Tackling Vested Interests
Some of the most furious reaction to Joan McAlpine's article on independence in the Daily Record - came at last week's First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament.
Labour leader Johann Lamont used the opportunity to attack First Minister - Alex Salmond - for leading a government of 'inaction' - which was holding Scottish women back.
Before going on to add that Joan McAlpine's comments in the Daily Record were 'as offensive to women as his (Alex Salmond's) policies are damaging'.
Now I don't mind a bit of good old-fashioned political knockabout.
But I have to say that I haven't seen any evidence of leading Labour figures - past or present, men or women - standing up and speaking out over widespread pay discrmination in Scottish councils.
And that goes for self-styled feminists like Johann Lamont - who talk the talk on equality issues.
Yet were nowhere to be seen or heard when the issue of equal pay came to a head in Glasgow - where Johann has been an MSP since 1999 of course.
No, not even remotely.
In fact as I recall all the Glasgow Labour MSPs kept their heads down - well and truly.
Presumably to avoid embarrassing Scotland's largest council which had - and still has - an overall majority of Labour councillors - including Johann's husband, Councillor Archie Graham.
So when it became clear that Glasgow City Council was 'bang to rights' and that it had been discriminating against its lowest paid women workers for years - who stood up and spoke out?
None of the city's Labour politicians - that's for sure.
In fact when Glasgow City Council started making cash 'buy out' offers to these low paid women workers - effectively duping them out of many thousands of pounds - the city's Labour MSPs and Labour councillors were nowhere to be seen.
Even now senior Labour figures try their best not to get involved in Glasgow City council's internal affairs -yet they have plenty to say in the Scottish Parliament just so long as it's not about what goes on in Labour's own backyard.
And the same is true in North Lanarkshire.
Where another Labour-run council is 'holding women back' - by dragging its feet and refusing to settle long standing equal pay claims which other councils settled long ago.
The kind of politician that I admire is that rare breed - one who speaks up without fear or favour, who supports doing the right thing - even when it's politically inconvenient to do so.
And even if that means upsetting some of their own supporters - and tackling a few vested interests on their own side.
