Action to improve the state of our cities is long overdue

Not just because it is where I can turn to friends, but because the architecture of the place, its parks and amenities offer a sense of familiarity which can ease things when the going gets tough. That’s because it is home.

But for those of us living in Glasgow, our home is not what it once was. It is a city with problems; some of them historic and some of them new. We need to talk about these – and most of all, we need action to make the place better for everyone who calls it home.

In recent times, Glasgow itself has become a political football. If you criticise how it is run, or testify to its obvious decline, you can be accused of “talking down” the city, and even its people. This attitude is wrong. It is precisely because we care so much about the city that many are speaking up.

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Taggart actor Colin McCredie took to social media a few months ago to complain about the state of the streets.

He said: “I’ve been here over 30 years and it’s never looked such a mess. It’s everywhere in the city. It needs cleaning, care and attention.”

This is a common theme. The impact of litter and waste is not simply aesthetic, but psychological and political. I can’t enjoy something as basic as a walk in my local park such is the scale of the problem.

A mess it may be, but more than that, it is a health hazard, owing to the various attractions available for vermin around overflowing bins. Such examples are numerous and span large parts of the city.

The GMB trade union, which represents cleansing workers, has repeatedly voiced concerns about the problems posed by rats. It has declared the issue a “crisis” with its members having to confront the problem on a daily basis.

As John Slaven, a union spokesperson, says: “You’ve got hot areas across the city where we all know there’s going to be rats. People will come up to you and it’s a daily discussion about rats.”

It is depressing. Our public spaces should be areas where people can socialise and feel part of a community. We should be able to take pride in the places we live. They should be assets for our mental and physical health, and certainly not threats to them.

Yet the council has for years been cutting the services we need to ensure and cultivate the pristine environments we deserve. Westminster austerity, passed without resistance through the Scottish Parliament and devolved to councils, is unsustainable and is embedding demoralisation among residents across the city.

There has been a range of half-baked initiatives presented as remedies to the challenge. At the end of last year, a “litter lotto” scheme was launched to encourage people to bin their rubbish.

To take part, participants download an app and take a picture of themselves depositing litter. Then, they enter into a draw with a monthly prize worth £100.

GMB convener Chris Mitchell (below) says the scheme is “an absolute joke”.

“It doesn’t matter how many times they try to come up with a solution,” he says, “employ more people into the cleansing department which is paid to do the job”. People do, of course, have a responsibility. But the blame doesn’t sit at the door of citizens – it sits with the lack of planning and investment from the council.

In reality, without a serious manifesto for social renewal, schemes which avoid the kind of structural change required to achieve little to improve lives.

Almost nine in 10 children are living in poverty in some areas of Glasgow. According to the latest UK Government statistics, more than 33,500 Glasgow children aged 0-15 were living below the breadline in 2022-23, up from around 20,300 in 2014-15.

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A shocking 88% of all 0 to 15-year-olds living in Govanhill West are growing up in poverty – the highest rate in Britain. Years of austerity have increased the death rate among men in Glasgow’s poorest areas by 23%.

It is because of this backdrop that we can be certain that the latest round of council cuts will exacerbate the long-standing socio-economic issues which continue to scar the city. An alternative approach is urgently required.

Glasgow’s population grew substantially during the industrial revolution​​ – from less than 32,000 in 1750 to more than 147,000 in 1821.

(Image: Archive)

The city’s main artery, the River Clyde, famed for the quality of its shipbuilding, served as its major economic hub.

With this industrial intensification came a strong culture of trade unionism and a well-organised workers’ movement that wove itself into the fabric of the city and indeed the country – figures like Jimmy Reid, who led the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ work-in of 1971-72, are part of the history not just of Glasgow, but of Scotland more widely.

Today in Govan, you’ll find a statue of Mary Barbour, leader of the historic 1915 rent strikes in which around 20,000 Glaswegians participated.

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This is the same area where in 1961, a young toolmaker named Alex Ferguson led an unofficial strike for better pay.

The city is rich with a history of workers taking action – and winning. At the same time, Glasgow has been subjected to the logic of neoliberal economic and political restructuring which “reimagines” space as a conduit for the interests of big developers, the profits of multinational corporations and the transient consumption habits of tourists.

To combat the city’s ills, we need to rediscover our radical heritage. When the cleansing workers take strike action, as is planned for August, we should support them.

We need a campaign for Glasgow – one which can result in clean streets, adequate housing and a serious plan for tackling poverty.

It is our home and down to us to raise the political pressure to resolve this unacceptable situation in the interests of the people of the city and its localities.