Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Iain Green's cartoon for The Scotsman the other day seemed to capture the current plight of the Scottish Labour Party - with Jim Murphy appearing as a Phoenix-like creature trying to emerge from the ruins of the branch office. And as Ed Miliband posts a notice for a new 'manager' in Scotland, Labour's dinosaur  MPs roam menacingly in the Westminster background.  Clever, I thought, to get all those competing images in one single cartoon.

Alex Massie wrote a piece for The Spectator the other day on the shock resignation of the Johann Lamont which was relatively sympathetic towards the former Scottish Labour leader, but much less so towards the Labour Party itself.  Now I think that's probably the correct balance to strike because while it's true that Johann didn't make the political weather and was silent on the big issues like equal pay, these were never just personal failings. Instead they were symptomatic of a party that has lost its way and no longer knows what it stands for which is, of course, why Labour has been knocked off its perch in recent years by the SNP.   Alas, poor Johann Lamont: a symptom, not the cause, of Labour’s decline in Scotland By Alex Massie - The Spectator It was the wee things that did it. Things like vision, inspiration, confidence and all the other details that coalesce into that strange something called leadership. There are many types of leader and ...

Iain MacWhirter writing in The Herald seems to think that Jim Murphy is the 'One' - an unstoppable candidate in the race, if that's the right word, to become the new leader of the Labour Party in Scotland. Now I'm not so sure because the trade unions still have one third of the vote in Labour's undemocratic electoral college system by which they select their leaders. And, as history has shown, they're capable of overturning the wishes of individual Labour Party members by handing 80% or even 90% of the 'union section' to a candidate of their choice, thereby completely distorting the outcome.     Because if a trade union backed candidate can achieve 80 or 90% of the vote in the union section of the electoral college, even on a tiny (say 5%) turnout of union members, this carries the same 'weighted' vote as the other two sections. So if a union backed candidate can stay in touch in the 'Individual Party Member' and 'MSP, MP, M...

Two new enquiries about holiday back pay claims have arrived in recent days from staff employed by local Housing Associations - one from Glasgow and the other from Edinburgh. Now I have to admit this is another group that I had never thought about in relation to holiday pay, because I've had some dealings with them in the past. But apparently it is pretty common, from the recent enquiries to HBPC, for people not to be paid their 'normal' pay during holidays and annual leave. And, of course, care and other support staff such as maintenance workers often provide a 24 hours/7 days a week service which means lots of people are working shifts and weekends, call outs, overtime and in some cases sleepovers. So keep spreading the word because there's bound to be plenty of people out there who are not yet aware of their rights in relation to holiday pay. Simple HBPC Test Here's a simple test to help discover if you hav...

The holiday pay campaign keeps growing every day with different groups and categories of workers getting in touch to ask if they have a valid claim. For example, a call came into the HBPC office the other day from a group of call centre staff in North  Lanarkshire and information was sent out to them the same day.  Apparently more than 1,000 staff work in the call centre, so there is huge potential out there as the word spreads among existing Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) clients and completely new clients in other areas in the private sector. So keep spreading the word - the greatest recommendation anyone can make is a personal one and on that basis the track record of A4ES speaks for itself. Simple HBPC Test  Here's a simple test to help discover if you have a holiday backpay claim. T ake your entire wages for 3 months without holiday pay and divide by 3 to give you your average pay for those 3 months. Then compare this average pay with you...

I hadn't really thought about lorry drivers as a group of workers who would have a holiday back pay claim, but there's been an enquiry from a big distribution centre just off the M8 and it seems, indeed, as if these workers do have a case. Because they regularly work overtime hours and are often on the road the weekend as well, which is obvious when you think about it, and apparently these additional pay elements are not included when the drivers take their annual leave. So it looks as if they are another   significant group and as word begins to spread and no doubt others will follow.    Simple HBPC Test  Here's a simple test to help discover if you have a holiday backpay claim. T ake your entire wages for 3 months without holiday pay and divide by 3 to give you your average pay for those 3 months. Then compare this average pay with your pay in the month you were on paid leave.  If your holiday pay is less than your aver...

I've heard from a number of people who want to know if they can transfer a holiday back pay claim to HBPC even though they've already registered a claim with  another  organisation . The answer is Yes it's possible, but each case is likely to  be different so the best thing to do is to  phone  the HBPC office and discuss the situation with one of our staff - contact details are below.   http://www.holidaybackpayclaims.co.uk   For more information you can also call 0800 024 6888 or 0141 343 8066. So start spreading the word to fellow workers, friends and families and if people have any queries they can also drop me a note at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Tony Blair is unyielding in his criticism of Islamic extremism and in this article for the BBC he argues that intervention is the key whether through an education programme that promotes tolerance and respect or via military action that can prevent murder and genocide.    Now I'm not a religious person in any way, but that seems like a good idea to me.   Tony Blair: Fight war of ideas against extremism By Tony Blair - Founder, Tony Blair Faith Foundation Refugees fleeing an attack by Isis near Syria's border with Turkey The last few weeks have seen a significant shift in the global response to events in Iraq and Syria. Led by the US, more than 40 countries are now joined in fighting the scourge of Islamic State (Isis). This is a sensible decision, but it is not enough. Because the issue is larger than terror groups like Isis, Boko Haram or Al-Shabab alone. There is a fundamental problem with radical Islamism. And it is imperative that we recognise t...