Jimmy Mutter - An Extraordinary Life
I attended the funeral of a dear old friend earlier today - Jimmy Mutter, a former Labour councillor in Glasgow whom I first met through COSLA, the collective voice of Scotland's councils.
Jimmy represented the employers' side of the negotiating machinery and I was secretary of the trade union side - we had many disagreements and fierce arguments in our time, but always remained on good personal terms.
Jimmy was born in the Gorbals and lived there most of his life - he worked in the shipyards before joining the merchant navy (just like my own dad) and travelled the world before returning to Glasgow and settling down.
Councillor Mutter started his political career in Glasgow by winning a seat for Labour in 1984 - unlike other politicians I could mention Jimmy actually lived in the area he represented and did so with great distinction for the next 23 years.
Although a Labour man through and through Cllr Mutter was no ideologue - Jimmy had a great sense of humour and was far more interested in 'right from wrong' than 'left and right' - what mattered is what worked to coin a phrase.
For example, Jimmy supported the transfer of Glasgow's housing stock to new local housing associations which helped regenerate and transform areas like the Gorbals - in the teeth of opposition from trade unions and the SNP who foolishly decried the transfer as 'privatisation'.
Today's funeral service took place at Blessed John Duns Scotus Church across the road from the Gorbals Leisure Centre which would never be where it is today without Cllr Mutter's dogged efforts and persistence on behalf of his local constituents.
The service ended on a perfect note with Jimmy singing himself and the congregation out the door of the church with his own inimitable rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' -
"For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself then he has naughtNot to say the things that he truly feelsAnd not the words of someone who kneelsLet the record shows I took all the blows and did it my way"
You certainly did, old friend, Rest In Peace.
