Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

I've had lots of enquiries about backpay and the NLC job evaluation (JE) review which I have written about regularly on the blog site for the past year and more. Here are two posts (one from May 2015 and the other from June 2016) which explain the background to the JE review and the fact that only a limited number of posts were covered by the review in the first place.   North Lanarkshire Update (23/05/15) Lots of readers have been in touch to ask about the re-evaluation of various jobs in North Lanarkshire Council which has been prompted by the council being forced to concede at the Employment Tribunal that a number of female dominated jobs had not been assessed and graded correctly back in 2006/07. As part of the equal pay settlement it was agreed by all the parties that the process of carrying out a further job evaluation would be down to the council and the trade unions. Now that is quite sensible because while Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) has led the

The latest YouGov poll for The Times confirms what many people have been saying about the Labour party over the past year or so - it has turned into a Jeremy Corbyn fan club. The poll shows that of Labour members who joined before May 2015 (i.e. before the last general election) 68% are 'anti-Corbyn' with only 32% 'pro-Corbyn' - but that this ratio is reversed to nearer 30% to 70% amongst newer members. So the influx of new members has turned the tide in Jeremy Corbyn's favour and looks set to give him a comfortable victory in the Labour leadership contest even though Corbyn's personal ratings amongst the wider electorate continue to fall like a stone. Read the full You Gov poll results below: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2016/08/30/labour-leadership-election-corbyn-leads-smith-24/  

The surprising thing about this latest YouGov poll is not that Jeremy Corbyn is trailing so far behind Theresa May, but that the hapless Labour leader has been pushed into 3rd place by the 'Don't Knows'.

The current position in relation to backpay is that A4ES is in discussions with the Council over payment due for the period 1 April 2015 to 8 June 2016. The aim is to make these payments by the end of September 2016 via individual offer letters to clients which will allow A4ES to check and verify the sums involved. A firm date for this to happen has still to be agreed with NLC, but the Council officials involved seem confident that the end of September is perfectly achievable. A4ES can certainly turn things around veryquickly, by way of individual offer letters, as soon as final agreement on the figures is reached.     Any backpay due to NLC employees for the period 8 June to 25 August 2016 should already have been processed via the Council's payroll. As soon as there is any further news and/or a firm date, I will share this information on the blog site.   NLC Update  (29/08/16) I've had lots of enquiries from readers in North Lanarkshire over the pa

I wonder if Jeremy Corbyn thinks his old chum Michael Meacher was wealthy after the news that the veteran socialist Labour MP left £5.2 million in his will. Apparently this staunch Corbyn supporter made a fortune in the property market after becoming a Labour MP in 1970. During his career Mr Meacher wrote a book "Socialism With A Human Face' and spoke out against people with second homes even though in 2001 he was revealed to the the owner of at least 9 houses, maisonettes and flats worth a cool £2 million. I'll bet you a pound to a penny that Mr Meacher was also a fierce opponent of the right to buy legislation introduced by the Conservative Government in the 1980s, yet he was obviously doing very well himself out of a booming property market.  The following report in The Times (behind the paywall) has all the details.  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/labour-mp-meacher-left-5-2m-in-will-wztvwgb30     Embarrassment of Riches (29/08/16) The Hera

Here's the new seating plan in the Spanish Parliament which has taken the country's MPs two months to agree since the last general election was held in June 2016. Now that sounds bad, but is as nothing when you consider the fact that Spain's been without a government since October 2015 which is when the last Congress of Deputies stood down in preparation for a December 2015 general election. The December 2015 election resulted in political stalemate with the ruling Popular Party  (Conservative) emerging as the largest single group, but without sufficient support to form a coalition government. A further election was called in June 2016 in an effort to break the political stalemate, but the   ruling PP held its ground and even improved its voting share, while all of its rivals lost ground with both PSOE (Socialists) and Podemos (an anti-austerity party) going backwards in the polls. Something of a farce to be sure, but all the while Spanish MPs are drawin

As I suspected, the Labour party's attack on Richard Branson has come under fire from within Labour's own ranks, as Stephen Kinnock MP points out that this looks like exactly what it is - retaliation for the 'Traingate' affair. Speaking to Radio 4 Mr Kinnock said: "I think that actually John McDonnell really has a point about our honours system, which doesn’t work and needs a serious look, but I regret the timing of John coming out with that because the problem with what he’s doing is it just looks like it’s retaliation based specifically on what’s happened with Jeremy and Traingate. "Unfortunately, we’ve taken what is a very serious issue about the way the system works and it’s been somehow devalued by the timing of what John has done so I would regret that." Quite so, I would say. Because not only has John McDonnell said nothing on the subject up until now, the issue of the honours system is not even within his financial brief as L

I've had lots of enquiries from readers in North Lanarkshire over the past few days on the subject of backpay. Now I think it's fair to say that progress is being made and I expect to be able to say more tomorrow, after I've checked a couple of points. In the meantime, those due backpay should have received monies on 25th August 2016 (via payroll) covering the period 8 June 2016 to 25 August 2016.   North Lanarkshire Update (09/08/16) As regular readers know there has been some confusion over the payment of backpay arising from North Lanarkshire Council's late-running job evaluation (JE) review.  What appears to be happening is that on 25 August 2016 any new rates of pay will come into effect and council employees will also receive any backpay they are due, but only for the period from 8 June to 25 August 2016. The longer period when backpay may be due (from 1 April 2015 to 8 June 2016) will be processed via Action 4 Equality Scotland and HBJ Gat

The Herald reported yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn does not consider himself to be wealthy despite earning five times the average worker’s wage. The newspaper went on to report that Mr Corbyn’s salary as MP for Islington is just under £75,000 this year, but that he was also entitled to an additional £63,000 as leader of the opposition, giving a total of £138,000. But this figure fails to mention Mr Corbyn's pension from Unison (NUPE), his state retirement pension which he is entitled to draw being 67 years of age, his exceedingly generous final  salary  pension arrangements as an MP which are 'banked' for the  moment  and his £600,000 house in north London. Not just that, of course, because Mr Corbyn has been a member of the House of Commons for the past 33 years during which time his MP's salary amounted to around £2.5 million (at today's prices) and he has also enjoyed outside earning with Iranian state TV, for example, for which he was paid $27,000 betwe