Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

The TUC released a report the other day which said that 4.82 million workers in the UK are paid less than the 'so-called' living wage of £7.20 and hour - or £8.30 an hour in London. Now that comes as no real surprise to me because the problem of low pay has been around for a very long time - and was the main reason for employers and trade unions in local government striking a landmark UK Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement in 1997 - which came into effect in 1999 in Scotland. The clear intention behind the Single Status Agreement was the need to tackle  widespread discrimination against many female dominated jobs - carers, catering workers, cleaners and classroom assistants - which had been underpaid and undervalued for many years. The Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement took years to negotiate but even then were never implemented properly despite the relative times of plenty that followed over the next decade - as council bu...

Here's one of my all-time favourite things to eat - Papaya Salad - a curious mixture of fruit, vegetables, spices and condiments. But it works like a dream - and will send your taste buds into orbit.    Papaya Salad Ingredients 2 medium sized papayas - ripe but not too soft 1 bag of fresh bean sprouts 1 red pepper 1 good sized carrot 1 red onion 1 handful of chopped coriander 1 handful of chopped mint 1 thumbsized piece of fresh ginger - finely chopped 3 or 4 garlic cloves - minced or finely chopped 6 or 8 cherry tomatoes 1 big handful of crushed peanuts Salt and pepper to taste Juice of one lime or lemon 3 or four tablespoons of fish sauce 1 or 2 pinches of sugar Fresh chili, chilli powder or chili sauce to taste - don't be a wuss - remember that Thai dishes are supposed to be hot and spicy Method Make the dressing first of all by mixing together the ginger, garlic, fish sauce, chopped herbs, lime/lemon juice - be careful with salt b...

'There's no fool like an old fool', so they say - and to prove the point along comes Labour MP Austin Mitchell - who regards himself as a bit of a wag, but is really just an old dinosaur and a terrible embarrassment to his party. Here's an article in today's Guardian which demonstrates that old-fashioned, sexist attitudes are still alive and well - on the Labour benches in Westminster. No wonder the fight for equal pay has been such an uphill battle in recent years - with  politicians like Austin Mitchell in positions of power and influence. "Labour MP defends 'ironic' Louise Mensch tweet" Former Tory MP demands apology after Austin Mitchell tweets: 'a good wife doesn't disagree with her master in public' Louise Mensch said she looked forward to hearing Harriet Harman's response to the comments. A Labour MP has insisted he was simply being ironic when he used Twitter to tell the former Tory MP, Louise Mensch, that a ...

Not much makes my jaw drop these days, but the unbelievable hypocrisy of the Scottish Labour Party over Freedom of Information (FOI) - does the trick every time. For months and years now Scottish Labour has been attacking the Scottish Government over an FOI request - which the Scottish Government refused to answer by appealing a decision of the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) to the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court. Now for what it's worth I think the Government should never have appealed and should simply have complied with the SIC decision - a long time ago. Presumably the Labour Party believes that as well because ever since they've been bangming on about the terrible watse of public money and resources - and how the Scottish Government should be ashamed of itself. I read the other day a comment from the Labour MEP - Catherine Stihler - who made the original FOI request and is apparently now incandescant wit...

I had a laugh over the weekend as a variety of people - in very different ways - gave voice to the old saying that 'there are no guilty men in prison'. First up was Christopher Tappin - a retired millionaire from England somewhere - who was extradited to the USA earlier this year while vehemently protesting his innocence. Now it seems the retired businessman has cut a deal which will mean him going to jail for a year or two in America - then released back to the UK where he will no doubt continue to protest his innocence - even after pleading guilty as charged. Next up was Silvio Berlusconi - the septuagenarian and Bunga Bunga obsessed former Prime Minister of Italy - who was on Friday sentenced to four years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. But he's innocent to its seems and accuses his (Italian) accusers of being politically motivated - so he has already lodged an appeal and will probably never see the inside of a prison cell - because of his age and t...

I was encouraged by a report in The Telegraph newspaper the other day - a follow up piece to its recent expose on MPs' expenses. See post dated 19 October 2012: MPs' Expenses. Only this time the story has a different twist because the second Telegraph report says that the Labour MP - Linda Riordan - seems to have put her hands up and has offered to pay back the profit on her flat sale. Yes, the one bought with public money under the old MPs' expense regime - and which she had been renting to a fellow Labour MP. Now this seems like a eminently sensible suggestion to me - and only fair. Because why should the taxpayer have been keeping a roof over the MPs head while down in London - only for the said MP to hold on to the profits some of these properties have generated in recent years? Some of them running to hundreds of thousands of pounds - which haven't been earned in any proper sense by the MPs involved of course - they just been han...

I notice that the blog site has had lots of visitors from China in the past day or two - so I thought I share this article from the Financial Times and the allegations of the vast riches which have apparently been accumulated by some of China's top politicians. As a former member of the Communist Party myself (albeit many years ago) - I would urge comrades in China not to shoot the messenger - or censor the offending new media. Instead I would look carefully into the detail of what is being said - because if only half of the allegations are accurate - then it's a shameful way to run a great country. "Wen Jiabao family disputes wealth story" by Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing Premier Wen Jiabao’s family members have threatened possible legal action over a media report which claimed they amassed vast riches as his power grew in the Chinese political system, according to Hong Kong media. Two lawyers representing Mr Wen’s fami...

Like many people I heard the news reports earlier today announcing that Gary Glitter - the former pop star and convicted sex offender - is 'helping police with their enquiries' into the Jimmy Savile affair. Now like every other sensible citizen I welcomed this development - but after a second or two I thought to myself - 'How come the story leaked out so quickly?' Then everything became clear - it was a put up job by the police themselves. Because a short time later a photograph of Gary Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) appeared on Sky News - as he left his London home to be interviewed in a local police station. What a happy coincidence that the happy 'snapper' happened to be in just the right place at just the right time - I wonder what odds you would get on that from the bookies? A Scotland Yard spokesman later said: "Officers working on Operation Yewtree have today arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the i...

I was pleased to see that trade union claimants in Edinburgh had some good news the other other day - about their equal pay claims finally being settled by the City Council. The group involved are former APT&C workers - who do a variety of jobs such as classroom assistants, clerical workers, social care workers and senior catering staff - all of whom were being paid less than traditional, male jobs such as refuse workers and gardeners. Now these claims were settled on behalf of Action 4 Equality Scotland clients much earlier in the year - see post below dated 20 January 2012 - so it's good to hear that  the trade union claimants in Edinburgh are no longer being messed about. I hope other Scottish councils with similar outstanding claims will do the decent thing and get their fingers out - because they've really no excuse for dragging their feet. The scandalous thing is that more former APT&C workers haven'...

When I wrote this post about the cheating antics of Gareth Bale during the recent match between Wales and Scotland - I had no idea that the Tottenham Hotspur player was such a master of the deadly art of simulation - or diving to call a spade a spade. But then I came across the following post on You Tube which shows just how cynical football players can be on occasion - and Gareth Bale is not the only one it has to be said. Here is the You Tube link which may make you laugh as the foolish (and no doubt highly paid) commentators did - http://youtu.be/FbaUhiS4lgU  - but in reality there's nothing funny about this kind of bad behaviour. Because it can - as we've seen - change the outcome of an important game and I bet the commentators would n't having been chuckling to themselves - if their own club or national team had been on the receiving end. The 'beautiful game' is a contact sport of course - which doesn't allow players to kick their opponents up...

I enjoyed Rod Liddle's article in last week's Sunday Times - in which he had lots of fun at George Galloway's expense. I agree with Rod up to a point - George does liven up politics, he's a master of self-promotion, if nothing else - and a headline writer's dream. But at the end of the day I think people believe that George is too much in it for himself - too much of a political carpetbagger. Which is presumably why the voters of Glasgow gave George short shrift when he stood in last year's elections to the Scottish Parliament. Maybe Holyrood's loss is Westminster's gain - though I doubt it somehow. "Let Galloway’s show go on – even when all Respect is gone" by Rod Liddle What on earth would we do without George Galloway? You have to say that the Respect MP for Bradford West gives of himself relentlessly for our amusement; scarcely a week goes by without him delivering thoroughly entertaining and deranged behaviour. This is a...

I am a very logical person normally - which is why I'm having some trouble with this wholly manufactured row about the future of Scotland in Europe. Seems to me that if Scotland votes in favour of independence in 2014 then the UK - as presently constituted - no longer exists. In which case all four current member nations/countries of the UK - Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland - must continue as members of the European Union (EU) - or we're all out on our ear together. And if the latter - then we would all need to apply to join the EU club again - and at that point I think England would have a big problem, not Scotland - because of the influence of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) south of the border.. But to say that Scotland would somehow be out on its own seems completely laughable and ludicrous to me - no more than silly scaremongering of the worst kind. I'm a sceptic on independence as I've said befo...

I had to laugh when I read about the  Republican congressman in America who said in a recent rant that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are - “lies straight from the pit of hell” - which are meant to convince people that they do not need a saviour. Now these rather ill-informed and offensive remarks were made by the representative for Georgia - Paul Broun who was giving a speech at a sportsman's banquet at the Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell - on 27 September 2012. Apparently, Mr Broun is a medical doctor and for some reason he is running for re-election in November - unopposed by Democrats. "God's word is true" - literally true according to Mr Broun. Every last word, dot and comma in the Bible is the word of God - according to the good doctor and his fellow fundamentalist Christians - who believe, for example, that the world is only 9,000 years old and was made in just six days, as the Holy Bible says. ...

I have to admit I'm getting a bit confused as well as outraged by the early retirement arrangements for some of the country's leading public servants. The latest example to attract my attention is that of Sir Norman Bettinson - who resigned from his job yesterday as the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police. But prior to this job Sir Norman was the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police - from 1998 to 2005 - when he retired from that job to become the Chief Executive of Centrex. Centrex apparently provided training and development to police forces in the UK - and other enforcement agencies worldwide - until it was abolished in 2007. Whereupon Sir Norman rejoined West Yorkshire Police as its new Chief Constable in 2007 - which he had worked for previously between 1993 and 1998. Despite receiving a £328,000 lump sum (tax free?) severance payment - in connection with his earlier retirement as the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police in 2005. Now Sir Norman is patien...

A major public resignation took place yesterday - but I didn't hear a 'dicky bird' out of the Police Federation, the police trade union. Sir Norman Bettinson - chief constable of West Yorkshire Police - walked away from his job with an annual pension of £83,000, but will not face any internal police misconduct charges relating to the Hillsborough disaster - in which 96 Liverpool football fans died. Sir Norman resigned his post ahead of a West Yorkshire Police Authority meeting that was due to consider his role in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster - which has attracted much criticism. Yet the Police Federation has nothing to say - for a change. Funny that.

The BBC's web site also carried an excellent report on the Supreme Court ruling - here are a few extracts which highlight the main issues. Birmingham City Council loses equal pay appeal bid Claimant Mary Roche told the BBC's Phil Mackie that she "couldn't believe" she was being underpaid. A total of 174 former Birmingham City Council workers can go ahead with compensation claims over missed bonuses after the council lost a court appeal. The workers, mainly women who worked in traditionally-female roles, such as cooks, cleaners and care staff, won a ruling over lower pay last November. The Supreme Court rejected the council's argument the claims should have been made within six months of staff leaving their jobs. Lawyers for the group called the result a "landmark" judgement and said it could have "huge implications" for potentially "thousands" of other workers. The equal pay fight 27 April 2010: About 5,000 mainly...