Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

I'm all in favour of a two-state solution to the Palestinian question and have been for years, but the latest calls to 'recognise Palestine' are going nowhere fast because of international law and the politics of the Middle East  For example, the Montevideo Convention of 1933 says a new state must meet the following criteria:  1 Have a defined territory  2 Have a permanent population  3 Have full governmental control  4 Have sovereignty to conduct international relations To complicate the situation Hamas and its Islamist allies do not want peace with Israel - they are committed to the destruction of Israel and the creation of a new Palestinian state from 'the river to the sea'.

Scotland's public health has been falling gradually over the past 10 years and it's down to a succession of SNP First Ministers who bang on endlessly about identity politics, but fail to deliver on the bread and butter issues.   

  The Daily Mail reports on an outbreak of 'foot in mouth' in the Highliands where the Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Skye and West-Rosshire (Angus McDonald) claimed that innocent Israeli hostages were the only 'bargaining power' left to Hamas. But for Hamas and the terrible events of October 7 there would be no war in Gaza of course: End terrorism No more Oct 7s Free the hostages Free Gaza from Hamas

Great human rights joke from Gay Not Queer, but always remember folks:  - seahorses are not horses - sea cows are not cows - Batman is not a bat - trans women are men

Top trolling from Donald Trump. Apparently the American President's official gift to John Swinney during his four day visit to Scotland was a figurine of a bald eagle! i

Breaking News🇺🇸⚡️:"I like John Swinney... I didn't respect the woman that preceded him, I thought she was terrible". President Donald Trump correctly appraises the track record of the dangerous and deadly *Nicola Sturgeon. *The woman who thought it wise to put rapists in women's… pic.twitter.com/O6mIxZkXFQ — HIN News🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@HerdImmunity12) July 30, 2025 Donald Trump praised John Swinney after his successful visit before going on to slam Swinney's predecessor (Nicola Sturgeon) for putting a male rapist in a women's prison and supporting self-ID.   So will  Swinney stay shtum  and remain on good terms with his new 'bestie' or will he speak up for his old boss? It's a dilemma because Sturgeon is a political has-been and Swinney has been just as bad over the nonsense of self-ID and identity politics.

I had a look at what was making the news on the Royal College of Nursing (Scotland) web site while the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal was underway - see below. . I would say this stuff is the equivalent of a neighbour's cat getting stuck up a tree and having to be rescued. Sandie Peggie is of course now suing the RCN which will definitely make for interesting news going forwards - might even make the RCN web site!   

The Sandie Peggie employment tribunal is the biggest industrial relations issue to make the news headlines in years - the Herald newspaper, for example, has no less than two journalists covering the story this week. Yet the Scottish TUC, the voice of Scotland's trade unions, has nothing to say about Sandie Peggie's David vs Goliath battle with the bullies and bureaucrats at NHS Fife. Speaks volumes about the leadership of the Scottish TUC and trade unions in NHS Fife who have failed to stand up for a long-serving health worker - a nurse, with a 30-year unblemished record of service to her local community.   I wonder what Unison and the RCN are reporting on their respective web sites as 'Latest News'.

NHS colleagues who ‘couldn’t stand’ Sandie Peggie plotted to have her sacked. Yesterday the tribunal revealed how Sandie Peggie became the target of a personal vendetta by those she worked with and they wanted to end her NHS career. pic.twitter.com/33DJYIlwWq — Agent P (@AgentP22) July 29, 2025 Going on holiday with a friends at work over several years before suddenly declaring that you don't 'share the same values as them' - does sound more than a tad feeble and unconvincing. A bit like - 'we come in peace, shoot to kill!'

  One of the most astonishing things about the Sandie Peggie debacle in NHS Fife is that a new policy of allowing a male to use a female changing area was introduced without consulting any of the women involved, ie the nurses. Now the male involved was a doctor which brings a touch of class to the issue. In the sense of 'the working class can kiss my ass' - since a lot of doctors, in my experience, consider themselves to be a cut above the rest of the health care team. But why would NHS Fife bring in such a major change and consult only the male doctor - why did they not ask the female nurses whether they thought this was a good idea? 

Top trolling from Donald Trump. Apparently the American President's official gift to John Swinney during his four day visit to Scotland was a figurine of a bald eagle!

While SNP ministers have been spending huge sums of public money of charities promoting the nonsense of self-ID - a children's counselling charity (Smile) has to ask for donations.

So despite the silly predictions about 'mass protests' it seems that Donald Trump's four day visit to Scotland was quite the success!  

  Hands up! Who agrees it's weird that a male doctor should think it's OK to invade a female nurses changing room and not to remove himself when asked?

So the case against Sandie Peggie, the defence from NHS Fife, comes down to tittle-tattle from a private Facebook group and disputed claims about what people said to each other socially, in some cases years ago. Strangely, the people making these accusations never said anything at the time, never took them seriously, or at least never seriously enough to report them anywhere - u ntil Sandie Peggie complained about NHS Fife failing to defend her right to dignity and privacy at work. I wonder if these former friends and work colleagues were encouraged by the same NHS managers who ganged up on Sandie Peggie from Day One? So I don't take these disputed claims seriously. I suspect the tribunal will place greater weight on Sandie Peggie's own testimony, her 30-year unblemished record of service and the evidence from the manager who overturned her vindictive suspension from work. However, I will be interested to hear who else speaks up for Sandie because who can forget when the late J...

I enjoyed this Abba cartoon in Private Eye, the UK's best and only fortnightly satirical magazine. Follow the link below to two of Abba's greatest hits - 'SOS' and 'Mamma Mia'. 

Sandie Peggie was deliberately smeared during the Fife NHS employment tribunal because she stayed at a Donald Trump's hotel - see exchange below:   JR - what did you know about Sandies' belief ED - she has strong beliefs, she is a fan of Donald Trumps and his policies, she lets you know JR - how did you know ED - just through convo, she was on holiday and told us she stayed in the Trump Hotel. Now why anyone would hold this against Sandie Peggie beats me, but it turns out that Scotland's NHS is actually encouraging staff to use the Turnberry Resort by offering them a special discount. The cowardly bullying and gang-like behaviour involved has turned this case into a national scandal - though not just for Fife NHS. Because Scottish ministers have been deliberately using public services like the NHS to promote self-ID, a policy which undermines women's rights and the importance of single sex spaces. 

Strikes me the Scottish TUC will need to come up with some catchy new slogans after the news that its boss Roz Foyer owns five homes and separate plot of land in Glasgow. What I find truly incredible that the General Secretary of the STUC has had nothing to say about Sandie Peggie's battle for justice in NHS Fife - Scotland's biggest employment news story for years. Is the STUC having a laugh? It's as if the unions are behind the bullies and bureaucrats in NHS Fife who have been ganging up on a long-serving health worker - a nurse with a 30-year unblemished record of service to her local community. 

Tom Lehrer on the 'joys' of poisoning pigeons in the park.

One of the Christmas presents I bought my wife this year was some 'taster' Tango lessons in Glasgow. Now we have yet to go to our first class, so time will tell whether I have 'twinkle toes' or two left feet when it comes to this famous Latin dance! But to set the scene and get me in the right mood, I thought I'd share this great track by Tom Lehrer - 'The Masochism Tango' followed by Al Pacino strutting his stuff in Scent of a Woman.

Mr Menno is spot on with his comments about the Trans Pride London and the ugly, misogynistic behaviour of trans activists. Only one side in the sex v gender debate behaves in this way which helps explain why public opinion has turned so sharply against self-ID and the nonsense of men declaring they have magically 'become women'.