Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

  Now this made me laugh! N ot just because it's true, but because it pokes such great fun at the reality/science deniers and the John Swinney led self-ID lobby 

  John Swinney's support for self-ID and men with penises magically declaring they are women is turning Scotland into a laughing stock. Having tired and failed to change the law SNP ministers are now trying to introduce self-ID by the back door - via the NHS and other public services.

"FEMALE STAFF CHANGING ROOM. ALSO INCLUDES MEN. DO NOT REMOVE THIS NOTICE." pic.twitter.com/vOifmKizSf — Wings Over Scotland (@WingsScotland) February 27, 2025 Fair comment on the efforts of NHS managers to introduce self-ID by the back door, but how can people promote such nonsense - how can a changing room be for female staff if men are allowed to use the space?

  John Swinney believes that a man with a penis can self-ID and magically declare himself to be a woman - so did his two predecessors Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP is now led by cranks hell bent on allowing men to invade women's single sex spaces including changing areas at work and women's sport. Swinney & Co have lost the plot and are wildly out of touch with the views of most Scots.

Celtic ultras regularly bring the club into disrepute with their anti-social behaviour and partisan displays of support for controversial causes - such as the terrible terrorist atrocities the world witnessed on October 7 2023.   Now the Celtic Board have only themselves to blame because these morons think they are bigger than the club and can do what they like regardless of the impact on Celtic's reputation. Lots of people have strong views about the war in Gaza, myself included. I object to Hamas terrorists murdering, raping and kidnapping innocent people - and parading hostages like animals being sold at auction.    But using Celtic FC, hijacking football matches to make a political point is simply not on.   No One Is Bigger Than The Club ( November 01, 2023 ) Celtic FC have released a statement on the club's decision to suspend the tickets of the self-styled 'ultra' supporters known as the Green Brigade - follow link for details. Seems fair and reasonab...

It’s relentless 🤦🏼‍♀️ Read the room ⁦ @neilcgray ⁩ Trans NHS staff must be allowed to use ‘preferred facilities’ (share token) https://t.co/ghjNRNTveO — Susan Dalgety (@DalgetySusan) February 20, 2025 The SNP now stand for self-ID by stealth - the shameless promotion of transgender ideology by the back door, via Scotland's public services - after their Gender Reform Bill failed to change the law.

Meanwhile nurses have had to set up their own trade union to get protection and Sandie Peggie, a nurse of 30 years standing is going through a very public ordeal, because health unions support men who masquerade as women instead of standing up for their female members. Shameful. https://t.co/bBZDFr6OPJ — Susan Dalgety (@DalgetySusan) February 25, 2025 The vast majority of union members, like the rest of society, reject the absurd notion that men can self-identify and magically declare they have become women. Yet a candidate for Unison general secretary celebrates a ludicrous conference motion which calls for men who self-ID as female to be allowed into women-only single sex spaces including changing areas and women's sport.     It really is nonsense on stilts and another sign the unions are activist-led not member-led - when it comes to self-ID the views of ordinary Unison members don't count.

Great photo of a beleaguered John Swinney as Scotland's first minister tries to explain how he supports self-ID for men and single sex spaces for women - at the same time. Last time I checked onl y a man with two arses can ride two different horses at the same time. 

John Swinney is beginning to look a lot like Walter White - the demented villain of Breaking Bad

Great piece by Euan McColm who lambasts the pitiful 'leadership' of John Swinney and Anas Sarwar over the nonsense of self-ID and men magically declaring themselves to be women. "Both men swerved to avoid their roles in allowing crank activists to erode the rights of women but, no matter how sharply they jerked their wheels, they couldn’t prevent themselves smashing head-on into the consequences of their foolishness. "The case of nurse Sandie Peggie - whose tribunal claim for discrimination and harassment against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton, a trans woman with whom she was obliged to share a changing room at work, will continue in July - has fully focused voters’ minds on the issue of self-ID. It is hugely unpopular, with fewer than a third in favour."

Just as we remember the Great Famine, we will remember Palestine years from now – and those who stood firmly against the genocide of its people, writes @kellylgiven ✍️ pic.twitter.com/v4sWh8TpS3 — The National (@ScotNational) February 20, 2025 Hamas kidnapped innocent Israelis on October 7 2023 and deliberately put these people in harm's way - including Shiri Bibas and her two young babies, Kfir and Ariel. Who can forget that Hamas executed 6 other other Jewish hostages earlier in the Gaza war, with a shot to the back of the head, to prevent them from being rescued by Israeli forces.   

John Swinney - I am not going to comment on what my government is doing or saying! Scotland's forked tongue First Minister pic.twitter.com/yoJM5kRxKG — Mark Irvine (@Mark1957) February 20, 2025 John Swinney refuses to comment on what lawyers are saying in court on the Scottish Government's behalf. But the First Minister is simply lying with his absurd claim that any comment from him would break the law. 

'My arse is my elbow, and my elbow's my arse. I have no further comment.' https://t.co/bA5Y1oS8v9 — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 20, 2025 JK Rowling on John Swinney: "My arse is my elbow, and my elbow's my arse. I have  no further comment."

This is the guidance @JohnSwinney keeps referring to. We believe that it instructs health boards to act unlawfully. It puts employees at risk of unlawful harassment & discrimination, and boards at risk of substantial legal & reputational costs. https://t.co/X5sPBC3isw — For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) February 20, 2025 How can a single sex space be a single sex space - if it can be changed frequently and without consulting the 'regular' users? New guidance prepared by the SNP government suggests that decisions should be made on a made on a case-by-case basis because: “If a trans person is not allowed to use their preferred facilities, this could be unlawful discrimination on grounds of gender reassignment."  But why should the views or feelings of a man who self-IDs as female trump the views and feelings of women who object to having a man in their changing room - or object to having men in women's sport? It really is the most absurd SNP nonsense on stilts....

  The Darlington Nursing Union (DNU) has been set up to protect women in the workplace. The momentum for this new union came about after a man, identifying as 'Rose', began using the women's changing room at Darlington Memorial Hospital. The nurses raised concerns, but NHS managers told them to be more 'inclusive' and 'get educated' - while the local trade unions including Unison provided no support. Now this sounds a lot like Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre where the chief executive Mridul Wadhwa (a friend of Nicola Sturgeon's) told rape survivors to 'reframe their trauma' if they wanted women-only support. Wadhwa is a man who self-IDs as a woman and has since stood down as ERCC's chief executive. Follow DNU @DarlingtonUnion - the union is free and it can run alongside any other union membership. Membership is not just for nurses - any healthcare professional can join. I wonder how long it will be before one of the big unions (RCN, Unison, GMB ...

This is nonsense from @JohnSwinney . Of course he can comment on arguments that HIS GOVERNMENT has made in court. We are at liberty to state our arguments in the SC case, as is he. What is he scared of? https://t.co/UZ06GOy47B — For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) February 20, 2025 What an astonishing and false claim by John Swinney who says he cannot comment on what has been said on the Scottish Government’s behalf in the UK Supreme Court. The Scottish Government lawyers were instructed and briefed on what to say in court by Scottish ministers and their handsome fees were paid with public money! 'Full On' John is speaking with a forked tongue!  

I do not regret supporting gender reforms, says Swinney | STV News. John Swinney said the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was “the product of careful consideration” and scrutiny by MSPs. 🤦‍♀️ https://t.co/AjTyaFUJJW — Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) February 19, 2025 John Swinney is arrogant and stubborn in equal measure with his pathetic defence of the SNP's gender reform bill. The vast majority of Scots reject the absurd notion that men can magically declare themselves to be women. Self-ID is an insult to people's intelligence and having failed to change the law, Swinney and SNP ministers are trying to introduce transgender ideology by the back door - by promoting self-ID in Scotland's public services

Palestinian fanatics gather to 'enjoy' the spectacle of Hamas handing over the dead bodies of Jewish hostages kidnapped on October 7 - including a young mother, Shiri Bibas, and her two babies, Kfir and Ariel.

The support I once had for the Palestinian cause has long gone. A two-state solution might still be possible, but not with Hamas and the Islamist fanatics responsible for October 7,  or those responsible for turning the handover of dead Jews into a celebration - a propaganda exercise.   

Just when you thought Hamas had reached the depths of depravity over its treatment of Jewish hostages the Islamist terrorist group goes further by turning the release of dead Jewish babies into an evil public spectacle. Shiri Bibas, a young Jewish mother, and her two babies, Kfir and Ariel, were kidnapped by Hamas and spirited away into Gaza on October 7 2023.   Hamas are cowards - baby killers not 'resistance fighters'  

Janice Turner on the introduction of self-ID by stealth into the NHS and how loyal, hard-working nurses have been turned into unlikely campaigners by tin-eared trade unions. "On Wednesday Lisa Lockey cancelled her Unison membership. Starting as a teenage trainee nurse, she’d paid her union dues (latterly £11.50 a month) out of her modest salary for 33 years. But a public statement by the Unison president Steve North gave her no choice but to quit." https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/brave-nurses-darlington-trans-row-right-privacy-vb6lwf2g3 Brave nurses just want the right to privacy Darlington nursing staff didn’t have views on ‘trans debate’, then a biologically male colleague used their changing room By  Janice Turner  - The Times On Wednesday Lisa Lockey cancelled her Unison membership. Starting as a teenage trainee nurse, she’d paid her union dues (latterly £11.50 a month) out of her modest salary for 33 years. But a public statement by the Unison pr...

A group of determined nurses in Darlington have set up their own union (Darlington Nurses Union) because of their failure of local trade unions to fight for their dignity, privacy and respect at work. Read their story in this article from the Northern Echo  which includes the following three founding principles : 1) Equality and respect for all workers regardless of their protected characteristics (including both gender reassignment and biological sex). 2) Securing and defending workers’ rights, dignity and decency at the workplace (including in particular access to safe single-sex areas for changing and hygiene, and protecting women from inappropriate exposure to members of the opposite biological sex). 3) The right to raise concerns about any genuine workplace issues without fear of retribution, and to have such concerns addressed promptly, constructively and reasonably. Respect! https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/24628298.darlington-trans-nurses-set-new-union-amid-legal-acti...