'This is not the Glasgow residents deserve'
Walk through Glasgow and the decline is impossible to miss – litter-strewn streets, overflowing bins, fly-tipping, and potholes so bad they've earned us the title of the "pothole capital of the UK."
With over 9,000 open pothole reports, Glasgow leads the pack in Scotland – and repairs are taking months, if they happen at all.
This isn't a national issue – it's a local one.
Under the SNP's watch, street cleansing staff numbers plunged from 485 in 2019 to just 383 by 2023.
Even the city's parks teams dropped from 305 to 267.
Yes, there has been a recent recruitment drive ahead of the Commonwealth Games, but we're still well below what is required and expected for a city of our size.
You can't slash essential staff and expect the streets to stay clean.
It's like turning off fire engines and hoping there'll be no fires.
Meanwhile, rat sightings in Glasgow have soared – rising from 5,348 in 2018/19 to 7,948 in 2022/23 – a staggering 46% increase.
According to the GMB union, rat sightings have trebled over the last decade and are now as common as pigeons.
This is not the Glasgow residents deserve.
It's not just about aesthetics – it's about pride, health, and safety.
With pothole-ridden roads, missed bin collections, and vermin on the rise, people feel ignored.
And too often, this SNP City Administration has ignored them.
Glasgow Labour believes we must get back to basics.
That means prioritising core services: clean streets, safe roads, and responsive local teams.
We must reinvest in frontline workers, strengthen waste collection, tackle fly-tipping, and ensure residents' complaints aren't just logged – but acted on.
We also believe in partnership with our communities.
Across the city, community organisations and volunteers are stepping in where the Council has failed – organising clean-ups, maintaining parks, and reporting fly-tipping.
They shouldn't have to.
But their efforts show what's possible when people are empowered and supported.
A Labour-led council would value that community spirit – not take it for granted.
We'd put it at the heart of service delivery, backing it with staff, resources, and a proper plan.
The SNP City Administration in Glasgow has had years to get this right.
Instead, we've seen cut after cut, while our neighbourhoods fall further into neglect.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Glasgow is a city of pride, resilience, and determination.
But that spirit isn't being matched by the political leadership at the top of the Council.
We need action.
A commitment to clean, safe streets – not just PR spin and empty rhetoric, which Glaswegians have become all too familiar with since 2017.
It's time to stop settling for failure.
It's time to clean up Glasgow – for good.
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Scotsman
27 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Readers' Letters: Mhairi Black isn't consistent on Palestine
Once-prominent SNP MP Mhairi Black confuses reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... We learn that former SNP MP Mairi Black has left the party, citing differences of opinion with the party's stance over LGBTQ rights and Palestine. Both are important issues and few would deny that the current situation in Gaza is deeply tragic, but Black may also want to reflect on the persecution and violence experienced by those who do not identify as heterosexual in Palestine. 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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Munroe Bergdorf 'hopeful for Corbyn's new party' as she calls out Labour for no 'backbone'
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