Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

I received a very helpful reply to my recent letter to IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority)  about the payment of MPs' salaries and expenses - while they're off swanning about in the Australian jungle somewhere. See post dated 22 November 2012 - 'Money For Old Rope'. The answer is that IPSA is only the administering body when it comes to the MPs' payroll - any decision or instruction to cease payments to an individual 'honourable' member - must come direct from the House of Commons. In other words MPs just make up the rules to suit themselves - and MPs like 'Mad Nad' Dorries continue to be paid even while suspended - unless the House of Commons instructs otherwise. Which I imagine would take a vote on the floor of the House of Commons - or a decision from the Speaker of the House that a member should be suspended without pay. What puzzles me is how an MP can be suspended with pay - if they are clearly unable to do their job...

A regular reader has sent me details of a trade union campaign - in defence of public sector pensions. Now the thought that struck me on reading the material was - 'that what unions should be all about' - raising their voices on behalf of ordinary members.  Even though I disagree strongly with various aspects of the trade union stance - for example their support for 'final salary' pension schemes which favour the better off groups of workers - while doing nothing for the lowest paid. The union leaflet explains what action has been taken to lobby and influence the Scottish Government - and urges individual members to do the same by contacting their local MSPs. And you know what?  By the time I had finished reading everything I was left with the rather obvious question: 'Why didn't the trade unions put the same effort into a big Scotland wide campaign for Equal Pay - over the past ten years?' Because equal pay was (and still is) ...

The BBC's web site carried an interesting report on standards in schools yesterday - which referred only to schools in England and Wales.  The chief inspector of schools in England and Wales - Sir Michael Wilshire - is a widely respected former headteacher who was headhunted for the top job at the schools inspectorate - Ofsted. In presenting the Ofsted annual report - Sir Michael is scathing about the serious inequalities that exist in far too many schools in England and Wales. Particularly as the comparisons being made are being drawn between areas and schools that share the same general characteristics - in terms of the catchment population and background of their students. So why is there such a big difference in standards amongst these schools - and what is being done to close this gap? Which are the obvious questions Ofsted is posing - on behalf of all consumers of educati...

I loved the story that appeared in a variety of news outlets over the weekend - including the Guardian - about the weeping statue of Christ which turned out to be caused not by a miracle - but by faulty drainage pipes. Apparently local worshippers in Mumbai, in India, noticed water trickling down the face of a statue of Jesus - quickly concluding that these 'tears of God' were the result of a blessed, miraculous event. As always happens on such occasions the locals then started collecting (and presumably selling) the 'holy water' - while a campaign got underway to promote the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni - as a site of pilgrimage. Now I know this all sounds like that wonderful episode of Father Ted - where some banal event occurs on Craggy Island - yet was hailed as a miracle by the locals for their own selfish, if understandable reasons. But other people must have had that same thought as well - or maybe they were watching the repeats of Father Ted on TV -...

The surprise appointment of the 'straight arrow' Canadian - Mark Carney - as the new governor of the Bank of England (the UK's central bank) is an important recognition of one thing. That the 2008 banking collapse and deep recession that followed was not an 'act of God' or a natural phenomenon - as leading politicians tried to hoodwink the public into believing at the time. Because as the head of Canada's central bank Mark Carney avoided the 'casino' banking approach - which has caused so much misery in much of the western world. Yet this much riskier and debt driven approach to banking in the UK - happened right under the noses of the politicians who told us (hand on hearts) they were running the country at the time. In fact the Labour government of the day encouraged ever increasing levels of debt through its own policies - in both the public and private sectors.   So while Mark Carney's appoint...

I think people who vote for UKIP are bonkers - but I also believe that 'good Christians' in the Church of England who voted against the ordination of women bishops - are bonkers as well. In fact there's much more evidence of discriminatory behaviour on the part of  the Christian group than the people who support UKIP. Yet I would think long and hard before deciding that the deeply held views of people in either group - however bonkers from my own perspective - makes them unfit to be foster parents. So what are we to make of Labour controlled Rotheram council removing three foster children (of eastern European origin) from two experienced foster parents - simply because they were members of UKIP. Prior to that the couple were supporters of the Labour Party apparently - although that didn't seem to be a heinous crime in the eyes of senior social work managers - whose politics, if any, are not public knowledge...

The fortnightly satircial magazine - Private Eye - has a regular column entitled 'HP Sauce' which often succeeds in highlighting the hypocritical behaviour of certain politicians in the Houses of Parliament. Here's an piece from the latest edition of Private Eye. "HP Sauce" "'Labour MP Michael Meacher wrote a furious post on his blog about Andrew Mitchell's "fucking pleb" outburst at the gates of 10 Downing Street. As he said, "the language was a wide-open revelation of the inner attitudes, normally kept firmly padlocked away until once ensconced in power those born to rule can mete it out to the serfs physically, financially and power-wise...."  Mitchell's repeated demand 'Let me through, I'm the chief whip' adds another dimension. Ministers can do what the hell they like, it doesn't matter what the rules say. What disgraceful behaviour! Then again Meacher seems to have suffered a slight lapse of m...

I came across the following review of The Master - which I wrote about the other day - all I can say is that Paul Bradshaw from the Guardian newspaper - must have gone to  see a different film to the one I saw at the cinema last weekend. I can scacrely believe that people get paid to write such nonsense as this: "...I saw it as an eloquent drama of ideas, a Foucauldian account of unreason, all about crazy and marginal worldviews excluded from mainstream histories of the western enlightenment." But you pays your money and takes your choice - as the saying goes. "The Master – review" Paul Thomas Anderson proves his uniqueness again, as Joaquin Phoenix's drifter bonds with Philip Seymour Hoffman's cult leader in a brilliant and sad dissection of postwar America Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian, Thursday 1 November 2012 Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie The Master is brilliant, mysterious and unbearably sad, in approximately that narrative order. ...

I learned a remarkable thing the other day - that there is another mainstream UK organisation employing a process for making important decisions - which is just as bizarre and unfair as the Labour Party's. Step forward the Church of England. Because in an orgy of religious democracy a couple of days ago he Church of England voted to allow women bishops to prech and minister to its flock - except that it didn't. Even though just about everybody - who is anybody in the Church of England voted for this to happen - and for the C of E to drag itself into the 21st century. Now the results of the Church's consultation exercise were impressive:   42 out of 44 Church dicoeses voted to allow women bishops - 96% 148 to 45 of the Church's clergy voted in favour - 77% 44 to 3 of the Church's exisiting bishops voted in favour - 94% 132 to 74 of the delegates to the Church Synod (Parliament) voted in favour - 64%.  ...

I loved the following piece in the Private Eye's regular 'Street of Shame' column - which takes its name from the halcyon days when national newspapers were all concentrated in London's Fleet Street. How times change. But is it just coincidence that Labour MPs in the House of Commons have had nothing to say about phone hacking claims at The Mirror - just because it is a Labour supporting paper?  Personally speaking I can't see any difference between having my phone hacked by the News of the World  or The Mirror - either or both would be equally offensive and contemptible.  "Street of Shame" "The Sunday Mirror leapt aboard the bandwagon with an editorial blasting Newsnight for abandoning its Savile investigation and accusing the corporation of a "three-week cover up". How very different from Trinity Mirror (the owner of the Mirror titles), which refused to launch its own internal investigation into allegat...

I watched First Minister's Questions (FMQs) in the Scottish Parliament yesterday - a very bad tempered affair and a poor advert for Scotland - in my view. What passes for debate these days in Holyrood amounts to little more than a succession of puffed-up people asking the First Minister a series of loaded questions - which are the political equivalent of: 'When did you stop beating your wife, First Minister?' Now I like a bit of good political knockabout as much as the next person - but I have to day this endless repetition of the same line of questioning is deadly boring and dull. As things stand we are going to have the following exchange played out at Holyrood week afater week: Q First Minister are you an mendacious, incorrigible liar or just completely useless and incompetent at your job? A Neither, of course.  Yet after this pantomime has been played out (with the questions read out verbatim as often as not) th...

I came across the following story on the BBC's web site earlier today - which struck me as rather ridiculous. I fail to see how the Parliament's presiding officer - Tricia Marwick - can make such a big fuss over nothing.  In the Westminster Parliament MPs appear able to swan about doing exactly as they like - up to and including jetting off abroad to appear in silly TV programmes. Yet in Scotland a normally mild-mannered MSP  - Michael McMahon - gets suspended for letting off a bit of steam even though he apologised later. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.     "Labour's Michael McMahon handed one-day Holyrood ban" "A Labour MSP who shouted "you're out of order" at Holyrood's presiding officer has been suspended. It is understand (sic) that Michael McMahon was banned from the chamber for the day because Tricia Marwick did not think his immediate apology was sincere. The presiding officer is due to make a statemen...

I read that Scotland's lawyers may go on 'strike' because of planned Government changes to the way in which their fees are paid and collected - in cases that come before the criminal courts. Now of course lawyers won't really be going on strike in the way most people would understand anyway - because they are not members of a trade union - instead they are private business people who would be withdrawing their services if this action goes ahead. As I understand the dispute it revolves around plans to require lawyers to recover their clients' contributions towards legal aid costs - which will kick  in if an when an individual client's disposable income rises above £68 per week. Now this has caused outrage amongst criminal lawyers who say it will create a conflict - if they have to do their best for clients while at the same time having to chase the same client for money - potentially at least, assuming that not every client will be in a hurry to pay for se...

I sent a letter to IPSA the other day - IPSA being the independent parliamentary body which oversees the payment of salaries and expenses to MPs at Westminster. I can't think of any other walk of life where someone would be paid their full salary - having deliberately put themselves in a position where they are unable to do their job.  So let's see what comes back. By e-mail Dear IPSA  Payment of MPs' Salaries and Expenses I would like to raise a complaint with you over the payment of MPs' salaries and that of one honourable member in particular - Nadine Dorries. I understand from various news reports that Nadine Dorries is in a jungle somewhere in Australia as a contestant in a TV programme -  instead of doing her day job as an MP at the House of Commons in Westminster or in her parliamentary seat of Mid-Bedfordshire. I am not a constituent of Nadine Dorries, but as a taxpayer I object to the Member of Parliament drawing a public sala...

My tip of the week for saving money in these harsh economic times is avoid a trip to the cinema to see 'The Master' - a new film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Not only is the film boring and dreary - it is complete 'mince', in my humble opinion,  from start to finish which is no mean feat I have to tell you - especially as The Master has no discernible beginning, middle or end. Now some might say The Master has fine leading actors - which is true - because Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman (PSH) have starred, for example, in Gladiator and Walk the Line - The Big Lebowski and Capote, respectively. To name but a few highlights from their films careers - so far at least. PSH plays Lancaster Dodd - the film's eponymous Master - a mysterious, but genial, Svegali-like, cult figure who Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoneix) literally stumbles across while drunk - and goes o...

I put up a post the other day which included the ravings of Gilad Sharon - son of the former Israeli Prime Minister - Ariel Sharon. See post dated 20 November 2012 - Final Solution. Ever since I have been thinking about how ridiculous Gilad's argument were - not just because they come straight out of The Bible or at least the 'eye for an eye' mentality of the Old Testament - where God's chosen people could smite their enemies with complete impunity. Up to and including the slaughter of their enemies - once the fighting was over. No the thing that got me was the complete unfairness of it all - the demagogic use of language to make false and vicious claims about the people of Gaza. Take Gilad's claim that the Gazans are simply getting what they deserve because they voted for Hamas - 'so hell mend them' - so to speak. Now I'm not sure of the election figures but like any election elsewhere in the world - I'm pretty certain ...

I came across this fantastic picture of a man at the golden temple in Amritsar - wearing a giant Turban - which reminded me of another old saying. 'If you want to get ahead, get a hat.' So this chap and his incredible headgear are clearly going places. 

Talking about nut jobs who make matters worse - here's an opinion piece from the Jerusalem Post written by one Gilad Sharon - son of the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. Some readers may also remember that Ariel Sharon was the leader of the so-called Israeli Defence Forces which invaded Lebanon in 1982 - and stood back while Phalangist militia groups murdered up to 3,500 defenceless civilians (mainly women and children) in the Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. No rockets were being fired into Israel at the time - as I recall - and 30 years later the path to peace proves as slow and tortuous as ever - while Israel continues to occupy more and more Palestinian land by building new settlements on the West Bank - in complete defiance of UN resolutions, of course. Now the real purpose of this illegal 'land grab' is to make future peace negotiations with the Palestinians that much more diffi...

Over the years I've met many people with Conservative politics - none had horns growing out of their heads to the best of my recollection - in fact some were quite impressive and inspiring. So I enjoyed this timely article by Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times at the weekend - which made me stop and think why people should behave in such a hateful, spiteful fashion - in a civilised democratic country. Not least because it is perfectly possible to hold strong political views on issues - without resorting to vicious and personal attacks.  Especially attacks that are completely untrue.     Alan Davies - the stand-up comedian and star of various BBC programmes - is one of those now facing the wrath of Lord McAlpine's lawyers - for asking his 440,000 followers on Twitter: “Any clues as to who this Tory paedophile is.... ?” Shortly afterwards Alan Davies went on to retweet a response to his 440,0...