Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Labour leader - Ed Miliband - was in Scotland yesterday for a short while speaking up for the anti-independence campaign. Ed's core message was that the fight for social justice would be side-tracked and held back by independence - which was a diversion from the real issues of the day. If you like - that working people in Glasgow and Manchester have everything in common with each other - they share the same basic goals - so why not try and achieve them together.  Ed told his audience that the way to avoid a repeat of the bank bonus story was to have a "decisive shift in rules and behaviour" - and a proper debate about "responsible capitalism" and executive pay for those at the top.  Before going on to add: "I say let us confront the real divide in our society. Not between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, but between the haves and the have-nots." Now I find this all very fascinating. Because I haven't ...

Ozzy Osbourne was bang on form in his Ask Dr Ozzy column this week. Here are two examples of his words of wisdom and practical advice - to Sunday Times readers. Now I didn't know that the former 'mad man of rock' - was so in touch with his feminine side. But it sounds like Ozzy was a real tower of strength - in the delivery room. Dear Dr Ozzy If I take a bath in saltwater a few hours before a party, will it help me tto fit into my little black dress? (I've read it works like reverese osmosis, removing water from the body.) Jennifer, Kent I wouldn't know, I don't wear many little black dresses. I used to wear a chainmail suit on stage, though, and I had the opposite problem. It would fit perfectly well when I put it on, but when I worked up a sweat, it would shrink. By the end of the night I felt I'd been strung up with piano wire. So count yourself lucky. Dr Ozzy Dear Dr Ozzy My doctor's asked if I want to listen to music while givi...

More bad news for Scottish Labour as it looks forward to the next round of council elections - which take place of course in May 2012. A Labour councillor in Glasgow - Irfan Rabbani - has jumped ship to the SNP and piles the pressure on in one of the few remaining councils - where Labour has an overall majority. I don't know Councillor Rabbani - but apparently he has represented Pollokshields in the south of the city since 2007. Apparently 49-year-old Rabbani told the BBC that he would not be standing in the local elections in May - although he would be campaigning for other SNP candidates in Glasgow. Now what I'd be interested to know is why someone like Councillor Rabbani - has decided to ditch the Labour party - after being a member for 20 years. Maybe it's down to political in-fighting - maybe not. But whatever the reason Councillor Rabbani owes his constituents - and the voters of Glasgow - a proper explanation. After all - we've been paying his sala...

I read a letter in one of the newspapers the other day. From a member of the clergy in England who was keen to point out that - contrary to popular opinion - religious ministers are not badly off. Because as well as receiving a stipend (a salary to you and me) - they get a range of 'fringe' benefits including: Free housing An exemption from council tax An exemption from water rates Free transport Refunded energy bills Living expenses In the reverend's own estimation this all added up to over £35,000 a year - after tax. Which is a lot more that the average before tax salary in the UK - which stands at around £25,000. Now what churches do with their own property is up to them - but I didn't realise that ministers of the cloth were so heavily subsidised by the public purse. I wonder if this applies to all faiths - or just the chosen few? So it seems that while 'God will provide' - he gets more than a little help from the public purse.

Sir Patrick Moore is one of a dying breed - the great English eccentric. For many years the great man presented the BBC's 'The Sky at Night' programme - speaking far too quickly and excitedly for the medium he worked in - but that didn't matter a bit. Even if you didn't understand what he was talking about half the time - it was still   fascinating to watch and listen to a man wearing a monocle for a while - no one else had worn a monocle on TV for years.  And to be fair to Sir Patrick he kept the flag flying for all things to do with space and astronomy - through good times and bad - until the subjects became sexy and popular again.  Nowadays Sir Patrick is well into his 80s and others like Professor Brian Cox have rocketed by the eccentric astronomer - presenting new TV programmes with the benefit of computer graphics and images beyond the reach of earlier generations. But I imagine Professor Co...

Writing about regular space flights to Mars earlier reminded me of one of my favourite songs - which fired my imagination when I was young - 'Rocket Man' by Elton John. I remember first hearing the song on the radio - as a young teenager - and it seemed to capture the spirit of the age - incredible mystery and glamour brought down to earth by prosaic charm. I might have got things out of order - but if I recall correctly, a while later David Bowie brought out his space anthem - which told the tragic tale of Major Tom in 'Space Oddity'.  And by the looks of things that's a good metaphor for the chances of one Newt Gingrich becoming the next President of America - because as I write - they seem to be floating off deep into outer space. Here are the words and a You Tube link to Rocket Man. http://youtu.be/1GAKOLOnfV4 Rocket Man by Elton John She packed my bags last night pre-flight Zero hour nine a.m. ...

Newt Gingrich is trying to boost his flagging campaign to win the Republican party nomination - by proposing a permanent space colony on the moon - and regular trips to the fourth planet in our little solar system - Mars. The appeal of his idea - crazy or otherwise - is obvious as the contest between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney moves to Florida - where America's space industry has been based for years - at Cape Canaveral. Florida lost thousands of jobs when America's space shuttle stopped flying - and the prospect of another space race to Mars might be attractive to some Republican voters - as they weigh up whether to plump for Romney or Gingrich. Now I'm as keen on space as the next person - the case get to the moon and back under former President John Kennedy was inspirational to people growing up in the 1960s - like me. But I have to say I doubt the wisdom of building a permanent space station on the moon - or flying back and forwards to Mars on a regular basi...

The Bank of Scotland produced a report the other day - on the cost of buying a house as opposed to renting. The main conclusion of the report is that the cost of buying a home has fallen. Not just because prices have dropped - but because mortgage rates are now much lower too - having fallen to an average of 3.63% in 20011 from 5.75% in 2008. What this means is that only 20% of income - on average - in Scotland is now spent on mortage payments, well down on the long-term average of 30%. In other words that in households with a mortage - people are 10% better off than they were a few years ago - and those with a bigger mortage are better off still. So when people start to bang on about this group or that group being worst affected by these harsh economic times - just remember that to see the big picture - the true picture - you have to factor back in mortgage costs.  Because the reality is that while the f...

The Sunday Herald ran an excellent article yesterday - written by Paul Hutcheon - which seemed to catch Glasgow City Council with its 'fingers in the cookie jar'. Because it seems that until the Sunday Herald stepped in and started asking a some awkward questions - the council was about to spend £12,000 of public money - on 'gongs' for councillors. According to the newspaper the medals were the responsibility of the Lord Provost's office - Labour's Bob Winter - but after the Sunday Herald's intervention the plan was pulled at the last minute. So the good citizens of Glasgow have the Sunday Herald to thank for this outbreak of common sense - and the saving it will make to the public purse. What puzzles me is why any of the 17 councillors involved thought it was a good idea in the first place - why didn't someone stand up long before now and say that it was a terrible waste of public money. After all councillors are paid these days - they're...

Yesterday's papers reported that Michelle Mone - one of Scotland's most successful entrepreneurs - will take her multi-million pound lingerie empire south of the border - if the a majority of Scots vote for independence in a future referendum. Now Michelle is no dumb blonde - but what a dumb thing to say. The debate has hardly begun - yet Michelle's mind is already made up and if the rest of the country doesn't agree with her - then it's knickers to Scotland after all this time. Apparently Michelle believes that an independent Scotland could not sustain itself - and that business taxes and the cost of living will both rise - if Scotland doesn't remain part of the UK. Now Michelle strikes me as an establishment sort of person and lo and behold it turns out that Michelle was awarded an OBE in 2010 - for her contribution to business. Which is fine by me - but it does let you know where she's coming from - at one level. Michelle also had ...

Not for the first time - or last I imagine - a politician has said something completely barmy - something that made me laugh, but also to question the calibre of people we have running the country. David Lammy - a former education minister and Labour MP for Tottenham - is claiming that Labour's decision to tighten up the law on smacking children - was partly to blame for last summer's riots. Which started in London and spread quickly - to other English towns and cities. In an interview with LBC Radio, Lammy said: "Many of my constituents came up to me after the riots and blamed the Labour government, saying: 'You guys stopped us being able to smack our children.' "I have to say when this was first raised with me I was pretty disparaging. But I started to listen. These parents are scared to smack their children and paranoid that social workers will get involved and take their children away." Lammy admitted to smacking his three- and five-year-...

So the RBS chief - Stephen Hester - will have to get by on his £1.2 million salary having finally bowed to the inevitable yesterday - by foregoing his planned £963,000 bonus payment. In the past few days just about everybody who was anybody have queued up to give Stephen Hester a good kicking - trying to outdo each other with their moral outrage. Yet the fact is that this kind of thing is going on all the time - without everyone kicking up a great fuss. Just the other week an independent board - similar to the one that runs RBS on behalf of the great British public - handed out a 'golden goodbye' worth over £500,000 to the boss of regeneration agency - GERA -in Glasgow. See post dated 17 January 2012 - 'Death Wish 2012'. At least £208,000 of that 'golden goodbye' payment was complete discretionary - and much of the total came from funds that were earmarked to build a new school in Dalmarnock - one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow. All of the mo...