Latest news with #AllanCasey
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Drug consumption room leads to abandoned needles complaints
The figures, which go up to May 20, 2025, are thought to be the 'tip of the iceberg' with fears residents may be handling the issue themselves instead of lodging an official report. The number of police call outs within the vicinity of the building can also be revealed. The police data includes Police Scotland's BA18 beat, which includes Hunter Street, Bell Street and parts of Duke Street. Councillor Allan Casey, city convener for addictions, said the facilities was part of the solution - not the problem. The Herald reveals the data days after the Scottish Government confirmed suspected drug deaths had risen by a third between January and March 2025. There were 308 such deaths in the first three months of the year, up 33% during the same time in 2024. Official reports suggested suspected drug deaths in Scotland 'remained at a high level', with cases up by 76 when compared to October and December 2024. Read more: Scotland's first drug consumption room opened in January under a three-year pilot project which allows clients to inject illegally-bought heroin or cocaine under medical supervision. The specific aim of the facility is to reduce overdoses and drug-related harm. Between January and March, 143 people visited The Thistle Centre a total of 1,067 times. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain confirmed that users would not be prosecuted for possessing illegal substances while at the facility. However, the data obtained by the Scottish Tories also revealed police officers have been called to the surrounding areas of Hunter Street 195 times since the facility opened. Between January and May, officers responded to 95 incidents relating to theft, 23 for public nuisance, 19 for disturbance and 13 for specific drugs or substance misuse. Other incidents included intrusion, noise, abduction and extortion, sexual offences, vehicle crime and assault. Annie Wells, drugs spokeswoman for the Scottish Tories, urged the Scottish Government to call time on the 'reckless' experiment. She said the Scottish Government instead should back the Right to Recovery Bill, introduced to Holyrood by former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, which looks to enshrine the right to treatment for alcohol or drug addiction. She said: 'SNP ministers are completely detached from reality. Their flagship drug consumption room is making life a misery for local residents. Read more: 'They pinned all their hopes on state-sponsored drug taking, but their solution is failing. Drug deaths are still climbing and locals are left to pick up dirty needles just to keep their streets safe. 'The Thistle is piling even more pressure on our already overstretched police officers. 'SNP ministers really don't have a clue what's going on. They think putting needle bins on the streets will fix things, when in reality it will just normalise drug use. 'SNP ministers should call time on this reckless experiment and finally back the game-changing Right to Recovery Bill, which would enshrine in law a right to treatment.' After suspected drug death figures were revealed on Tuesday, the Scottish Government stressed numbers 'fluctuate from quarter to quarter', adding that 'care should be taken not to interpret movements between individual calendar quarters as indicative of any long-term trend'. The data also showed there were 166 – or 14% - fewer drug deaths in the 12 months to March 2025. Councillor Casey told The Herald: 'Annie Wells' remarks are not only detached from reality but dangerously misleading. To suggest that crime and drug use are new problems in this community is a blatant denial of decades of challenges that this community has faced. 'The Thistle facility is not the cause of these issues — it is part of the solution. With 38 overdose reversals already under its belt in just 5 and a half months, the Thistle has undoubtedly saved lives that would have otherwise been lost. Calling for its closure is reckless and shows a complete disregard for the health and wellbeing of vulnerable people and their families. 'Ms Wells was due to visit the Thistle this week as part of her role on the Criminal Justice Committee to hear directly from staff about the vital, life-saving work they are doing — yet she couldn't even be bothered to show up. This absence speaks volumes about her unwillingness to engage with the facts and the people on the ground. 'Ms. Wells owes those whose lives have been saved, their families and the wider community struggling with addiction, a clear explanation of why she wants to shut down a proven, life-saving service. Instead of spouting empty rhetoric, she should support real, evidence-based harm reduction strategies — something SNP ministers have shown the courage to do while critics like her cling to failed, outdated approaches.' The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Stop sending asylum seekers to Glasgow because we can't afford them, says pro-immigration SNP council
Scotland's biggest council is calling for a pause in the number of asylum seekers being sent to the city after bosses warned that it does not have the room or cash to accommodate them. SNP-run Glasgow City Council said it had asked the Home Office for a temporary halt to 'dispersals' to the city, which had created 'significant challenges and risks'. John Swinney said the local authority was wrestling with a large 'volume of asylum applications without the resources from the Home Office to support and deal' with them. The council said demand had surged in line with a rise in approved applications and that in more than half of cases it had been unable to provide emergency accommodation to those who needed it, which is a legal requirement. The SNP 's policy of placing more onerous legal obligations on councils to house those threatened with homelessness is said to have added to the pressure on accommodation. Glasgow City Council said 'for some time now (and certainly ramping up in late 2023), we have been trying to engage with the Home Office to address issues with the way asylum cases are processed and the knock-on impact on city services. 'As part of that, it has been mentioned, again for some time, by politicians that a temporary pause on dispersal might be one element of delivering sustainable asylum provision in Glasgow in the long term.' Allan Casey, an SNP councillor and the city's homelessness convener, had hoped to discuss the issue this month with Angela Eagle, the Home Office minister, during her visit to the city and request urgent financial support, but Ms Eagle's trip was postponed and is still to be rescheduled. The Times reported that meeting papers for the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board state that homelessness services are coming under pressure owing to 'a significant increase in positive leave-to-remain decisions for asylum seekers'. An increase in demand 'as a result of the streamlined asylum process' means 'it is likely that [the council] will be unable to offer temporary accommodation on first request for all households'. It is estimated that the cost of asylum-related expenses for 2024- 25 in the Glasgow city area alone was £26.5million. The figure is expected to rise to £79million within three years. The board has warned of 'significant challenges and risks currently facing homelessness services at this time in relation to the increase in demand for homelessness services and the number of households in temporary accommodation'. Yesterday Mr Swinney said Glasgow City Council 'has been an incredibly accommodating place over many, many years', adding: 'The issue is that there isn't a commensurate support to the housing infrastructure that is coming for that area of activity. 'We have increased the budget for [affordable housing] in this financial year. 'But there is, I think, a reasonable point in the request that's been made by Glasgow City Council to the Home Office to support them in dealing with the implications of a policy issue which is entirely reserved [to the UK Government].' In 2023, officials in Glasgow said the city risked 'social unrest' as council chiefs scrambled to find accommodation for refugees. The UK Government was ramping up efforts to wade through a backlog of outstanding asylum applications at the time as pressure mounted on then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tackle a massive build-up of cases. City leaders raised fears of a 'humanitarian crisis' as hundreds of asylum seekers were given refugee status, putting an 'unprecedented' strain on housing and public services. There were 4,193 asylum seekers receiving support in Glasgow at the end of last year. In 2024, 84,200 applications for asylum were made in the UK, which related to 108,100 individuals (more than one applicant can be included in a single application). This was the highest annual number of applications and applicants ever recorded. Last night a UK Government spokesman said: 'Despite inheriting huge pressures on the asylum system, we are working to make sure individuals have the support they need following an asylum decision to help local authorities better plan their assistance with homelessness. 'We are working right across the UK to give councils as much notice as possible of newly recognised refugees, have doubled the move on period to 56 days and have mobilised liaison officers to support asylum seekers in Glasgow City Council area.'
The National
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
Glasgow seeks pause on asylum seekers as costs balloon
Glasgow City Council has said the Home Office must pause dispersals to the city, which takes in by far the greatest number of asylum seekers anywhere in Scotland. It is one of the most significant asylum 'dispersal centres' in the UK as a whole and leaders have warned the cash-strapped council cannot cope with the financial pressure. An investigation by The Herald has revealed that the costs of supporting asylum seekers in Glasgow are ballooning from an estimated £26.5 million in 2024/25 to a projected £79m in 2027/28. Despite UK Government plans to have asylum seekers spread more evenly across the country, it has also emerged that of 360 British regions, one in six were not housing any asylum seekers as of the end of last year. READ MORE: 'Important milestone' as SNP launch new disability benefit across Scotland With 67 asylum seekers per 10,000 people in the city, Glasgow is the UK's biggest city for asylum seekers outside of London per head. A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: 'We've been trying to ask the Home Office for a pause in dispersal so that we can work through the backlog of cases. We've written on several occasions saying this. And we haven't had a response to our most recent letter asking for a meeting.' The council has made attempts to address the issue, with Glasgow's homelessness convenor Allan Casey requesting a meeting with Home Office minister Angela Eagle (below). Her trip was cancelled at the last minute and has not been rescheduled. (Image: Richard Townshend/UK Parliament) Meeting papers for the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board state that homelessness services are coming under pressure owing to 'a significant increase in positive leave-to-remain decisions for asylum seekers'. Increased demand 'as a result of the streamlined asylum process' means 'it is likely that [the council] will be unable to offer temporary accommodation on first request for all households', according to the papers. READ MORE: Douglas Ross threatened with expulsion amid row over 'shushing SNP minister' A UK Government spokesperson told The Herald: 'Despite inheriting huge pressures on the asylum system, we are working to make sure individuals have the support they need following an asylum decision to help local authorities better plan their assistance with homelessness. 'We are working right across the UK to give councils as much notice as possible of newly recognised refugees, have doubled the move on period to 56 days and have mobilised liaison officers to support asylum seekers in Glasgow City Council area.'
Telegraph
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The hypocrisy of the SNP over immigration is finally laid bare
There is nothing like a dose of reality to shake the politically idealistic out of their fanciful notions. Take Glasgow, for example. The SNP administration in Scotland's largest city wants the minister responsible for asylum to consider a pause to the asylum dispersal scheme. This sees large numbers of applicants for refugee status arriving there every year. This, according to Councillor Allan Casey, Glasgow City Council's convener for homelessness, is 'damaging social cohesion' and placing unbearable pressure on the city's social housing supply. It's quite the reversal for a party that has dined out for years on its claim to be progressive and welcoming of immigration to Scotland. Indeed, one of the major planks of the independence project is the claim that Scots are far more tolerant of diversity and multiculturalism than their counterparts south of the border. Being Scottish doesn't just mean being angry all the time – it means being a better person. Better than the English, anyway. Yet here we are, with an SNP-controlled local authority suddenly being forced to confront the consequences of its own policies. That's what happens when you succeed in your electoral aims: you discover that governing, even at a local level, isn't quite as easy as it looks from the opposition benches. But the nationalist councillors of Glasgow have learned much by the example of their colleagues in the Scottish Parliament. It was often claimed that governing would mould the SNP into a more realistic party that accepted the limitations imposed on it by the responsibilities of office. That hasn't quite worked out in Scotland, where every difficulty besetting the SNP government is quickly blamed on big bad Westminster, the source of all of Scotland's woes (and also much of its money, but that's another story). Similarly, Councillor Casey, rather than accept any responsibility for the difficulties his administration has created for the people it's supposed to represent, has fired off a letter to the minister, Angela Eagle, criticising 'the system you are presiding over'. You see what he did there? The problems associated with being a welcoming place for asylum seekers did not begin with this administration, which has only been in office since 2017. It started with its well-intentioned Labour predecessor at the end of the last century, when Glasgow volunteered to become the only Scottish local authority willingly taking part in the Home Office's asylum seeker dispersal programme. This was aimed at reducing the pressure on scarce accommodation and local services in the south east of England. Despite the SNP's insistence that it welcomed asylum seekers in principle – some of its best friends were asylum seekers, no doubt – no SNP-council chose to follow Glasgow's lead. And they can hardly be blamed. There were positive consequences of the new arrivals on the city: their children proved hard-working and motivated, and in many areas school exam results improved after asylum seekers arrived in their communities. But the down sides were more rarely discussed. While the city received extra money from the government to pay for accommodation, the cost in other areas had to be funded by existing council tax-payers. The costs of translation services, for example, rocketed along with the workloads of already under-pressure social workers. In November 2023, Glasgow City Council declared a housing emergency as applications for accommodation outstripped the number of homes available. The council stated: 'In these circumstances, if accommodation is required then what will be provided will be temporary and is unlikely to be of the type or in the location requested.' It added: 'Regrettably, this means that even people in great need often face a delay of a several years before they get a permanent house or flat.' In this context, it's little wonder that councillors fear for the integrity of 'social cohesion' from the continuing flow of asylum seekers into the city, where 4100 of the 6735 available bed spaces are currently occupied by those awaiting asylum decisions. There is another layer to the SNP's blatant hypocrisy on this issue. In May 2021, police and immigration enforcement officers were physically prevented from removing two illegal immigrants living in Glasgow: a mob surrounded the van containing the two arrested men, who were subsequently released. SNP ministers at the time welcomed this example of mob rule, implying that no one should be removed from the country just because they have no legal right to be here. Councillor Casey might consider becoming a trailblazer for his party by actually considering the consequences of the SNP's bluster and virtue-signalling. He might perhaps replace it with a hard-nosed acceptance that immigration rules need to be enforced, and that declaring that all refugees are welcome has real-life consequences for the lives and wallets of everyone else in the community.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The hypocrisy of the SNP over immigration is finally laid bare
There is nothing like a dose of reality to shake the politically idealistic out of their fanciful notions. Take Glasgow, for example. The SNP administration in Scotland's largest city wants the minister responsible for asylum to consider a pause to the asylum dispersal scheme. This sees large numbers of applicants for refugee status arriving there every year. This, according to Councillor Allan Casey, Glasgow City Council's convener for homelessness, is 'damaging social cohesion' and placing unbearable pressure on the city's social housing supply. It's quite the reversal for a party that has dined out for years on its claim to be progressive and welcoming of immigration to Scotland. Indeed, one of the major planks of the independence project is the claim that Scots are far more tolerant of diversity and multiculturalism than their counterparts south of the border. Being Scottish doesn't just mean being angry all the time – it means being a better person. Better than the English, anyway. Yet here we are, with an SNP-controlled local authority suddenly being forced to confront the consequences of its own policies. That's what happens when you succeed in your electoral aims: you discover that governing, even at a local level, isn't quite as easy as it looks from the opposition benches. But the nationalist councillors of Glasgow have learned much by the example of their colleagues in the Scottish Parliament. It was often claimed that governing would mould the SNP into a more realistic party that accepted the limitations imposed on it by the responsibilities of office. That hasn't quite worked out in Scotland, where every difficulty besetting the SNP government is quickly blamed on big bad Westminster, the source of all of Scotland's woes (and also much of its money, but that's another story). Similarly, Councillor Casey, rather than accept any responsibility for the difficulties his administration has created for the people it's supposed to represent, has fired off a letter to the minister, Angela Eagle, criticising 'the system you are presiding over'. You see what he did there? The problems associated with being a welcoming place for asylum seekers did not begin with this administration, which has only been in office since 2017. It started with its well-intentioned Labour predecessor at the end of the last century, when Glasgow volunteered to become the only Scottish local authority willingly taking part in the Home Office's asylum seeker dispersal programme. This was aimed at reducing the pressure on scarce accommodation and local services in the south east of England. Despite the SNP's insistence that it welcomed asylum seekers in principle – some of its best friends were asylum seekers, no doubt – no SNP-council chose to follow Glasgow's lead. And they can hardly be blamed. There were positive consequences of the new arrivals on the city: their children proved hard-working and motivated, and in many areas school exam results improved after asylum seekers arrived in their communities. But the down sides were more rarely discussed. While the city received extra money from the government to pay for accommodation, the cost in other areas had to be funded by existing council tax-payers. The costs of translation services, for example, rocketed along with the workloads of already under-pressure social workers. In November 2023, Glasgow City Council declared a housing emergency as applications for accommodation outstripped the number of homes available. The council stated: 'In these circumstances, if accommodation is required then what will be provided will be temporary and is unlikely to be of the type or in the location requested.' It added: 'Regrettably, this means that even people in great need often face a delay of a several years before they get a permanent house or flat.' In this context, it's little wonder that councillors fear for the integrity of 'social cohesion' from the continuing flow of asylum seekers into the city, where 4100 of the 6735 available bed spaces are currently occupied by those awaiting asylum decisions. There is another layer to the SNP's blatant hypocrisy on this issue. In May 2021, police and immigration enforcement officers were physically prevented from removing two illegal immigrants living in Glasgow: a mob surrounded the van containing the two arrested men, who were subsequently released. SNP ministers at the time welcomed this example of mob rule, implying that no one should be removed from the country just because they have no legal right to be here. Councillor Casey might consider becoming a trailblazer for his party by actually considering the consequences of the SNP's bluster and virtue-signalling. He might perhaps replace it with a hard-nosed acceptance that immigration rules need to be enforced, and that declaring that all refugees are welcome has real-life consequences for the lives and wallets of everyone else in the community. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
