The only party with a plan to clean up Aitken’s mess is us

LAST week I wrote that COP26, brought to Glasgow by the UK Government, was a chance for world leaders and delegates from across the globe to negotiate an agreement to address one of the most pressing challenges of our times. Now that the summit has officially begun, the hopes of the world will rest on international co-operation leading to a landmark “Glasgow Agreement” to limit carbon emissions and the impact of global warming on our environment. The consequences of inaction are stark. As outlined by the Prime Minister at a meeting of the G20 in Rome at the weekend, failure to tackle the climate emergency will exacerbate global food and water shortages, desertification, habitat loss and mass migration.

In recent months we have seen welcome commitments from countries like Australia and Israel on pathways to reducing emissions – including joining the UK’s commitment to net zero by 2050. The Prime Minister is clear that much more needs to be done. That is why I was pleased to see the UK Government in the run up to COP announcing its investment of £160 million to finance the development of floating offshore wind facilities in Wales and Scotland – part of a £1.4 billion Global Britain investment fund announced at the Budget that will spur innovation in renewables and green technology.

Unfortunately, while the UK Government is engaged in international collaboration with partners across the globe, here in Glasgow we have an SNP-run council and Scottish Government who – through their mismanagement of our cleansing services – seem determined to trash our reputation on the world stage. Last week the leader of the council took her deflection show before a committee of the House of Commons. Susan Aitken could offer no apology for her disastrous record in control of Glasgow City Council, in which we have been named and shamed as the fly-tipping and graffiti capital of Britain, and where communities the length and breadth of the city are battling rodent infestations caused by overflowing bins and a waste crisis.

You’ll remember when Aitken accused those raising concerns about the state of the city under her watch as echoing “far right” sentiment. Well, she was joined in this ridiculous insult to ordinary Glaswegians last week by Nicola Sturgeon who accused those critical of the SNP’s record of trying to “talk down” Glasgow. How dare the First Minister, from the luxury of her Bute House residence, denounce those of us actually standing up for this city. I have lived in Glasgow all my life. It is because I love this city that I am so desperately furious at what the SNP have done to it.

Unlike Aitken and Sturgeon, the Glasgow Conservative group is both aware of the crisis the city is facing and has a plan to fix it which is why last week I launched our five-point plan to clean up the SNP’s mess:

1. We need to scrap their bulk uplift charge to stop abandoned furniture and other obstructive bulky items from blighting our neighbourhoods.

2. The council needs to invest £10m into frontline staff to reverse the SNP’s cuts to cleansing services.

3. Create an Environmental Enforcement Team to restore our ability to keep our streets clean.

4. The city desperately needs to scrap the SNP’s bin collection cuts that are creating the perfect breeding ground for rats.

5. And before the SNP in Glasgow follow the example of neighbouring local authorities, we need to categorically rule out introducing any form of garden waste charge.

This five-point plan is just the start of what is needed to reverse the decline of cleanliness in Glasgow since the SNP took control. But the only way we’ll make them listen is at the voting booths next May when their leadership of Glasgow’s waste crisis will be on the ballot. Glasgow can’t afford another five years of Aitken’s ineptitude and the only party with a plan to clean up her mess is the Scottish Conservatives.