The Fight for Equal Pay in Glasgow
Here are two articles from The Times newspaper both written by the same journalist, Marc Horne, who is very generous, shall we say, towards Frank McAveety despite comparing the former council leader and MSP to a 'cockroach'.
Now journalists never reveal their sources, but can it be just a strange coincidence that Marc set out to write a 'sensationalist' story about unprecedented cuts in jobs and services instead of focusing on the real issue - a decade of blatant pay discrimination by Scotland's largest council while under Labour Party control?
So I suspect this was a 'put-up' job by Frank in an effort to divert attention away from the shameful track record of Labour in Glasgow with this scaremongering talk about cuts and job losses.
But I've got news for Frank - it's not going to work! Glasgow's equal pay claimants are not going to be bullied and browbeaten over their employment rights.
If you ask me, Labour in Glasgow has backed the wrong horse yet again and it's time they had some new leaders who are prepared to face up to the party's track record on equal pay.
Because even though his mum was a cleaner (like my own) and presumably very low paid, Frank doesn't seem up to the task.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/glasgow-leader-demands-devolution-of-powers-from-holyrood-qfgjf0jvd
Glasgow leader demands devolution of powers from Holyrood
By Marc Horne - The Times
Frank McAveety said Glasgow had been poorly treated by Holyrood - Photo credit: JAMES GLOSSOP FOR THE TIMES
Glasgow needs greater devolution from the rest of Scotland, with power over health, transport and business rates, the council leader has told The Times.
Frank McAveety insisted that the city had been badly treated by Holyrood and should have the right to opt out of the present funding settlement and negotiate directly with the UK government.
The Labour councillor believes that Glasgow has more in common with Manchester than Edinburgh and wants to emulate its “Northern Powerhouse” deal, in which responsibilities over billions of pounds were transferred from Westminster.
Mr McAveety claims that devolving health, transport and business rate powers to Glasgow and its surrounding area could transform the economy.
The former Scottish culture minister claimed that Scotland’s largest metropolis had been drained of resources.
He said: “Since the establishment of the Scottish parliament there has been a sucking of powers from local government towards a more centralised model.
“The SNP has levered £250 million out of our budget since 2007. Instead of things being sucked into the centre and being directed by Edinburgh and by ministers, let’s trust local democracy to deliver the changes that really matter.
“Powers need to be devolved from the Scottish parliament down to communities and local government.” Mr McAveety said that Greater Manchester, which has gained control of a £6 billion health and social care budget, as well as a new transport network and the right to retain money from local business rates, was his preferred model.
He said: “The idea that some civil servant sitting in Edinburgh or Whitehall is going to find a solution is wrong. Even the Tories have worked that out. Manchester will now have significant powers. The first minister always says she would love to have the economic levers. I’m saying the same. We would love to have levers to pull.”
Mr McAveety said: “Glasgow has a particular dominance in Scotland and we need to reflect that in terms of our public policy decisions and resource allocations. We are competing with Manchester and cities in Germany and Holland.”
David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, has previously suggested that Glasgow would struggle to compete. In a speech made in the city late last year he said: “Glasgow, which can hold its own internationally in so many fields . . . cannot be said to enjoy a globally powerful system of governance.”
A Scotland Office spokesman said yesterday that it was keen to work with the city, saying: “The UK government has already committed £500 million to the Glasgow region city deal, which will support 28,000 new jobs by 2035 and generate about £1.75 billion of extra activity a year.”
A spokesman for Derek Mackay, finance secretary, said: “The SNP government is delivering a great deal for Glasgow.”
Glasgow needs greater devolution from the rest of Scotland, with power over health, transport and business rates, the council leader has told The Times.
Frank McAveety insisted that the city had been badly treated by Holyrood and should have the right to opt out of the present funding settlement and negotiate directly with the UK government.
The Labour councillor believes that Glasgow has more in common with Manchester than Edinburgh and wants to emulate its “Northern Powerhouse” deal, in which responsibilities over billions of pounds were transferred from Westminster.
Mr McAveety claims that devolving health, transport and business rate powers to Glasgow and its surrounding area could transform the economy.
The former Scottish culture minister claimed that Scotland’s largest metropolis had been drained of resources.
He said: “Since the establishment of the Scottish parliament there has been a sucking of powers from local government towards a more centralised model.
“The SNP has levered £250 million out of our budget since 2007. Instead of things being sucked into the centre and being directed by Edinburgh and by ministers, let’s trust local democracy to deliver the changes that really matter.
“Powers need to be devolved from the Scottish parliament down to communities and local government.” Mr McAveety said that Greater Manchester, which has gained control of a £6 billion health and social care budget, as well as a new transport network and the right to retain money from local business rates, was his preferred model.
He said: “The idea that some civil servant sitting in Edinburgh or Whitehall is going to find a solution is wrong. Even the Tories have worked that out. Manchester will now have significant powers. The first minister always says she would love to have the economic levers. I’m saying the same. We would love to have levers to pull.”
Mr McAveety said: “Glasgow has a particular dominance in Scotland and we need to reflect that in terms of our public policy decisions and resource allocations. We are competing with Manchester and cities in Germany and Holland.”
David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, has previously suggested that Glasgow would struggle to compete. In a speech made in the city late last year he said: “Glasgow, which can hold its own internationally in so many fields . . . cannot be said to enjoy a globally powerful system of governance.”
A Scotland Office spokesman said yesterday that it was keen to work with the city, saying: “The UK government has already committed £500 million to the Glasgow region city deal, which will support 28,000 new jobs by 2035 and generate about £1.75 billion of extra activity a year.”
A spokesman for Derek Mackay, finance secretary, said: “The SNP government is delivering a great deal for Glasgow.”
‘I can save Labour’s scarlet citadel from falling’
By Marc Horne - The Times
Frank McAveety, a Barmulloch boy who grew up to be twice leader of Glasgow city council, says that he is “the most powerful elected Labour politician in Scotland” - Photo credit: JAMES GOSSOP FOR THE TIMES
Generations of Glaswegians drew pride from the fact that theirs was the second city of the empire. It was an empire founded on Clyde-built vessels and it stretched from Cumbernauld and Coventry to Canberra and Calcutta, but it has vanished into the history books.
Now there are suggestions that the sun is about to set on another once mighty institution: Labour Glasgow.
Frank McAveety, the city’s leader, concedes that his Nationalist opponents are on the march and the odds, and the polls, are against him.
However, it is clear that he is no mood to pull down the red flag and hoist up a white one. Instead, he is pumping himself up for the biggest fight of his political life.
“If you’re a shrinking violet, you’ve got nae chance,” he declares, surveying his office, a magnificent Victorian eyrie overlooking George Square.
“This is a big job for big personalities and I think I’ve got a big personality. You can quote me on that.”
John Curtice, the University of Strathclyde’s elections expert, has crunched the numbers in advance of next May’s council elections and they make grim reading for Labour’s remaining standard bearers.
Even so, Mr McAveety should not be written off. The Beatles and Celtic-loving former English teacher is a survivor, the political equivalent of the proverbial cockroach that scuttles, undaunted and unharmed, from a nuclear blast.
In 2004, he was sacked from his post as culture minister after he turned up late to answer questions at Holyrood. He told the presiding officer that he had been “unavoidably detained” at an Arts Council gathering, but it emerged that he had been eating pie, beans and potatoes in the staff canteen.
Six years later, he was forced to step down from parliament’s public petitions committee after he was overheard describing a female sitting in the public gallery as “very attractive . . . dark and dusky”. It turned out she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl on a work experience placement with the Green Party.
His political obituary was written for a third time when he lost his seat in the 2011 SNP landslide, but he bounced back as leader of Scotland’s largest city, for the second time last September.
Perched on a municipal armchair, he suggests that the first minister, who has indicated that Labour’s last bastion is there for the taking, could yet be made to eat her words.
“Back in 2012 we heard that Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP were going to sweep into Glasgow. What actually happened was that they were repelled at the door.”
Stifling a chortle, he adds: “The city chambers would have had to consider opening the door a bit wider to get Salmond’s head through.”
The one-time apprentice electrician describes himself on his Twitter biography as an “observer of all things Glaswegian and Caledonian” and an “external optimist”.
Outwardly he is defiant, passionate and chipper, but inwardly is he resigned to Labour’s domination of the city coming to an end on his watch? “No, no, no. “I’m an eternal optimist. I always want to be positive about things.”
His Pollyannaish devotion to the bright side must surely have been tested by Labour’s recent humiliations.
Mr McAveety, 54, offers bold remedies for the party’s woes but gives the impression that he has been overlooked by the party hierarchy. “I’m the most powerful elected Labour politician in Scotland in terms of budget and the exercise of executive power,” he declares, indignantly. “Let’s work with those of us who have got the experience to make a real difference for the future.”
Labour must, in his opinion, drive the final stake through Blairism and rediscover its Scottish patriotism if it is to stumble out of the electoral graveyard.
“People want us to be saying more about Scotland and caring more about the country.
“We need to show we are not in thrall to anyone. We need to emphasise that Labour is all about everyone getting a fair chance in life, rather than being concerned about the powerful and the people with money and influence.”
This Barmulloch boy, a son of a cleaner and a labourer, insists he is no career politician. “I come from humble stock and everything I have ever done in politics has come from a desire to change things and nudge things in favour of ordinary people.”
He will fight tooth and nail to prevent this monolith of municipal socialism, Labour’s scarlet citadel, from falling. “Nationalist politicians are determined to win Glasgow, to go on and win the only thing they really care about; independence,” he says. “Glaswegians don’t want to be used for that.”
Generations of Glaswegians drew pride from the fact that theirs was the second city of the empire. It was an empire founded on Clyde-built vessels and it stretched from Cumbernauld and Coventry to Canberra and Calcutta, but it has vanished into the history books.
Now there are suggestions that the sun is about to set on another once mighty institution: Labour Glasgow.
Frank McAveety, the city’s leader, concedes that his Nationalist opponents are on the march and the odds, and the polls, are against him.
However, it is clear that he is no mood to pull down the red flag and hoist up a white one. Instead, he is pumping himself up for the biggest fight of his political life.
“If you’re a shrinking violet, you’ve got nae chance,” he declares, surveying his office, a magnificent Victorian eyrie overlooking George Square.
“This is a big job for big personalities and I think I’ve got a big personality. You can quote me on that.”
John Curtice, the University of Strathclyde’s elections expert, has crunched the numbers in advance of next May’s council elections and they make grim reading for Labour’s remaining standard bearers.
Even so, Mr McAveety should not be written off. The Beatles and Celtic-loving former English teacher is a survivor, the political equivalent of the proverbial cockroach that scuttles, undaunted and unharmed, from a nuclear blast.
In 2004, he was sacked from his post as culture minister after he turned up late to answer questions at Holyrood. He told the presiding officer that he had been “unavoidably detained” at an Arts Council gathering, but it emerged that he had been eating pie, beans and potatoes in the staff canteen.
Six years later, he was forced to step down from parliament’s public petitions committee after he was overheard describing a female sitting in the public gallery as “very attractive . . . dark and dusky”. It turned out she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl on a work experience placement with the Green Party.
His political obituary was written for a third time when he lost his seat in the 2011 SNP landslide, but he bounced back as leader of Scotland’s largest city, for the second time last September.
Perched on a municipal armchair, he suggests that the first minister, who has indicated that Labour’s last bastion is there for the taking, could yet be made to eat her words.
“Back in 2012 we heard that Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP were going to sweep into Glasgow. What actually happened was that they were repelled at the door.”
Stifling a chortle, he adds: “The city chambers would have had to consider opening the door a bit wider to get Salmond’s head through.”
The one-time apprentice electrician describes himself on his Twitter biography as an “observer of all things Glaswegian and Caledonian” and an “external optimist”.
Outwardly he is defiant, passionate and chipper, but inwardly is he resigned to Labour’s domination of the city coming to an end on his watch? “No, no, no. “I’m an eternal optimist. I always want to be positive about things.”
His Pollyannaish devotion to the bright side must surely have been tested by Labour’s recent humiliations.
Mr McAveety, 54, offers bold remedies for the party’s woes but gives the impression that he has been overlooked by the party hierarchy. “I’m the most powerful elected Labour politician in Scotland in terms of budget and the exercise of executive power,” he declares, indignantly. “Let’s work with those of us who have got the experience to make a real difference for the future.”
Labour must, in his opinion, drive the final stake through Blairism and rediscover its Scottish patriotism if it is to stumble out of the electoral graveyard.
“People want us to be saying more about Scotland and caring more about the country.
“We need to show we are not in thrall to anyone. We need to emphasise that Labour is all about everyone getting a fair chance in life, rather than being concerned about the powerful and the people with money and influence.”
This Barmulloch boy, a son of a cleaner and a labourer, insists he is no career politician. “I come from humble stock and everything I have ever done in politics has come from a desire to change things and nudge things in favour of ordinary people.”
He will fight tooth and nail to prevent this monolith of municipal socialism, Labour’s scarlet citadel, from falling. “Nationalist politicians are determined to win Glasgow, to go on and win the only thing they really care about; independence,” he says. “Glaswegians don’t want to be used for that.”
