Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Every time someone is up for extradition in the UK there's a big media campaign  highlighting how unfair it is - allegedly - to send poor 'so and so' off to face justice in a foreign land. Doesn't really matter who it is - young or old, rich or poor - though interestingly most suspects turn out to be men. But whoever's involved there's always a tear inducing argument at hand to explain how terrible things are  likely to be - for the alleged criminal. The underlying logic being that they must be allowed to remain in the UK - at all costs - instead of being packed off abroad to face their accusers. So to illustrate the point: Julian Assange says he won't get a fair trial in Sweden - he didn't sexually assault anyone. Shrien Dewani says he shouldn't be extradited to South Africa - he didn't arrange for his new bride to be murdered . Christopher Tappin says American justice is not to be relied upon - he didn't know his weapons grad

Governments seldom get any praise - so let me raise a small cheer on behalf of the Treasury's move to order B arclays Bank to pay £500 million in tax - which the bank's bosses tried to avoid. The government also took the highly unusual step of  of introducing retrospective legislation to prevent Barclays from getting away with its policy of 'aggressive tax avoidance'. Now that has to be good news - whatever your politics. And the fact is that if people actually paid their fair share of taxes - then tax rates could actually start coming down. If I had a magic wand I'd bring back the old 10p tax rate - because that helped put money in the pockets of low paid workers - particularly women on part-time hours. Abolishing the 10p tax rate was one of the craziest things Gordon Brown ever did - apart from bottling out of a decision to call a general election in October 2007. But the former Labour leader did the wrong thing on both counts - and ended up paying a

So the occupy protesters have finally been moved away - from their tent city outside of St Paul's Cathedral in London. I can't say the occupy movement did much to inspire me - I know only too well that I didn't cause a run on the UK banks. So I suppose that makes me one of the mythical 99% - but so what? What I certainly don't need is a motley crew of anarchists, students and alternative lifstyle types - pitching their tents just about anywhere they like - and then claiming that they're acting on my behalf. No one asked me for my approval - or even my opinion - yet this self-selected group all claim to be acting in the name of democracy. Much as I agree with the sentiment of 'tarring and feathering' a few of the culprits - politicians, bankers and greedy borrowers too - I can't bring myself to say that a self-appointed mob should be the ones to dispense justice. Not in my name anyway. So it's about time people were moved along - though

I read a report yesterday which said that Gordon Brown - the sometime MP for Fife - is facing growing calls to sing up as part of a 'dream team' to oppose independence in the forthcoming Scottish referendum. Now I missed the explanation about who exactly is clamouring for Gordon Brown to get on board - I'm certainly not. In fact I think it would be a disastrous move for a whole number of reasons. Firstly, Gordon is not much of a team player - turns out he spent the best part of 10 years trying to undermine his pal - Tony Blair - yet when he got his chance at the top job Godon fluffed it big time. Secondly, Gordon is far too hostile towards the Scottish nationalists and would want to run a very negative campaign - instead of accepting that the SNP are widely accepted to have done a good job in the Scottish Parliament - which is why they won a handsome majority in 2011. Thirdly, Gordon is pre-occupied with other things - such as spending 70 days a year  Abu Dhabi c

The latest edition of Prviate Eye has a nice line in modern nursery rhymes - which might upset traditional church goers as well as confusing poor old Mr Spock. New Secular Nursery Rhymes Here's the church Here's the steeple Look inside, there Aren't any people Here's the vicar climbing The stairs Here's the policeman arresting Him for saying his prayers

I listened to the ridiculous old booby Lord John Prescott give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday. If LJP's not the most inarticulate man in Britain - I'll swear I'll hop on one leg all the way to Motherwell Civic Centre - and back. As far as I can gather - and I listened very attentively - old Two Jags thinks he is the victim of a terrible conspiracy. Because his name appears on a list drawn up in 2006 by a private investigator - Glenn Mulcaire - working for News International. But you can see why the deputy Prime Minister of the day was of interest to the press - because he was  conducting a clandestine affair with a junior civil servant - his diary  secretary at the time, Tracey Temple. So why wouldn't the media want to expose the old goat? Because there was a good argument for sacking the deputy PM - for mixing together his professional and personal lives - though what the much younger woman saw in  the now 73-year-old Lord Prescott is anyone'

Here's a You Tube video of the famous Monty Python sketch on the Spanish Inquisition. Just goes to show that there's a funny side to organised religion - albeit many  hundreds of years after the events in question. Because I'm pretty sure that Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam would have had their knackers cut off with a rusty cheesewire - had they made this joke in less enlightened times. In fact I seem to remember the church calling for the Life of Brian to be banned - when it was first released back in 1979 - the cinematic equivalent of book burning of course. http://youtu.be/Tym0MObFpTI

Here's a joke someone sent me recently - which hits the nail right on the head when it comes to Westminster MPs. Now I know there are many honourable exceptions when it comes to MPs and their expenses - not all of them had their noses in the trough. But while only a handful ended up in court - the truth is many more were happily exploiting 'rules' which were drawn up to protect public money. Only for MPs to drive a coach and horses through the rules on a regular basis - making a complete mockery of the 'golden' rule - that expenses could only be claimed for things that helped MPs do their jobs effectively.  Like dog food - or getting someone to launder your shirts and pants.    And that's not all - because the House of Commons allows many bad practices to continue - by turning a blind eye to things that would be outlawed in any other walk of life. Such as MPs moonlighting from their day jobs on a regular basis - to the public purse subsidising their

Alex Neil - the SNP MSP for Airdrie and Shotts - is the latest person to lend his support to the campaign to knock some sense into North Lanarkshire Council (NLC). Which is good news - because it puts other MSPs on the spot to say where they stand. So anyone living in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency might care to drop Alex a note - as a local MSP he is in an ideal position to take up people's concerns with North Lanarkshire Council. The facts of the matter are clear - after the collapse of the Edinburgh 'Wilkinson' case there is no valid reason for NLC refusing to settle these outstanding cases. The legal arguments in North Lanarkshire are exactly the same - yet while Edinburgh has settled North Lanarkshire continues to drag its feet. First of all it the council was 'defending the indenfensible' - now it's a case of 'delaying the inevitable' - but for no good reason.    Alex Neil's e-mail address is:  Alex.Neil.msp@scottish.parliamen

The strangest thing about the Strangers Bar in the House of Commons - is the price it charges for drinks. Like much else in the Palace of Westminster the all-day Strangers Bar is heavily subsidised - and you can buy a glass of wine for only £2.50 - much less than the going rate in any nearby public house or restaurant. For reasons which MPs don't like to discuss the Commons catering service is subsidised to the tune of £5.8 million a year. Or to put that another way - six times the amount of money (£963,000) offered to the boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland  - Stephen Hester - as a performanc bonus. Which Stephen Hester declined - of course. After a huge public outcry from many - including Westminster MPs who said this was a terrible waste of public money.  Yet they subsidise their own eating and drinking habits to the tune of millions of pounds a year - and no one bats an eyelid. In the year to March 2011 some £1.33 million was spent in the nine bars which are dotte

The Labour party seems inclined to get rid of one of its MPs - Eric Joyce, the member for Falkirk. The reason for this move seems to be the recent altercation in the Strangers Bar of the House of Commons - which has led to Eric Joyce facing three charges of common assault. Now what puzzles me is that the MP's behaviour is most likely to be explained - by some underlying alcohol dependence and/or mental health problem. Which may well mean that he's unfit to carry on as a member of parliament - but if so, you would think that the situation would be dealt with sensitively - with a degree of humanity. Personally speaking I would have got shot of Eric Joyce years ago - but for a political reason not a personal one. My reason would be that Eric Joyce is one of those MPs - who has benefited hugely out of the MPs' expenses scandal. Like many others he bought second home to live in while down in Westminster - and the public purse paid many of thousands of pounds to pay

Things in North Lanarkshire are really heating up. Hardly a day goes by without someone contacting me - to say that they've been in touch with their local councillor and/or MSP. And surprise, surprise - the word coming back is that the Labour council's 'our hands are tied' position - is falling apart at the seams. All I can say is that it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people - and they've brought this all on themselves. Treating folk like idiots is never a good idea - and it's just plain dangerous when there's a big election round the corner. So this is a great opportunity to make your voice heard - and the more people who join in - the sooner we'll get a result.

The newspapers reported at the weekend that David Miliband - the Labour MP and brother of Labour leader - Ed Miliband - is to be paid £70,000 for three days work. But I feel it is my public duty to point out that this figure is understated and - therefore - incorrect. Because while David Miliband may well be getting more than £20,000 a day for advising a venture capital company in California - VantagePoint - he will also be drawing a salary for his day job as a Labour MP. Now I don't know whether this makes him a 'producer' or 'predator' - in terms of the language  used by brother Ed - to describe the two faces of modern day capitalism. For my money David has to be a predator because he is thumbing his nose at the people who elected him - along with many other MPs in the House of Commons - including the former prime Minister and Labour leader, Gordon Brown. What I don't get is that these people see themselves as good socialists who - at times - rail a

The problems facing Greece are enormous and largely of their own making - but this doesn't stop some of its citizens from blaming its economic woes on others - notably the Germans. In recent weeks the anti-German message has been getting out of hand - with an Athens radio station being fined 25,000 Euros for calling Angela Merkel - the German Chancellor - a 'dirty Berlin slut'. Cartoons have appeared portraying Germans as concentration camp guards - with the Greeks as holocaust victims. The one above shows Angela Merkel in full Nazi regalia - which suggests that some people have completely taken leave of their senses. The point is that no one is actually forcing the Greek people to swallow their nasty austerity medicine - if they don't like it, they can always drop out of the Euro. Which would have big consequences - but would also be a darned sight more honest than this vile, anti-German propaganda campaign.

Lionel Messi scored the best goal I have ever seen on a football pitch - in last night's game between Athletico Madrid and Barcelona. Not only was a thing of great beauty - Messi's goal was simply audacious. Because for a left-footed player spin on the ball was turning it away from the goal - yet the little Argentinian still managed to slot it into the top right hand corner of the net. If Messi does not win goal of the season for last night's effort - I'll eat my hat. Judge for yourself. http://youtu.be/WEGbhcGkGvs

A chap called Matt Ridley - whom I had never heard of before now - wrote a thoughtful article in The Times the other day - on the reasons why religion has a special place in many societies. For example, Spain is a religious country - but one that has been bought down the centuries for a very high price - unless anyone wants to argue that the Spanish Inquisition and the practice of torturing and murdering was justified somehow. I don't have a problem with religion by and large - people can choose to believe in anything they like as far as I'm concerned. But religion does have a tendency to turn into a fundamentalist movement - intolerant of heretics and non-believers - willing to believe that various holy books contain the literal word of God - such as the Bible, Koran or Book of Mormon. Matt Ridley points out society has tamed religion in many parts of the world - which is true - but that has come about over the years - because people like Richard Dawkins have stood up