Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Here's my freedom of information (FoI) request to the National Library of Scotland. To my mind it's completely unacceptable that anonymous, unrepresentative trans activists are able to influence how Scotland's public services are delivered by using these bully-boy, blackmailing tactics. I will share my response from Amina Shah, Scotland's National Librarian. Dear Amina Shah FOISA Request I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 1) Please confirm the number of NLS employees who are members of the internal LGBTQI+ staff network? 2) Please confirm the process by which these individuals are selected? 3) Please confirm how the LGBTQI+ network was consulted over the decision to  include and subsequently withdraw 'The Women Who Would't Wheehst' from the NLS centenary exhibition? 4) Please confirm how the wider body of NLS staff were consulted over the centenary exhibition, ie were non-LGBTQI+ staff given the s...

Neil Diamond with 'Love On The Rocks' from the movie The Jazz Singer: "Love on the rocks, ain't no surprise Just pour me a drink, and I'll tell you some lies Got nothing to lose, so you just sing the blues All the time" "Gave you my heart, gave you my soul You left me alone here with nothing to hold Yesterday's gone, now all I want is a smile"

Nicola Sturgeon says she still loves Peter Murrell, but apparently not enough to help with his legal bills. Murrell has been charged with embezzling SNP finances and although the party owes him over £60,000 he has been granted legal aid instead of paying for the costs of his own defence. God knows how Sturgeon would behave if she didn't still love and care for her estranged husband?

A deluded man claims to a woman and that by simply self-identifying as female he is entitled to invade women's single sex spaces - changing areas, toilets, women's sport and so on.   No wonder public opinion has turned so sharply against such nonsense which is now unlawful too after the recent UK Supreme Court judgement! Meanwhile Edinburgh's Comedy Festival encourages this chap's misogynistic behaviour with a £10,000 prize.

Humza Yousaf seems to be following the lead of his old boss Nicola Sturgeon as he takes on two new jobs on top of his role as an SNP MSP - he already receives a full-time salary of £75,000 plus pension contributions from his employer. I assume Humza was paid a handsome 'golden goodbye' when he stood down as First Minister in May 2024 and will be due another lump sum payment when he finally leaves the Scottish Parliament next year. I'm afraid these 'golden goodbye' payments are an ill-disguised racket and a terrible waste of public money.  

'Killer Queen' was the first top five hit for Queen and Freddie Mercury in 1974 and the song was initially banned by the BBC, would you believe!  And whatever else you might say about JK Rowling - she does have a great sense of humour!

A timely reminder from the blog archive that Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn's new 'bestie', so they say, is a complete nutjob, politically speaking. Sultana supports puberty blockers for children, men self-identifying as women and men invading women's sport. For example, the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who failed a sex test and been proved to be a man and biologically male. JK Rowling put Sultana in her place recently with a well aimed barb about 'coming for the Queen', but as far as I know the former Labour MP has yet to apologise for her terrible judgment and woeful behaviour.   Killer Queen - JK Rowling ( June 03, 2025 ) JK Rowling pokes well-deserved fun at Corbynista Labour MP, Zarah Sultana - a supporter of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who has now failed a sex test and been proven to be a man and biologically male. I wonder if these ridiculous people will now have the good grace to admit they were wrong, that JK Rowling was indeed correct - and apologise ...

So it seems SNP ministers handed the 'Equality Network' £576,316 of our cash last year which was spent largely on trans activism and promoting the nonsense of self-ID - men declaring they have magically 'become women'. What a diabolical waste of money.

So Nicola Sturgeon's attempts to rewrite history with her political memoir has opened up a real can of worms in the SNP.    It's astonishing how many former colleagues and friends inside her own party Sturgeon has managed to antagonise in recent days - and Geoff Aberdein, for example, doesn't pull his punches. I'm afraid Sturgeon's tawdry attempts to 'cash-in' with her new book have backfired badly.      

Humza Yousaf seems to be following the lead of his old boss Nicola Sturgeon as he takes on two new jobs on top of his role as an SNP MSP - he already receives a full-time salary of £75,000 plus pension contributions from his employer. I assume Humza was paid a handsome 'golden goodbye' when he stood down as First Minister in May 2024 and will be due another lump sum payment when he finally leaves the Scottish Parliament next year. I'm afraid these 'golden goodbye' payments are an ill-disguised racket and a terrible waste of public money.    

Sadly, it's cases like this involving convicted rapist, Sadeq Nikzad, that are giving the asylum system a bad name. And only 9 years in prison for a dangerous sexual predator doesn't make the criminal justice system look too good either. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15027723/Migrant-lived-tourist-THREE-European-countries-illegally-entering-UK-raped-15-year-old-girl.html?  

The Herald reports on the human cost of NHS waiting lists. "The mother of a child who has been asked to wait up to two years for NHS surgery to treat his deafness has said her son has been left 'depressed' and 'not living life' "

Barry Humphries playing Dame Edna Everage was funny because everyone understood he was a man pretending to be a woman. But a bloke in a dress who says he has literally 'become a woman' is absurd - not funny. Just like his act featuring lame, mansplaining jokes about how women should behave including JK Rowling. Whoever gave this guy an award is having a laugh. The full version is really cringe...😬 pic.twitter.com/kZWdUkiV6Y — Jonny Bell (@Jonnywsbell) August 23, 2025  

Nicola Sturgeon was always scathing about rival politicians for taking on paid work in addition to their roles as full-time MPs or MSPs. But now Sturgeon's doing this herself the former SNP leader/First Minister is much more coy about how she can do two jobs at the same time. LBC's Iain Dale exposes her terrible hypocrisy. Nicola Sturgeon looks annoyed when asked about the appropriateness of taking an MSP salary while devoting most of her time to writing a book. In the two and a half years since she stepped down as FM, Sturgeon has made 7 spoken contributions in parliament on matters of substance. pic.twitter.com/x82dnxmm33 — Sam Taylor (@staylorish) August 22, 2025  

A post from the blog archive to remind self-ID zealots that men do not produce breast milk - just as men do not have, periods, get pregnant or have babies. Yet trans crazies call women 'bigots and Nazis' for speaking a simple truth.  Ain't No Such Thing As.............Male Breast Milk! (November 21, 2024) How is it possible for a woman to be called a 'bigot and a Nazi' for saying that men should not be allowed to join a breastfeeding group? It's the most absurd, vindictive, bullying nonsense!

Jeremy Corbyn is the latest target for Nicola Sturgeon's spiteful tongue as she continues to promote her political memoir. The Magic Grandpa can be accused of lots of things, but 'sneering superiority' is just plain daft and g oes to show Sturgeon will say anything in her increasingly desperate search for relevance. The constituents of Glasgow Southside are ill-served by this pathetic circus - Sturgeon ought to have resigned years ago.  Jeremy Corbyn tells @heraldscotland he is “astonished” Nicola Sturgeon described him as someone with “sneering superiority” as he asked her for a cup of tea pic.twitter.com/h87nsEV5dQ — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) August 22, 2025

What's the chances of a fair, impartial hearing on sex vs gender issues at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) - when most of the senior management 'wear their hearts on their sleeve' when it comes to support for the trans lobby? Amina Shah, NLS chief executive, along with Rob Crawston, Jackie Cromarty, and Alison Stevenson all choose to display their 'she/her, he/him' pronouns in their NLS bios. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence, does it? Follow link below. https://www.nls.uk/about-us/who-and-what/leadership-and-governance/llt/#:

I've written to Sir Drummond Bone, Chair of the National Library of Scotland (NLS) over the vindictive decision to withdraw 'The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht' from the library's centenary exhibition. Public money should not be given to public institutions if they behave in this intolerant way - I've already drafted my FoI request to the NLS chief executive, Amina Shah. Dear Sir Drummond Bone National Library of Library and 'The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht' I have been following events at the National Library of Scotland and the astonishing decision to withdraw 'The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht' from the library's centenary exhibition. As you know, the book was originally included in the centenary exhibits after a public consultation exercise, but was subsequently pulled after pressure from 'stakeholders' reportedly to avoid a backlash from an internal LGBTQI+ network which threatened to withdraw its support for the event. To my min...

Iain Macwhirter with a scathing column on the largesse of SNP ministers who followed up an initial £300,000 of public money to bail out the Edinburgh Book Festival (EBF) from its own stupidity - only to follow this up with another £11.75 million weeks later The Edinburgh Book Festival of course excluded writers who disagree with the nonsense of self-ID and gender ideology - while inviting Nicola Sturgeon to plug her book and recruiting her former chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, as an EBF "As the Edinburgh festivals draw to a close this week, it is clear that they have been afflicted with a wasting disease. First diagnosed at the Edinburgh Book Festival two years ago, Baillie Gifford Syndrome is now running rampant across the cultural sector in Scotland.  "Symptoms include irrational behaviour, intolerance, the arbitrary demonisation of sponsors and a neurotic search for “safe spaces”. There is no cure for Baillie Gifford Syndrome. The application of large sums of public money only...

Great post from John Boyne and Grizelda Cartoons. If I remember correctly, this is what's called 'being hoist on your own petard - w hat a hoot!

An excellent cartoon from @markthehibby which sums up the dreadful state of Scottish politics today While Peter Murrell has been lending the SNP large sums of money and is now receiving legal aid receiving to defend charges of embezzling party funds, his estranged wife Nicola Sturgeon is cashing-in on her new book.

The Herald reports that Peter Murrell's £60,000 loan to the SNP could be written off and never repaid - even though the former chief executive of the SNP is receiving legal aid after being charged with embezzling party finances. In the meantime, Murrell's estranged wife, Nicola Sturgeon is on an extensive tour plugging her book.

  Here's a useful link for women trade union members - FiLiA, a women-led campaigning organisation. FiLiA held a conference in Glasgow last year which was 'picketed' by an angry male-led protest from the trans lobby Unbelievable, but true - see photo below.  "Like many union members, women’s relationship with their trade union largely operates on a service model, somewhere to go when you are in trouble. And unions have the structures, systems and knowledge to be able to provide vital support and advice. But too many women say that they are patronised or worse, given poor advice or treated badly." https://www.filia.org.uk/latest-news/2024/12/12/filia-trade-union-womens-network-join-us  

I have still to catch up with the latest edition of Private Eye, but I'm looking forward to reading what it has to say about the ongoing civil war inside the SNP.     Sturgeon has opened a real can of worms by trying to cash-in on her book.

Another victory for common sense as the World Boxing Council announces new sex, age, weight policies to protect the integrity of women's boxing - female athletes must now verify their sex before entering the ring. 🚨 Breaking: World Boxing unveils new SEX, age & weight policy—female athletes must verify sex before entering women’s ring. One year after the biggest women’s sports scandal in Olympic history, the new federation vows safe, fair fights for women. 🎉 https://t.co/cjpZ6P6Pb4 pic.twitter.com/De3AKJmc2i — ICONS (@icons_women) August 20, 2025