Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

I had a quick response from Police Scotland in response to my recent complaint about the heavy-handed, intimidating treatment of Marion Millar. So let's see what the Professional Standards Department have to say. Good Evening, I write to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence at the office of Chief Constable Iain Livingstone. I have passed the matter to our Professional Standards Department for their assessment and any relevant action. Kind Regards, Christopher Dow Police Inspector Chief Constables Staff Office Police Scotland   Police Scotland - Bullying, Threatening, Intimidating ( May 24, 2021 ) I sent a letter of complaint yesterday to Scotland's chief constable, Iain Livingstone, over the treatment of Marion Millar from the 'WomenWontWheesht' campaign. The behaviour of Police Scotland towards Marion Millar is the most outrageous thing I've seen in a long time. But you've got to ask - why have we heard nothing from Scotland's politicians, as they...

Matthew Parris is a founder member of Stonewall and he  makes a powerful argument that the group has lost its way in taking such a strident stance in the debate over women's rights, sex and gender identity.  "Gay men do not want to be women. We like being men. I doubt that being a lesbian is about not wanting to be a woman. Our issues have nothing to do with identification or changing our bodies: we know what we are and nobody disputes it. Most gay men would strongly resist the suggestion we’re boys who want to be girls. I can’t think of anything I’d like less." Well said, sir!             https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stonewall-should-stay-out-of-trans-rights-war-xcz25nhdt Stonewall should stay out of trans rights war The organisation I helped found has lost its way since winning gay equality and is mired in an issue that isn’t its concern By  Matthew Parris  - The Times Imagine (in my case the effort is minimal) you are a gay...

  No one likes a hypocrite! The Greens cosy up to the SNP while their leaders break the ScotGov Covid rules with impunity. MSPs approved these rules, of course, and tell the rest of us we have to follow them - or else!    

Scotland is the only part of the UK where a family franchise dominates both the party of government and government itself. Can you imagine the hoots of derision if Boris and Carrie (or others) were a Mr & Mrs double act?   Nicola Sturgeon (FM and SNP Leader) and Peter Murrell Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds Jeremy Corbyn and Laura Alvarez Theresa May and Philip May David Cameron and Samantha Cameron Gordon Brown and Sarah Brown Tony Blair and Cherie Blair John Major and Norma Major Margaret Thatcher and Denis Thatcher   

Nicola Sturgeon threatened to shut down Scottish football because of the behaviour of some players and fans . Yet Nic had the brass neck to warn Glasgwegians about their own behaviour - after Wee Pat and his Green chums thumbed their noses at the Covid rules.  Hypocritical or what?   Covid and Collective Punishments ( May 03, 2021 )   Scotland's alcohol ban is a dumb collective punishment imposed by politicians who think it's better to treat us all as 'Covidiots' - instead of allowing hospitality venues to refuse entry to or eject people who don't follow the Covid safety rules.       Covid and Collective Punishments (11/03/21) Egged on no doubt by her new best friend Patrick Harvie, Nicola Sturgeon is threatening to shut down Scottish football after Rangers fans took to the street to celebrate their league title win To his credit, the former Scotland manager Craig Levein spoke out and told the First Minister where to get off and rightly so be...

Delusional doesn’t even come close to it https://t.co/aM8hOKqCo1 — Neil Findlay (@Neilsocialist) May 31, 2021 What a load of bollix from Nicola Sturgeon's national clinical director - Glasgow's hospitality sector is taking all of these precautions, yet remains substantially locked down because of ScotGov's Covid rules and restrictions.       Nic's Cockamamy Covid Rules ( May 29, 2021 ) I planned to watch the Champions League Final in a local Glasgow bar/restaurant tonight. Until the manager explained the indoor (no alcohol) tables  had to be cleared by 8pm, ie before the match even begins, though we could go outside and watch the game through the window!   Which means the choices are - stay at home (er, no), visit a friend with BT Sport or head out of Glasgow altogether. So the reality is that Nic's cockamamy Covid restrictions are making things worse.           

So Glasgow's lockdown shambles is set to continue this week - Scottish Ministers say they've known about the recent spike for weeks, but instead of focusing on the local hotspots we are all being treated with a terrible lack of respect.      

At a time when tourism and hospitality are on their knees, what a very strange thing to say. Being unwelcoming is rather, well, unwelcome. https://t.co/8Sj20Fa5Y1 — Roddy Dunlop QC (@RoddyQC) May 30, 2021 It's not just the occasional tweet that Ruth Wishart gets wrong, of course. Here's a good example of some ill advised and false comments Ruth Wishart made on her blog about me and the fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council. Apology and Correction Duly Noted ( April 03, 2019 ) Setting the record straight has been a feature of the long fight for equal pay   - here's the latest example in which a journalist (Ruth Wishart) made some false and defamatory statements about me and Glasgow City Council's discriminatory pay arrangements.   I'm pleased to say that Ruth agreed to correct the comments she made by issuing the following apology on her blog, Twitter and Facebook. Mr Mark Irvine. Since publishing my blog article “The Men Pulling The Equal Pay Strings ...

I enjoyed this tweet from Julie Marshall and her description of Patrick Harvie as a 'poisonous little prostate owner'. And the question that jumped into my mind was, "Do you know if Prostate Pat has a black and white cat?"      

Here's an eye-opening article from The Times which tells the story of a chap from Birmingham, Chris Haycock, who saved an eye watering £15,580 in tax - by buying himself a £82,000 luxury electric Tesla car. "As the Tesla is a zero-emission car, Chris was able to claim “first year allowances”, which meant he could deduct the full cost from his corporation profits before tax. Plus, as he bought the car via hire purchase, even the interest charged received corporation tax relief." Sounds too good to be true, for most people at least, but Chris did so well out of this tax break that he managed to book a family holiday to Disney World in Florida with the money he saved.  Now I don't begrudge anyone benefiting from their own hard work and endeavour, but if you ask me this kind of tax break is obscene and indefensible.    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/money/tax/small-business-tax/tax-saving-electric-car Tax accelerator: “I saved £15,580 on my Tesla Model S”...

  What genius thought it was a good idea to invite Scotland's younger age groups for their Covid vaccine by sending them a blue letter? Text or WhatsApp I could understand, but letters thought the post is completely mad.   Glasgow's Vaccine Roll Out ( May 30, 2021 ) Yes, that was certainly my experience the other day when I visited Glasgow's Louisa Jordan Hospital at 6pm!