Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me! — Mark Irvine (@Mark1957) March 31, 2021 The SNP says it wants to be judged on its track record, but on all the big issues it's a track record of over-promising and under-delivering - or sometimes not delivering at all.        

I complained to the First Minister about the behaviour of her justice secretary, Humza Yousaf, on social media. The First Minister's private office rejected my compliant out of hand without giving any reasons other than "the contents of private accounts are not the responsibility of the Scottish Government". Now I don't accept this specious answer because Humza's Tweets made made during normal working hours and were made via a device paid for by the taxpayer. Not only that, but senior ministers are paid generous public salaries in excess of £100,000 a year - part of their job is to lead by example and, in my opinion, they are never completely 'off duty'. So I'm going to take matters further - I asked the Scottish Government to explain the process under which my complaint was considered although they haven't come back to me, as yet. Here's what the official ScotGov web site says, but I've never been told who was dealing with my complaint - n...

Who do you think 'won' the debate? https://t.co/Io4IzpGXII — The Herald (@heraldscotland) March 31, 2021 What struck me about last night's 'leaders debate' is that for the first time ever there is an air of insurgency against the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon has been an MSP for 22 years and First Minister or Deputy FM since 2007 so the constant finger pointing at Westminster is wearing a bit thin.          

Here's my pocket history of the fight for equal in Glasgow City Council which I first published back in November 2019. I'm also pleased to announce there's a big reward on offer if anyone can find a mention of Cllr Michelle Ferns who claims to have played a role in this historic achievement.         Glasgow's long-running equal pay dispute is finally coming to an end and one of its very few downsides has been the sight of some people trying to take credit where little, if any, is due (see posts dated 22 January 2019 'Success Has Many Fathers', 21 March 2019 'Team Glasgow' and 29 March 2019 'Glasgow's Fight for Equal Pay). http://action4equalityscotland.blogspot.com/2019/01/success-has-many-fathers.html http://action4equalityscotland.blogspot.com/2019/03/team-glasgow.html http://action4equalityscotland.blogspot.com/2019/03/glasgows-fight-for-equal-pay_29.html So I thought I'd share my own reflections, supported by contemporaneous posts to my b...

  I've invited Cllr Michelle Ferns (formerly with the SNP but now an  Alba councillor) to elaborate on her role in delivering Glasgow's equal pay settlement in 2019 - by writing up to 1,000 words for the blog site. I can hardly wait - should make fascinating reading. Dear Cllr Ferns  Glasgow's Fight for Equal Pay I was intrigued by the media coverage yesterday which suggested that you played a role in delivering the equal pay settlement reached with Glasgow City Council in 2019. I have been involved in Glasgow's fight for equal pay since 2005 and I know just about everyone who has been played a significant part in this campaign, for good or ill, over the past two decades. So in case I have missed or overlooked something, I would like to invite you to elaborate on your involvement in the Glasgow settlement by writing up to a maximum of 1,000 words for my blog. I will be delighted to share this with ...