Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Makes you wonder about Scottish politics when it's taken all this time for SNP ministers too accept that schools must have separate toilets for boys and girls. The law is the law, but there are real concerns the SNP will continue to promote transgender ideology and its support for self-ID behind the scenes.

Well said Susan Smith and For Women Scotland! Trade unions are dancing to the tune of male trans activists instead of standing up for women and grassroots union members. Trade unions have to ballot members individually before calling a strike - and do the same over pay offers too! So why not ask members what they think of self-ID and transgender ideology instead of relying on activist dominated conferences and committees? Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, said she had “swung between disgust and despair” at what she described as the refusal of trade unions to support women in workplace disputes relating to gender identity. https://t.co/VaITyYFduU — For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) September 29, 2025  

The SNP would have you believe that this man is really a woman and ought to be allowed to enter women's single sex spaces - because he self-IDs and says he is a woman. But Euan Weddell (aka 'Sophie Molly') is a man, a male trans activist who takes photos of himself in women's toilets, proudly proclaiming that he is 'destroying women's rights', which he then posts on social media. Enough of this nonsense.

Trina Budge from For Women Scotland drew my attention to this dreadful interview featuring the SNP's education minister, Jenny Gilruth - but what a coward and failure of leadership! Because it’s not the job of Scottish ministers to promote self-ID and gender ideology in our schools, classrooms and public services Quite the opposite in fact - it’s their job to uphold the law and the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex. The answer you were desperately trying to avoid saying here @JennyGilruth was a simple "No". I mean, you do accept the Supreme Court ruling, don't you? pic.twitter.com/A0ZyiVtjHb — Trina (@hightreebud) September 29, 2025  

The issue of cousin marriage is back in the news again - here's a thought provoking article on the subject written by Matthew Syed for the Sunday Times - follow link below.  "British Pakistanis account for 3.4 per cent of births nationwide but 30 per cent of recessive gene disorders, consanguineous relationships are the cause of one in five child deaths in Redbridge and the NHS hires staff specifically to deal with these afflictions. "It is a phenomenon that directly parallels the Rotherham scandal, in which young girls suffering horrific abuse at the hands of mainly Pakistani gangs were betrayed by the police and social services, which refused to investigate for fear of appearing racist." https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/silence-on-cousin-marriage-is-the-unspeakable-face-of-liberalism-870z5rpmf

The Times had an astonishing report the other day about a Glasgow councillor, Fiona Higgins, who has been reported to the office of the Ethical Standards Commissioner.  Cllr Higgins criticised the City Council over cuts in teaching posts and has also spoken out about the 'golden goodbye' payments, worth more than £1 million, to senior officials which she said had eroded public trust in local democracy.  Council leader, Cllr Susan Aitken, says she was misled by the officials involved, but how could she not have realised  something strange, even dubious, was going on given that her CEO and senior management team were all seeking to leave office at the same time? I agree with Cllr Higgins. The whole business stinks to high heaven - there should be an independent inquiry to establish exactly what happened and why there was no proper scrutiny or oversight from the council's elected members. https://www.thetimes.com/article/b0a7a0c7-a50f-4383-9693-9f738afeca82 shareToken=a56a15...

Nicola Sturgeon seems determined to destroy what's left of her tattered reputation with the news that she avoided paying any tax on her recent 'style makeover' by putting the £6,000 cost down as a company expense. Had Sturgeon paid the cost herself the £6,000 would have become part of the annual profits declared by her company (Nicola Sturgeon Limited) and liable for corporation tax in the normal way. 

So it turns out that the misogynistic trans activist who disrupted the For Women Scotland rally at the Scottish Parliament back on 4th September has been getting subsidised with public money! Tom Harlow, whose real name is Thomas Michael Moncrieff Carlin, received a grant from £1,480 from Creative Scotland (a Scottish government quango) in 2020 and a further £2,000 in 2022. The revelation comes on top of the news that SNP ministers have given £20 million of taxpayers' money in recent years to various trans lobby groups who promote self-ID and the absurd policy of men declaring they have magically 'become women'.   No wonder so many voters now regard  politics and politicians with such contempt.   

Transphobia is not - and never will be - a global green value. Trans rights are human rights. We must always act upon our values and rebuild our relationship with our trans inclusive, progressive neighbours. https://t.co/MJ1ynLuMul — Zack Polanski 💚 (@ZackPolanski) October 16, 2022 Gender ideology is anti-science, anti-reason and anti-women when it comes to the sex versus gender debate. So why do the Greens insist we must 'follow the science' on climate change, but say we must 'reject the science' when it comes to men self-identifying and declaring they have magically become women?  

The NHS in England has had a working 'app' in place since 2019 which allows patients to access medical records, book GP appointments and order repeat prescriptions. So why have SNP ministers not found out more about the system and introduced a similar scheme in Scotland?

This is making the rounds on Facebook, note the reference to his partner having served his country. Another man from a hyper-masculine environment supposedly finds his inner lady soul. He has ofc not had his passions ripped from him, just his passion for the women's loo. pic.twitter.com/QHSJKNV3rq — Billy Bragg (@Serena_Partrick) April 19, 2025 A CAMRA member must surely know that just as lager can’t self-ID as real ale - a man can’t magically become a woman.

  The Herald and Glasgow Times report that Scotland’s public spending auditor has ordered every council to review how it makes decisions after criticising  Glasgow City Council  for signing off more than £1 million in pay-offs to senior staff without independent scrutiny. Now this is a welcome development, but I blew the whistle on this terrible abuse of public money back in 2018 when I raised the issue with Glasgow councillors, Glasgow MSPs and Audit Scotland. So is this a bad case of closing the stable door long after the horse has bolted?

I've received a 'holding reply' from Police Scotland in response to my complaint about the policing of the For Women Scotland rally at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 4 September 2025.   The letter confirms that Police Scotland is reviewing the situation and that there has been engagement between the local Edinburgh Division and the national Professional Standards Department which has responsibility for investigating complaints. Sounds encouraging and it's good to see the issue was also raised at a recent meeting of the Scottish Police Authority - see link below to a report in the Times. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/police-scotland-tom-harlow-for-women-scotland-holyrood-9cqhhdjxm   I'll share any further developments and in the meantime here's a reminder of the issues raised in my original complaint. Jo Farrell Chief Constable Police Scotland Dear Chief Constable Farrell Policing of For Women Scotland Rally At The Scottish Parliament I wish t...

As there's renewed interest in Glasgow's 'golden goodbyes' scandal I'm going to trawl through my old emails from 2018 when I below the whistle on unjustified payoffs for senior council officials. I remember alerting lots of people including Glasgow's elected councillors and Audit Scotland. I can also say that I dealt with many council leaders in my previous role as Unison's Head of Local Government in Scotland, but I never met one whose chief executive and senior management team were all allowed to leave office at the same time - and who didn't know what was going on.   Glasgow, Fat Cats and Watchdogs (May 09, 2025)  September 25, 2025 I wrote to Audit Scotland on 16 December 2024 raising concerns about the use of public money to pay 'golden goodbyes' in Glasgow City Council. The public spending watchdog took a month to respond and when they did Audit Scotland told me politely they had no remit in the matter and that 'everything was in hand...