Battle of Glasgow turns dirty amid corruption claim
THE battle for control of Scotland’s biggest city turned nasty yesterday as the SNP accused the Labour council in Glasgow of corruption.
The local elections in May will see Nationalists attempt to seize Labour’s last stronghold – following SNP victories in the UK and Scottish elections in the city – and lead the council for the first time.
Yesterday, Glasgow SNP group leader Susan Aitken appeared with Nicola Sturgeon to launch the party’s election campaign and claimed there was a belief decisions taken in the City Chambers by the Labour council were ‘not made so much as stitched up’. She vowed to bring in independent auditors to review recent decisions and check they had been made legitimately.
‘We will start by opening up the doors of the City Chambers, literally and figuratively, and letting in a much more open, transparent and accountable local democracy,’ she said. ‘Justifiably or not, there’s a perception that decisions in Glasgow are not made so much as stitched up, behind closed doors.’ She pledged to make Glasgow a great European cities to rival ‘Berlin, Barcelona and Copenhagen’.
Ms Aitken promised to implement policies such as the controversial pupil equity fund, bypassing councils with cash going straight to schools in deprived areas, ‘not because we’re taking our instructions from Holyrood, but because we agree 100 per cent with our government and First Minister’.
She highlighted Glasgow’s many social problems – such as health inequality, low life expectancy, poor exam results in some schools, and areas with high unemployment – without laying any blame at the door of the SNP Scottish Governthe ment, which has been in power for a decade.
Miss Sturgeon insisted her party’s manifesto for Glasgow was the most detailed it had ever produced. It includes £1 million for each council ward, a commitment to close the attainment gap between schools, a new Transport for Glasgow quango and a pedestrianised George Square.
The manifesto is so loyal to the SNP government that it promises to fully implement Named Person scheme, even though Education Secretary John Swinney has yet to reveal how he will change it to make it legal.
Last year, the Supreme Court found appointing a state snooper to every child under 18, with the ability to share information behind their backs, breached their human rights.
At yesterday’s launch, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘This tired, complacent, out of date Labour administration serves as a physical reminder to all of us never to take the people of Glasgow for granted.’
But Labour launched its own campaign yesterday, warning the SNP would put Glasgow on hold as it obsessed about a new independence referendum.
Scottish Labour’s manifesto pledges include a guaranteed job, training place or further education for every 18 to 24year-old, 50,000 new jobs, 25,000 new houses and cutting power bills by creating a Glasgow Energy Company.
Labour council leader Frank McAveety said: ‘No matter what people in Glasgow say, the SNP priority is for another divisive referendum.’
‘Priority is another divisive referendum’