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Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
'We strengthen Glasgow every time we invest in our communities'
This centre has been at the heart of the Ruchill community for years. It has hosted youth clubs, parent and toddler sessions, and much more. It wasn't just a building – it was a space where neighbours came together, isolation was tackled, and opportunities were created. Local people were led to believe the centre had a future. In May, the SNP City Administration proposed closing the centre permanently – despite those earlier commitments. The building has been closed since 2020. Local campaigners – including Ruchill Community Council – worked tirelessly to make their voices heard. Backed by Glasgow Labour councillors, their efforts forced the administration to delay their closure plans. But this shouldn't have happened in the first place. Ruchill is not alone. Across Glasgow, vital community facilities are being lost or left to deteriorate. From Possil to Pollok, facilities that once served communities are being shuttered, mothballed, or handed over without proper support. These aren't just administrative decisions – they are political choices, the costs of which are borne by people who rely on these spaces for connection, support, and resilience. When community centres close, we lose more than just bricks and mortar. We lose the after-school clubs keeping children safe, mental health support groups, and clubs combating loneliness. These centres are a lifeline – and it is shameful that they are being treated as expendable. Glasgow Labour will continue to stand alongside communities like Ruchill and call for both more funding from the SNP Scottish Government and political will and creative solutions from the council. In conjunction with the local community, Glasgow Labour successfully forced the SNP-led administration to defer the closure decision, but our work isn't done. We're calling for a clear, despite promises, and also upon the Scottish Government to allocate what Glasgow needs to ensure we maintain our community infrastructure. The people of Ruchill deserve better. Glasgow's communities deserve better. It's time that we valued communities. Because when we invest in communities, we don't just save buildings – we strengthen the very fabric of our city.
Glasgow Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
'Glasgow needs to do more to help make our communities'
In the pedestrian tunnel below Cathcart Train Station, community councillors, city councillors, local citizens, and families all gathered to witness this achievement. And a great achievement it was! Where formerly there had been a dark train station tunnel, it was transformed with a bright burst of warm colours saying, 'Welcome to Cathcart' - and saying very proudly that no matter who you are or where you are from, welcome to our community. This was an important statement, particularly in these times of polarisation, and all credit has to go to the local Cathcart, Merrylee, and Muirend Community Council for championing this project by surveying local people, determining their priorities, and seeing this priority brought to completion. I can't wait to see what they do next! Protecting and enhancing our community infrastructure is vital. We need spaces where new and old communities come together to establish common agendas and priorities. One of the key elements of this is protecting our bricks-and-mortar community infrastructure. That is why Glasgow Labour very proudly protected Ruchill Community Centre from closure by the SNP administration last week. It is also why we strongly opposed the SNP attempt to close the Couper Institute in the 2024 budget for Glasgow. Our communities are full of talent and passion, these are expressed and brought together in our vital community facilities where, in many places, Glasgow meets the world next door. Of the people gathered in that tunnel in Cathcart, you will probably find one hundred different stories and points of origin, but all brought together for a common community purpose. My own family are a proud part of the strong Donegal Irish community in the southside of Glasgow, and I was very lucky that in my time growing up in places like Cathcart and Simshill, and attending Holyrood Secondary School, the Donegal community was a very strong presence throughout, with many shared experiences with school peers of long summers 'over by' with parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. I'm incredibly proud now to represent so many friends and family, having been elected a local councillor for Linn Ward in November 2022 and having lived in the area for the best part of 30 years — including having been a local Evening Times paperboy, no less. Like many others who have come to Glasgow from all over the world, and all over Scotland, my own family came here to find work. My maternal grandfather was a corporation bus driver in Glasgow and my paternal grandmother worked in our NHS as a nurse in Rottenrow Maternity Hospital. Work was a key enabler of life, and with that, security, family, and community. Yet currently, the city is lagging behind. According to the latest ONS figures, our unemployment rate stands at 5.1%, a rise on the previous year, and higher than the figure across Scotland as a whole. We have also seen a decrease in the employment rate as a whole, whilst the rest of Scotland has seen an increase. These figures are particularly stark in areas like Drumchapel, Castlemilk, and Easterhouse, where poverty, unemployment, and structural inequality are still too often deeply rooted, cutting off opportunity and security for individuals and families for multiple generations. We need these communities to be brought into the heart of our city's growth and economic development. That is why it is an absolute priority for Glasgow Labour that Glasgow is laser-focused on attracting the jobs of the future and enabling our young people with the skills to attract those jobs. Not only is it a key driver of growth, but also the best way to combat the inequality which still too often pervades our society by building up our communities, supporting our local assets, and providing security and opportunity to families. Glasgow needs to do more to help make our communities, as it is our communities who ultimately make Glasgow great.
Glasgow Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Ricky Bell: 'Labour just can't be bothered turning up'
The minute they were in the Downing Street door, out went the election pledges of fairness, investment and prosperity, and instead they doled out a fresh round of Tory austerity. Absolutely no one who gave their vote to Labour last July did so to usher in the scrapping of fuel support to pensioners, sanctions against the disabled or policies which make the poor poorer. Nor did they vote for a Government which instantly found itself up to its collective neck in gifts and freebies scandals, or for MPs who refuse to stand up for their constituents for fear of rocking Sir Keir Starmer's boat. Labour's polling in recent months shows the scale of the regret and sense of betrayal amongst voters. Here in Glasgow, the ongoing chaos within the council's Labour group is an ugly reminder of their antics during their decades of misrule in the city. For legal reasons, there are things we can't publicly talk about regarding Glasgow Labour right now. But there's plenty about their descent into turmoil that we can. Take, for example, the recent announcement by Labour group leader George Redmond that, after less than three years in the post, he's jacking it in. He's standing aside to give someone else a go, he's said. It wasn't so long ago that, backed by branch office boss Anas Sarwar and other Labour powerbrokers, Mr Redmond launched his bid to become group – and indeed council – leader. That he did so from a Spanish airport on his way home from a football match should've told his party just how committed to the job he'd be. But so bitterly divided have they been at the manner of that takeover that effectively two separate Labour groups have been operating on the council, with Mr Redmond having to see off at least one leadership challenge during that time. Given the strife and seemingly sudden change of heart, Glaswegian voters deserve to know from the outgoing Labour group leader and his backers exactly what's been going on. One thing we can be sure of is that Labour will continue to put party and personalities before the city and its people. The powerbrokers are again out to appoint their new flavour of the month, while other disgruntled councillors are jockeying for power and position. With their AGM just a few weeks away, things are getting increasingly tense. And why is this important? Because this isn't an election to the committee of the local bowling club. This is about the party of the UK Government picking the people it wants to run this city, when all the evidence is that they couldn't run a menodge. Nor does it seem that they're particularly interested. Labour's attendance at recent full councils has been pitiful. This is a meeting which takes place every six weeks and where important decisions about this city are taken. Yet, in increasing numbers, Labour just can't be bothered turning up. I get that some of them are scunnered at the antics of their bosses, at both Westminster and Holyrood. But they were elected to do a job and too many aren't even up for doing the bare minimum. It's been almost eight years since Glasgow voted Labour out of power at the City Chambers. In that time, they've continued to be engulfed in scandal and infighting. And they've saddled this city with hundreds of millions of pounds in debt, the legacy of their refusal to properly pay women workers. But as sure as Glaswegians are that the Labour leopards really don't change their spots, they can be equally sure that the SNP is getting on with the day job of delivering for Glasgow and its people.
