Reading the comments from SNP Councillors about their plans to takeover Glasgow City Council next May one would think this is a done deal and one in which voters will have little say.

While the SNP may have won out at Holyrood, voters in Glasgow will decide who their local councillors are next May and that judgement will be made on very different grounds not least their record in council. Constituents in my own ward will certainly be asking why the SNP voted on Glasgow Life’s Board to close Wyndford Recreation Centre, Ledgown Tenant’s Hall and Cadder Community Centre as well as asking why the SNP group failed to support Scottish Liberal Democrat proposals for over £40 million in a new school building programme.

Early comments from the SNP group about ‘reviewing’ the network of Arms Length External Organisations such as Cordia or City Building are concerning when these companies have not only saved the Council some £27 million but also provided much needed jobs and in particular  hundreds of vital apprenticeship places for our young people.

Claims of Council managers “running riot”, and comments such as “There’s a lack of respect between senior officers and the people running this ship that needs to change. That doesn’t mean a clear-out, but we do need to review if everyone fits in.” do not bode well. I have had nothing but support from council officers and hold them in the highest regard. As a former GCC employee and Unison trade union officer I worry at an SNP council group that so often attacks staff in the press when staff are unable to reply.  

In 4 years, and despite having a publically funded full time policy officer, the SNP group have not presented a single new policy in Council and this year didn’t even present an alternative budget for the city. If they aspire to be more than an opposition then they will need to demonstrate how Glasgow would be run under an SNP administration, meanwhile their comments so far give real cause for concern for both staff and Glasgow as a whole.