Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Unite members will be shocked to learn that their hard earned union contributons were used - to fund a £500,000 'golden goodbye' payment to former general secretary - Derek Simpson. Simpson - a controversial character - received the severance package when he stepped down as Unite boss last year. In one of the most lame statements of recent times the new boss of Unite - Len McCluskey - said that the payment was 'inappropriate' - and that it was made by a regime with 'lower standards of transparency and probity'. Well that takes the biscuit for complacency. Because presumably Derek Simpson was not able just to write a cheque to himself for over £500,000 - surely some committee of the union (unions are obsessed with committees) must have known about and approved the payment. In which case what exactly was it for - how was it calculated - and who gave the green light to proceed? Now if this were News International or News of the World - Labour MPs in par...

Like many other people I watched some of today's TV coverage from Westminster - where MPs grilled the two big fish at News International - Rupert and James Murdoch - on the phone hacking scandal. Here are my impressions of the key players and what was said: Key Message Rupert and James are very, very sorry about what has happened - they didn't know what was going on at the time - they're especially ashamed about the hurt caused to victims of crime. MPs' Questions By and large MPs did a decent job of holding their witnesses to account - but Labour MPs were generally less effective because they were so clearly hostile to their two 'star' witnesses. Rupert Murdoch Started off slowly and sounded a bit befuddled at first - but he was in complete control when he needed to be and cruising towards the end - became stronger and stronger as time went on. James Murdoch Polished and controll...

Labour leader - Ed Miliband - is calling for Rupert Murdoch's media empire to be cut  down to size. Speaking yesterday, the Labour leader said that it is "unhealthy" for one group to control so much - of the newspaper and television market - arguing that large concentrations of power lead to abuses and a neglect of responsibility. "I do not agree that is healthy for our country. It is not healthy for our democracy where we see too much power in one set of hands. It is not healthy for a country that believes in responsibility all the way to the top of society," added Ed. Now I agree with this argument - because I believe, broadly speaking, that 'small is beautiful' rather than 'big is best' - when it comes to media groups, banks, trade unions and most other things really. In which case where does Ed Miliband stand on the big three public sector unions - GMB, Unite and Unison - which claim around 2 million members - yet in practice act like...

Sometimes party politics leaves a bad taste in the mouth - well in my mouth anyway. Like when I hear that old phoney Lord John Prescott on TV - demanding the resignation of senior police officers. Because this is the same John Prescott (67) who was forced in 2006 to admit to a two-year affair with a junior member of his staff - a young woman almost half his age. Yet when he was finally exposed Prezza had the gall to ask for privacy - so that he could work things out with his wife - who subsequently wrote a book about the whole tawdry business. The affair with Tracey Temple was conducted while the old goat was at his work - on official business - and at his 'grace and favour' luxury apartment in Admiralty Arch - which was paid for by the taxpayer of course. All too predictably the female civil servant's career came to a crashing and sudden end - once the affair came out into the open. But did Prescott do the honourable thing and fall on his own sword - did he tak...

The Royal Mail released an incredible statistic the other day - apparently complaints over 'lost' letters have risen by more than a third in the past year. Doesn't surprise me in the least - because the word 'lost' is a euphemisim for stolen at the Royal Mail - which I was unfortunate enough to experience last year. According to the Royal Mail - to whom I complained vigorously at the time - the contents were 'lost' even before thy had reached Heathrow Airport. But beyond that they wouldn't or couldn't tell me what had actually happened - apparently their policy is not to report back to customers about individual complaints or 'incidents'. Oh no, that would be far too professional - all the Royal Mail wanted to do was to pay out on their insurance policy - and give me my money back. By which time the special occcasion had of course come and gone - and all the effort involved had been completely spoiled - because of their negligence a...

The decision of Britain's top cop - Sir Paul Stephenson - to resign his post as Met Commissioner - has been met with the usual mixture of warm words and crocodile tears. As Sir Paul takes his leave and hangs up his hat - he wants us all to know that this integrity is completely intact. But what I want to know is this: "How can a public servant on an annual salary of £276,000 think it's OK to accept hospitality worth at least £12,000 - why didn't he just pay out of his own pocket?   

The newspapers reported the other day that MPs are planning to fight attempts to make them pay more into their pension pots. Apparently the MPs who run the parliamentary pension scheme are to defy a government order - that they should face the same reforms to their pensions - as those planned for other public sector workers. Instead the MPs argue that they are already among the highest contributors in the public sector – paying 11.9% of their salary – and had a rise in their own contributions only two years ago. Now that's as maybe - but the MPs' pension scheme benefits are far more generous - so it's not a fair comparison to make.  The government wants to pass the whole issue over to IPSA - the independent body that was set up to deals parliamentary pay following the MPs' expesnes scandal. The government's stated position is that - "There is no case for MPs being treated differently from other public servants." ...