “will only be built by confronting the evil of racism rather than pretending it does not exist”. ‘

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16210194.Scottish__myth-making__hides_country_s_racism_problem/?ref=ebln

I don’t pretend racism does not exist, but I do insist it is less typical of Scotland than it is of most other countries and I need no myths because I have the evidence:

First, with regard to anti-Irish sentiment, which the book authors insist is hidden from official statistics on racist attacks, by being classified as sectarianism, there is clear evidence to show that Scotland’s record here is of a far more benign form than found elsewhere even in Europe. For example, the people of Glasgow, in the 1840s, took in roughly 1000 refugees every day, fleeing the Irish Holocaust or the Great Famine as it was known. See this:

‘That so many people of one race could move more or less peacefully to another country where among other things, the religion was diametrically opposed to that of the majority of their own, must surely be a tribute to the Scot’s understanding, forbearance and tolerance. Many unkind things have been said about the lack of such qualities in Glasgow and Central Scotland, yet when compared with other nations where there have been similar displacements, they have certainly prevailed in Scotland.  The ingredients for violence were all there, but it was never to erupt. Yet there were moments of open hostility, times of tension and trepidation when the bubble almost burst but didn’t.’

These words are from ‘Irish: A Remarkable Saga of a Nation and a City’ by John Burrowes (Mainstream Publishing, 2003, page 129). In ‘other nations’, he includes notably the USA where anti-Irish violence was widespread. I’ve only just finished reading it, after reading two other Christmas book token purchases – a History of the Balkans and a History of the Arabs. I read it last because I thought I knew more about its content than the others. I did know more, in a general sense, of what was in the story, but I hadn’t known the sheer scale and intensity of the migration. I found, reading the other two books, among much interesting detail, that the histories of the Balkans and of the Arabs were saturated with waves of blood-letting, with staggering cruelty and with endless suffering of the innocents, especially women and children.

Second, the current facts of racism in the UK are clear:

‘There were 3,349 [hate crime] charges reported [in Scotland] in 2016-17, 10 percent fewer than in 2015-16, and the lowest number reported since 2003-04.’

http://www.copfs.gov.uk/media-site-news-from-copfs/1559-hate-crime-in-scotland-2016-17-report-released

Remember these figures include anti-semitism (17), racism and attacks against English, East Europeans, catholics and presumably protestants too.

In England and Wales, however:

 ‘Hate crimes have rocketed by almost a third in the UK in the past year, with unprecedented spikes around the EU referendum and terror attacks recorded by police. New figures released by the Home Office confirm victims’ reports of a dramatic increase in incidents motivated by attackers’ hostility towards their race, nationality, religion or other factors. Data from police forces across England and Wales showed there were almost 80,400 hate crimes recorded in the 2016/17 financial year.’

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/hate-crimes-eu-referendum-spike-brexit-terror-attacks-police-home-office-europeans-xenophobia-a8004716.html

Moving now to what has become Sarwar’s central concern, since he lost the Scottish Labour leadership contest, Islamophobia in Scotland.

Third, see this extract from a Scottish Government research survey in 2011:

‘In addition, Hussain and Miller (2004) argue that Muslims in Scotland are more likely to identify themselves as Scottish than Muslims in England are to identify as English (Hussain and Miller 2004, 2006). In their study, comparing experiences of Islamophobia and Anglophobia in Scotland, Hussain and Miller established that the Muslims interviewed found it very easy to identify with Scotland. They suggest this could be explained partly because their religious identity is seen as cultural and not territorial. This finding is supported by research conducted by Masud (2005) into the experiences of Muslims across Britain after the London bombings in 2005. In this research conducted across Scotland, “it was widely acknowledged and appreciated that compared with other parts of the country, especially England, Scotland was a tolerant place” (Masud 2005).’

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2011/03/08091838/4

Fourth, 1.8% of the prison population in Scotland is Muslim. This is broadly in proportion to the 1.45% of Scottish population which is Muslim, and in significant contrast to the very large figure of 13% for Muslim prisoners in England and Wales.

Fifth, notably, although Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are still over-represented in more deprived areas of Scotland, they are less likely to be living in such areas in Scotland than they are in England.

Sixth, Muslims in Scotland are fast becoming a highly-educated population – currently exceeding the total population figure for ‘degree level and above’ education by 10 percentage points.

Seventh, almost 1 in 3 (31%) of the Muslim population is ‘economically active’ full-time – whether as an employee, or self-employed. For the population as-a-whole, the figure is 51%. It is notable that both of these percentages are higher than the corresponding figures for England and Wales which are 19.8% for Muslims and 34.9% for the overall population

Eighth, comparisons with the Muslim population in England and Wales suggest that Muslims in Scotland are somewhat socio-economically better off.

http://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/scottish_muslims_in_numbers_web.pdf

Ninth, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, first took his oath of allegiance in English and then in Urdu in the Scottish Parliament. Not something you can imagine in France.

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/9147/yvonne-ridley-french-police-could-take-lessons-scotlands-cops-after-burkiniban

Finally, see this:

‘Good community relations mean young Muslims in Scotland eschew extremism Unlike in England, there is mutual respect between the Scottish government, the Muslim communities and the police’

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jul/14/good-community-relations-young-muslims-scotland-eschew-extremism

I think that’s enough evidence to dispose of Sarwar’s claim.

He may, however, have been the victim of racism within the Scottish Labour party. I have no evidence to contradict that notion.