Glasgow SNP group members have hit back after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar criticised the leadership of Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken.
The MSP compared the running of the city unfavourably to that of Edinburgh, and accused Ms Aitken of being "completely out of touch".
The Scottish Labour leader further accused the SNP of "neglect" of Scotland's largest city and of "taking the people of Glasgow for granted".
However, the SNP group for Glasgow City Council has accused Mr Sarwar of "glib soundbites and hollow bluster" as they pointed to his party's own record in Glasgow.
A spokesperson said: "The least surprising thing in the world is Anas Sarwar criticising the SNP, especially as it continues to fix Labour's legacy of neglect and misrule in Glasgow.
Read More: Anas Sarwar: I want to be First Minister for Glasgow
"Where has Sarwar’s leadership been as his party’s discrimination against low-paid women workers at the city council forces a £1billion blackhole in the city’s finances, when school children in the city he denigrates keep securing record positive outcomes or when his boss Sir Keir Starmer continues his U-turns and promises continuity for Tory policies?
"Leadership is more than glib soundbites and hollow bluster."
It comes after the Scottish Labour leader said he would be a 'First Minister for Glasgow'.
Speaking exclusively to The Herald Mr Sarwar had said: "There’s currently no leadership at Glasgow City Council. We have a leader who is completely out of touch and thinks she’s there to be the SNP’s voice in Glasgow, rather than be a champion for the city.
“There’s no greater city in the world than Glasgow, but it’s being left behind. Look, I’m also a big supporter of the Edinburgh Festival; the tourism and the investment it attracts.
"But if you compare what’s happening in Edinburgh with Glasgow it’s night and day. Glasgow Airport is neglected; our transport infrastructure is crumbling; our city centre is unsupported; our hospitality sector is being decimated; there is no economic strategy.
"You (have to) get a proper growth plan in place and create a real economic hub in the west of Scotland, similar to what’s happening in Merseyside and Manchester.
"This must be backed up by a proper growth plan around the industries of the future which will make Glasgow recognised nationally and internationally.
“We need investment in our airport, because we need more direct flights into Glasgow if it’s to be a great destination again. And then there must be proper connectivity into Glasgow and throughout the west of Scotland.
“Glasgow has to be key in driving the wider Scottish economy and that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve had enough of this SNP neglect and taking the people of Glasgow for granted.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel