Row as climate city chief clocks up taxi trips
Council boss branded a hypocrite over cab use
The leader of COP26 host city has been branded a hypocrite for using gasguzzling taxis to attend climate change talks.
Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken frequently lectures on environmental issues and has likened fossil fuel use to a sin.
But the SNP leader – whose counci l declared a cl imate emergency in 2019 – regularly hails cabs for events that can be made on foot or public transport.
Last week, Aitken, 49, took a taxi to talk at a climate event at Glasgow Central despite living near two train stations.
She has taken over 100 short journey taxis costing the taxpayer £ 5000 since declaring a climate emergency, figures released under FOI laws show.
Taxis and cars powered by fossil fuels are one of the world’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases.
Latest UK figures from 2019 show they account for 16 per cent of polluting emissions. The average petrol car produces 180g of CO2 e v er y kilometre with diesel cars producing 173g.
Older taxis are considered even worse and produce 210g of climate changing toxins for every kilometre travelled, figures show.
Since 2018, the Glasgow council boss has spent more than £5600 of public money on taxis.
Aitken, who doesn’t drive, also has access to the council’s fleet of cars – including electric ones – and has made a small number of journeys in them.
The local authority said she made around £595 worth of trips in those cars.
Last week, the councillor got a taxi to Glasgow Central station from her home, which is near a train station, for a VisitScotland and Glasgow Life event called Destination COP.
The journey could be madeade in 17 minutes using a direct train.n.
At the event, she talked about the benefits of COP26 next month, which will see world leaders try and thrash out a deal on tackling climate change and cutting emissions.
On May 29, Aitken, who earns £52,000 a year, took a taxi from Glasgow Cityy Council ’s HQ in the Cityy Chambers to the Glasgoww School of Art’s Reid Buildingng and back again for a councilcil event.
The journey is less thann a mile long and takes about 15 minutes to walk each way.
Only days after announcing the council’s environmental crusade in 2019, the SNP leader was using black cabs for short trips.
On June 13, 2019, Aitken took a taxi from her home to Central railway station for the Scottish Transport Summit.
Delegates heard from exper t Professor
David Begg, who
It seems wasteful to claim for public transport and not use it
called on MSPs to “get seriouserious” about combating ScotScot l a nd ’ s cl ima t e and obesity crises by rewarewarding people to use publpublic transport.
AfAfter the event, Aitken tootook a taxi from the CitCity Chambers to the RadRadisson Blu hotel for thathat evening’s Scottish TraTransport Awards, just 15 minutes’ walk away. TheTh mother of three then took a taxi home.
Last year, she claimed “a need to atone for the sins of the carbon age” but took two cabs to attend climate change events. In November, she took a taxi from her home to the City Chambers to film a promotion for an ini t iat ive cal led Leadership Through Climate. A month later, she took another cab to the British Lead Mills ,near Bridgeton train station, for the launch of an event looking for COP26 volunteers. Three years ago, a woman was convicted and jailed after harassing the council leader, who said she no longer travelled by public transport.
But documents show Aitken claimed £ 2059 to buy two annual zone cards since the trial, giving her unlimited use of public transport.
Glasgow City Council Tory leader Thomas Kerr said: “This is complete hypocrisy. Ms Aitken is very good at lecturing everyone else on climate change.
“By leading a council who declared a climate emergency, she should be leading by example.
“The world’s leaders will gather here next month and this revelation is embarrassing.
“As far as I’m aware, her stalking case has been disposed of by the courts. I see no reason for her to continue to hide behind that to cover her extravagant taxi use.
“Besides, if the council felt the risk is such, they should assign her one of the many electric cars they now own to transport her about her many engagements.”
Scottish Labour MSP Monica
Lennon, the party’s spokesperson for net zero, energy and transport called the council leader wasteful for not taking advantage of public transport.
She said: “It seems out of touch and wasteful for a council leader to claim for public transport use but not use it.”
Stuart Hay, director of walking charity Living Streets, said: “Councils like Glasgow have very clear policies prioritising walking, cycling, public transport before travelling in cars, councillors must buy into these policies for them to be credible.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The council chooses to use taxis when it is the most reliable, safe and cost-effective way of ensuring elected members, including the council leader, are able to carry out the job the city asks them to do.
“Cllr Aitken does, when possible, travel in a council vehicle – however, the council has significantly reduced the use of chauffeur-driven cars over the last decade and this is simply not an option for most engagements.”
The council leader did not respond when contacted.
responsible for speaking with staff on duty when Katie died; unable to tell us staffing numbers or who was on perimeter patrol or even if a NHS critical incident review had taken place. She did not know what this was.
“The meeting was difficult as we are sure Ms Stewart would agree, when we read out the list of Katie’s experiences to her as Ms Stewart put her head in her hands and asked us to stop.
“Or perhaps it was difficult when she realised that saying, ‘ Your daughter shouldn’t have been in prison’ would far from abdicate her from her responsibilities.”
Linda and husband Stuart, from Giffnock, Glasgow, have been fighting to get answers from the Scottish Prison Service since Katie took her own life in June 2018.
Several other youngsters killed themselves at Polmont around the t ime of Kat ie’s death.
Only last month, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) reported another, Jack McKenzie, 20, had died in Polmont.
Linda said: “In 2016, Brenda
Stewart reportedortedinthelocalpressinthelocalpress that she had ‘the best job in the world’.
“In 2017, her first year in the post at Polmont, Ms Stewart presided over the deaths of three prisoners, including the selfinf licted deaths of 19-year- old Liam Kerr, who was on remand and 18-year-old Robert Wagstaff.
“Despite the much- heard mantra of ‘ lessons will be learned’, they were not. A year later our 21-year-old daughter and 16-yearold William Lindsay died under Ms Stewart’s watch.
“Ms Stewart was reported as saying she would ‘crack down on bullying’ and provide specialist mental health training to her staff.
“Yet, just weeks ago, Jack McKenzie, aged 20, on remand also took his own life.”
Stewart was removed from the top job at Polmont YOI, near Falkirk at the end of last month and her key duties assigned to Gerry Michie, who was drafted in from HMP Castle Huntly in Tayside.
Stewart’s removal came days before Scotland’s Sol icitor General Ruth Charteris, QC,
apologised for the delaysys in ththe investigation into Katie’ss suicide.
Katie, a f irst offender,der, was depressed, had lost 80 per cent off her hair and was self-harming after being bullied and subjected to strip searches in the jail.
She had told her family about being bullied and humiliated.
Katie was jailed for 16 months for a road crash in which she hit a 15-year- old boy. Her family had asked the court not to imprison her.
The SPS has been in turmoil since the deaths of Katie and some of the other young people.
In September 2019, the Crown Off ice decided against prosecuting the SPS under the Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act 2007 over Katie’s death.
But that decision was appealed by the family last October through a victim’s right to review and they are awaiting that decision.
A fatal accident inquiry into her death cannot be held until a decision is made over prosecuting the SPS. Their lawyer Aamer Anwar said an FAI taking place several years after Katie’s death was “not f it for purpose” and that the familyfil hash no iinteresttt ini it.it He H added that it would establish no blame and would effectively allow any guilty parties to escape any “normal” form of justice.
The lawyer said: “An FAI would be of no benefit to anyone seeking justice in this case. FAIs are often called for by organisations and institutions who would like details to be buried for years.”
He urged the Solicitor General to make a decision to bring a prosecution against the SPS for culpable homicide.
He said: “We would like Ruth Charteris QC to treat Katie’s death as she would the death of a young person in the care of parents or at a school where the normal course of action would be to bring a culpable homicide case to establish who was to blame for such a tragedy.
“It should not be the case that because people wore uniforms they are absolved from laws that a re t here to protect citizens from abuse.”
Stewart was shaking, eating sweets and unable to meet our eyes