Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

The Herald slams the SNP's housing emergency declaration as a 'sham' because of 40,000 breaches in homelessness laws in recent years The paper's front page also highlights an opinion piece criticising King Charles and Keir Starmer for cosying up to Donald Trump while failing to mention that the American President has become John Swinney's new 'bestie' in recent weeks

  I'd never heard of Jeffree Star before, but he certainly is an eloquent and plain spoken young man - who hits the nail on the head when it comes to the sex versus gender debate.  Someone’s sexuality and identity are two separate things. What are your thoughts on this subject? pic.twitter.com/FYVFalXFmT — Jeffree Star (@JeffreeStar) September 19, 2025    

What a daftie comment from Mark Ruffalo - his ridiculous comparison about freedom of speech in America and life under the Taliban completely belittles the 'war on women' which is taking place in Afghanistan.  MARK RUFFALO: “We saw Jimmy Kimmel’s show was canceled … The United States government is now suppressing the freedom of speech … Think of yourselves living under the Taliban, because that's where we're headed.” pic.twitter.com/ocRlakdYfu — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) September 19, 2025  

How can it be right that an SNP minister, Jamie Hepburn, who has been forced to resign in disgrace  is in line for a £9,000+ golden goodbye? These payments are an insult to common sense and need to be scrapped!

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...

  I'm not too sure whose party it is these days - yours, mine, ours or theirs - but the Jezza 'n' Sultana comeback tour seems to have come completely off the rails. Great cartoon from Peter Brookes!

  Whatever else may be written about 'Seagull Gate' I wish to put on record the fact that I support anyone and everyone who is in favour of taking firm action against these foul pests - see posts below from the blog archive. Seagulls Don't Drink Or Smoke ( July 13, 2021 ) As regular readers know, seagulls are one of my pet hates and a fellow Twitter user has just reminded me that it's nesting season for these foul pests which, as their name suggests, belong at the bloody seaside - not in the heart of a modern city. Seagulls Don't Drink or Smoke (22/07/11) Seagulls are my least favourite creatures in the world by a country mile. To my mind they are the vermin of the skies and for the life of me I can't understand why they are a protected species. Now my grievances against gulls are many, varied and deeply held, so let's get a few of their worst characteristics on the record. Seagulls are highly aggressive, territorial birds that live in towns and cities these...

  Nuclear power should be part of a sensible, mixed energy policy - it's part of the solution along with other renewable energy sources, but the SNP's 'activist driven' agenda is badly out of step with the views of most Scots.  

  Well done to Cllr Fiona Higgins for continuing to pursue the scandal of golden goodbye payments to senior council officials in Glasgow. Now I blew the whistle on this practice and the appalling lack of oversight from elected councillors back in 2018 - when the council's then director of finance (Lynn Brown) departed under similar circumstances. I wrote to the Council leader, Cllr Susan Aitken, at the time who insists the latest payments were made without her say so or knowledge: "It was done covertly. The information was not shared with senior politicians" Now I've dealt with lots of Scotland's council leaders over the years, but I've never met one whose entire senior management team were allowed to leave all at the same time - and without senior councillors knowing what was going on! The whole thing stinks to high heaven.  

Hands up! Who else thinks it's really Nicola Sturgeon underneath this pantomime costume?

  Now this made me laugh! And not just because it's true, but because it pokes such great fun at the science deniers and self-ID lobby 

The level of ‘debate’ at the TUC congress was truly embarrassing - not one voice was raised in support of women's rights to single sex spaces and the UK Supreme Court ruling on biological sex trumping self-ID and magical thinking Instead speakers (including men) made pathetic digs at JK Rowling and spouted nonsense about self-ID, 'trans rights' and trigonometry The unrepresentative, activist led trade union movement is deliberately misrepresenting the views of grassroots union members - and the interests of male trans activists is being allowed to trample all over the rights of women. The *debate* (there wasn’t a single dissenting speaker) on FWS & ⁦ @UKSupremeCourt ⁩ Starts at 6hours 22’47” It’s a feast of legal ignorance mixed with age-old union misogyny Shame on ⁦ @The_TUC ⁩ TUC Congress 2025: Tuesday 9 September - AM  https://t.co/9OgQAOzgEo — teresa smith (@treesey)  September 10, 2025   He complains he will be "outed" if he can't use women's to...

The Spanish Government is mired in allegations of corruption, scandal and sleaze so from his perspective whipping up anti-Israel, Jew-hate is a great diversion from Pedro Sanchez's domestic woes. But while Israelis and Jews worldwide are blamed for the actions of the Israeli Government, by some strange logic the people of Gaza are not ultimately responsible for the actions of Hamas - the Palestinian Government in Gaza.

Former University of Leeds student, @_ConnieShaw , wasn’t just removed from her committee position at Leeds Student Radio. She was faced with potential expulsion from the University of Leeds itself after she interviewed Graham Linehan. The Free Speech Union, with the help of an… pic.twitter.com/wnld9Q8joZ — The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) September 16, 2025 An astonishing Orwellian tale featuring Leeds University which apparently threatened to expel one of its students, Connie Shaw, for the terrible 'crime' of interviewing Graham Linehan, the writer of Father Ted. Much like Linehan's recent arrest by 5 armed police officers at Heathrow airport - how is this remotely possible?

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud to a resident: "You do not belong in this city, Islamophobe! Get out!" The resident opposed naming a street, in Dearborn, after pro-jihad Osama Siblani pic.twitter.com/hGTuTD4FFI — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 16, 2025 A must watch video featuring Dearborn Mayor, Abdullah Hammoud - he sounds like a terrible bully and bigot himself!    

Great eye-catching advert - a work of genius!  

What a tremendous letter in the Guardian - powerful, truthful and measured! The only thing I would add is that trade unions should now be added to the list of public institutions who continue to undermine women's rights to single sex spaces - by dancing to the tune of male trans activists.   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/15/gender-critical-women-have-a-right-to-be-heard Gender-critical women have a right to be heard A reader responds to an article by Susanna Rustin on the continuing boycotts and exclusions in the arts of gender-critical voices Thank you for publishing a measured and mature piece about the rights of people with gender-critical views to be heard ( A gender-critical book at Scotland’s National Library is the latest in a long line of cancellations, 12 September ). We are not horrible bigots who do not accept trans people and think they should face discrimination. But that is usually the narrative. We are mainly women who have real and well-researched conce...

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...

Owen Jones (aka Talcum X) blamed his ADHD medication for his bizarre performance on Piers Morgan Uncensored. The laugh is this medication is meant calm users down not speed them up. What a hoot!

Did I mishear this news report or did Nicola Sturgeon really say that she's 'not that into flags' and that everyone needs  to 'calm down about flags'? What a brass neck!

Here's a letter I sent to the SNP leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, back in August 2018. Cllr Aitken says she had no idea about the terms on which her outgoing chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, was leaving the council's employment which sounds completely ridiculous. Why would the  SNP be so uninterested and incurious given Glasgow's terrible track record on these hugely generous 'golden goodbyes' for senior officials?   All Glasgow Councillors and MSPs Weasel Words, Double Standards and Equal Pay I attach the latest post from my blog which explains the  background to a hugely generous 'golden goodbye' payment to a departing senior official (Lynn Brown) of Glasgow City Council. I am continuing to pursue the Freedom of Information aspects of this payment and I suspect the case will end up being referred to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC), but there are also serious issues of probity and good governance involved which ought to co...

Susan Dalgety is spot on with her comment about misogyny and trade unions. Just as they did during the fight for equal pay the unions are more interested in what male activists (trans activists) have to say instead of listening to grassroots women members. Men claiming to be women, on activist committees and union conferences, are demanding they be allowed to invade women's single sex spaces despite the UK Supreme Court's ruling that reality and biological sex trump self-ID and magical thinking. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/misogyny-festers-unions-supreme-court-trans-ruling-tx8g9xcbq Members of For Women Scotland, Marion Calder, Trina Budge and Susan Smith. The group won its case at the Supreme Court in April IAIN MASTERTON/ALAMY LIVE NEWS By Elysia Taylor-Hearn - The Times The trade union movement “spat in the face of women in the workplace” when they rejected the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex, the co-editor of a bestselling gender-critical book has...