Orcadian column, 01/10/2026

The rate of drug deaths in Scotland is a national scandal. Having risen sharply from 2014, they reached a peak of 1,339 in 2020, prompting then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon to admit her government had “taken eyes off the ball”.

This admission led to action that briefly saw a small turning of the tide but the waves came crashing back in last week as the latest figures confirmed deaths over the past twelve months had increased by 11%.

Sadly, we are seeing some of this reflected locally with growing concerns about the presence, availability and misuse of ever-stronger drugs here in Orkney. It’s something I’ve raised regularly in meetings with Police Scotland, highlighting too the knock-on consequences for the wider community.

The reasons for Scotland’s status as the ‘drug deaths capital of Europe’ are many and complex. There is undoubtedly a link to poverty, but government cuts to drug and alcohol services over the years have certainly contributed. Moreover, Ms Sturgeon’s ‘eye off the ball’ comment was part apology, part acknowledgment that for too long SNP Ministers brushed off the rising death toll by blaming Westminster.

It’s true, of course, that some drug policy is determined at a UK level, but successive SNP administrations have rightly treated this as a public health issue, thereby placing it firmly back in the Scottish Government’s court. Moreover, Scotland’s drug death rate is 2.5 times higher than anywhere else in the UK, where the same Misuse of Drugs Act provisions apply. True to form, however, current Scottish Drugs Minister, Maree Todd was back last week to pointing the finger at Westminster, suggesting that for all the words of regret ministerial eyes are still not on the ball.

For the First Minister, the drug deaths figures also inconveniently overshadowed his latest half-hearted ‘push’ for independence. SNP and Green MSPs may have ensured parliament voted for another referendum, but there’s no public groundswell, momentum or even expectation.

As former Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes explained at the weekend the case for independence requires this SNP government to demonstrate competence in using the powers already at its disposal. In that regard, Mr Swinney’s case was not helped by figures released either side of last Tuesday’s debate showing record numbers of Scotland’s children living in temporary accommodation and the highest child mortality rate of any UK nation. Add to this recent PISA statistics confirming an alarming slide in Scotland’s educational performance over the past two decades and the SNP’s slogan about making Scotland “the best place in the world to grow up” rings rather hollow.

This week, parliament will turn its attention to debating more immediate matters in the form of the upcoming UK budget. The big question appears to

be whether the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham and his Chancellor, John Healey will stick to Labour’s manifesto commitments on tax and borrowing or use the pressing need to increase defence spending to justify easing out of Sir Keir Starmer’s fiscal straightjacket.

These decisions will shape a Scottish Budget to be unveiled in December where it’s already clear Finance Secretary, Jenny Gilruth faces tricky dilemmas of her own in trying to fill a £5 billion ‘black hole’ in Scotland’s public finances. Public service reform is necessary but won’t be sufficient to plug the gap and may even increase costs in the short term.

Ms Gilruth and her colleagues can reasonably argue that many of the causes of the pressures now faced are outwith the control of Scottish Ministers. Yet the financial mess does partially reflect an attitude within the SNP over many years where credit is gleefully taken for all The Good Stuff while any bad decisions or outcomes can always be laid at the door of Westminster. That can’t continue. To govern is to choose and it’s time for Mr Swinney to take responsibility.

The same can be said of Post Office management following the sudden closure of the Kirkwall Post Office earlier this month with no warning or consultation and no indication of when or where it will re-open. Alistair Carmichael and I will continue to demand answers, but Post Office managers stand accused of shamefully taking their eyes off the ball in spectacular fashion.