Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

The SNP has been mired in scandal and sleaze throughout this current parliamentary term, but now to top it all they've been accused of spying on each other! Apparently 3 female SNP MSPS are now complaining that they were bugged and spied upon by a male SNP member of parliamentary staff.    

The scandal surrounding Scotland's two islands ferries continues with news that the second ship, the Glen Rosa, has been delayed again by another six months. The two ferries were supposed to enter service in 2018 and are now hundreds of millions of pounds over budget. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ed5jr3130o  

Iain Macwhirter savages Alexander Kemp's judgment in the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal - calling for the unsafe decision to be withdrawn and for Scottish Ministers to 'get off the fence' over women's boundaries and their right single sex spaces. "The government cannot sit on this particular fence any longer. Does it support the Supreme Court or Judge Kemp? It can remain silent no longer on the EHRC guidance on single sex spaces. As for the tribunal judgment, it is surely unsafe and should be withdrawn, if only because it appears to have been researched by a monkey using a hallucinating AI chatbot." https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/after-the-sandie-peggie-debacle-the-snp-must-get-off-the-fence-h9h556tw8  

Alex Massie zeroes in on a disturbing aspect of Judge Kemp's written judgement in the Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife case - that potential wrongdoing only becomes problematic if one or more people complain: "Yet according to the tribunal, Upton’s presence in the female changing rooms only became problematic once someone complained about it. This appears a novel variation upon an age-old philosophical inquiry:  "if a tree falls in the forest and no one complains, has it really fallen? Actually, yes it has and silence in this instance ought not to be confused with consent. The best that can be said of this  obviously appealable judgment  is that it is legally incoherent." Now such reasoning  is completely ludicrous - it would be absurd, for example, for an employer or service provider to say that bullying, sexist, racist and other abusive behaviour would only be considered once a formal complaint is lodged?      

We are asked to believe that Humza Yousaf who rose to become Scotland's First Minister just forgot to declare a friendship with a high-profile lawyer who was campaigning for a public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh. Astonishingly, the civil service were kept in the dark about the relationship in 2018 when Humza Yousaf acted as SNP justice secretary and met with Aamer Anwar, who was representing the Bayoh family. Michele Thomson a backbench SNP MSP said: “I was therefore surprised that it took Humza Yousaf until December 2023 to disclose his friendship with Aamer Anwar although I note the record still omits the fact he has also used him as a lawyer”. Indeed, who wouldn't be surprised - the potential conflict of interest stands out like a sore thumb. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/humza-yousaf-didnt-declare-link-to-inquiry-lawyer-for-three-years-9v89x7jds?

SNP justice minister Angela Constance misled the Scottish Parliament, but refuses to accept that she ought to resign after misrepresenting the views of Professor Alexis Jay over the need for a grooming gang inquiry in Scotland.   What we are witnessing with John Swinney & Co is government by gang - government of the SNP, by the SNP and for the SNP.  The Scottish Parliament is now a laughing stock. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7ve45y432o

While John Swinney and his SNP ministers paint a rosy picture of Scotland's NHS - here is the stark reality for people waiting on an ambulance to take an injured man to hospital. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v1705y2yro

And not all cultures are worthy of respect in a civilised, secular world.  

A great response to John Swinney and the SNP. I wonder if Swinney agrees that humans can't change sex and that women don't have penises?  

Private Eye has a great 'Lookalike' photo of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and The Ugly Duchess, a 16th century painting by Flemish artist Quentin Matsys. Sergei Lavrov is a loyal running dog of Russian President Vladimir Putin, of course.

Palestine fanatics chanting slogans about 'globalising the intifada', 'from the river to the sea' and 'by any means necessary' is a call to arms - and results in terrorist attacks like the one on Bondi Beach.

The brave Muslim who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach terrorists was shot twice and nearly killed by another Muslim. The kind of Muslim with the same Islamist mindset as the Muslims responsible for the terrible atrocities of October 7 which started the war in Gaza.

Here are some examples of SNP ministers benefiting from baloney 'rules' which award completely undeserved golden goodbyes when ministers leave office - even if they retire, find a new job or resign in disgrace  Beneficiaries in 2021 included the former SNP finance minister, Derek Mackay (£54,000 + £12,00) along with outgoing SNP ministers Aileen Campbell (£75,000), Mike Russell (£76,500) and Roseanna Cunningham (£76,500). Brass Necks, Public Money and Scottish Ministers ( February 19, 2022 )   A reminder of the absurd, grotesque 'rules' which allow Scottish Ministers to voluntarily leave the government and Scottish Parliament for other well paid employment, yet still receive golden goodbye payments worth £75,000. Brass Necks and Scottish Ministers ( July 07, 2021 ) I have to say I was shocked at Aileen Campbell's golden goodbye because i t’s morally bankrupt to accept a payment of £75,000 when the former SNP minister is walking straight into another well paid job. T...

Malcolm Clark is spot on about the greedy, shameless behaviour of Nicola Sturgeon  The Sturgeon 'golden goodbyes' of £67,000 and £75,000 are a joke and terrible waste of public money. Sturgeon has no need of a financial cushion to help the former FM  adjust to a new career/way of life - not least because she already has a new, lucrative writing career and is intent on hanging on to her £70,000 MSP salary until May 2026. See post below from the blog archive - 'Fiddles, Rackets and SNP Rules' Fiddles, Rackets and SNP Rules ( January 21, 2022 ) A reminder from the archive that SNP's golden goodbye payments for MSPs and Scottish Ministers are a disgraceful racket - rather than a 'fiddle'.  The Scottish Parliament's baloney rules (designed by Ministers and MSPs) have never been independently reviewed during the SNP's 14 years uninterrupted in power.     SNP Rules - A Racket Not A Fiddle ( October 08, 2021 ) The Herald reports that the former SNP finance m...

The Scottish Parliament's 'rules' on golden goodbye payments for departing MSPs are as corrupt and unscrupulous as the great MPs' expenses scandal at Westminster. Both Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf are in line for bumper payouts of £74,000 each despite signalling long ago their intention to leave Holyrood in May 2026 and  pursue new careers. Sturgeon and Yousaf have already acquired second jobs while continuing to act as MSPs and both have opened up private companies - to receive new sources of income and limit their tax liabilities. So why to these politicians deserve £74,000 from the public purse for deciding to give up their jobs?   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15380929/1-7m-handout-Swinneys-25-MSP-quitters-raft-nationalists-grab-golden-goodbyes-abandon-Holyrood.html https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/golden-goodbyes-for-snp-exodus-of-msps-to-hit-17m-ksds3dq58    

John Swinney is keen on flags so I wonder if his SNP government will today fly the Israeli flag to show solidarity with Israel on the second anniversary of October 7? Because years ago today heavily armed Palestinian fanatics triggered a terrible war in Gaza by murdering, raping and kidnapping Jews - simply because they were Jews. A gesture of solidarity with would also serve as a timely rebuke to supporters of Hamas terrorism who say Oct 7 is a cause for celebration - as an act of 'resistance' by brave Palestinian freedom fighters.