Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

All horror films should be made in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😱 pic.twitter.com/bV197Qd1fr — BBC Scotland (@BBCScotland) October 31, 2019 Happy Halloween to all blog site readers - here's a topical little gem from BBC Scotland's comedy unit!      

On 11 October 2019 I asked Glasgow City Council (GCC) for a copy of the rules governing the expenses claims of the city's Lord Provost - see letter below. On 30 October 2019 GCC answered my request. On 31 October 2019 the Lord Provost decides to resign. Now is this coincidence or are the two events connected? More to follow - so watch this space.       11 October 2019 Annemarie O'Donnell Chief Executive Glasgow City Council By email to -  annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk Dear Ms O'Donnell FOISA Request I refer to the recent letter published by Glasgow's Lord Provost, Eva Bolander, regarding the expenses claims of council civic heads,  a key extract of which is highlighted below. "In submitting claims, I have always tried to ask myself the question, 'would I require this if I were not Lord Provost? "Each has been made in good faith and scrupulously accounted for,

'Globalisation' gets a bad name, in some circles anyway, but one of its many unsung benefits is that the new-found ability to buy pumpkins in the global marketplace has freed the Scottish people from celebrating Halloween with the dreaded 'neep'. Now a 'neep' is a turnip and for readers too young to remember the dreaded days of making a Halloween lantern out of a turnip, here's a hilarious YouTube video from Scot Scran which captures the insanity of these bygone days rather brilliantly. If you ask me, this mollycoddled generation of younger Scots don't seem to realise - they've never had it so good!  

One year ago today - an important blog post highlighting the fight taking place behind the scenes to uncover the truth about Glasgow's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme.     Glasgow's Great Equal Pay Cover-Up (31/10/18) In the days ahead I plan to share details of my FOI requests to Glasgow City Council over its 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme and the role played by senior officials who oversaw the scheme's introduction back in 2006/07. Council bosses now claim that it's too troublesome and too costly to provide this information, i.e. more than £600, but if you ask me the workforce and the taxpayer are entitled to know what exactly went on and how Scotland's largest council got itself into this terrible mess.   So this is a important campaign issue on which I hope to get cross party support from the SNP, Labour, Green and Conservative groups in Glasgow City Council.      Glasgow's Great Equal Pay Cover-Up (30/10/18)