About freedom.scot
Independent
by design.
A Scottish home for polished, source-led research and commentary on public money, accountability and questions affecting our communities.
The intention
A question is the beginning, not the conclusion.
freedom.scot publishes research and the author’s commentary. It starts from real questions about how decisions affect life in Scotland, and aims to make the underlying evidence easy to inspect.
The articles are not presented as institutional research or peer-reviewed academic papers. Where the author holds a view, it is labelled as an interpretation or opinion; uncertainty and significant counterevidence belong in the same piece.
- Source the numbers
Prefer original government publications, regulators, grant databases and primary research over recycled headlines.
- Check the comparison
Compare like with like: the same years, populations, definitions and types of spending.
- Publish limitations
Identify where evidence is missing, commercially withheld or not representative of the broader claim.
- Invite scrutiny
Link the original sources and provide downloadable papers so readers can examine the argument independently.
A first example
What the Lottery research does — and does not — establish.
The National Lottery supports good causes, and premises cluster in poorer communities.
Official data document UK-wide grant awards and Scottish deprivation patterns for gambling premises. Published community-funding figures also show substantial support for deprived areas.
A neighbourhood’s net Lottery return.
The Gambling Commission withheld geographic sales data requested in March 2026. Without comparable local ticket sales and grant-beneficiary data, the author’s hypothesis about unequal contributions remains unconfirmed.