ON February 17, Glasgow councillors will come together to set the budget for the year ahead. 

It comes against a backdrop of record level funding from Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the UK Government for Scotland through the devolved settlements, but also locally with funds like the Levelling Up Fund and Community Renewal Fund offering unique opportunities for Glasgow to get direct investment from the UK Government.

Compare that to the settlement Glasgow City Council and other local authorities have been handed by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP/Green coalition in Edinburgh. The complete distain for our local councils is clear. 

This year councils are facing a £371 million real-terms funding cut to our budget. 
That will mean roads not being resurfaced, bins not being emptied, libraries facing closures and in Glasgow our waste crisis getting worse and worse. 

The situation is so bad that even SNP councillors are calling out the SNP/Green coalition, with East Ayrshire SNP councillor John Bell stating that “Sturgeon has just thrown all her councillors under a bus. They either cut already-stretched services or impose large council tax rises”. 

Well, who am I to disagree? Bell has hit the nail on the head. 

This cut comes after year upon year of savage cuts to our budgets. Indeed since 2017 when I was elected a local councillor, Glasgow has faced a reduction in our budget every year.

That’s why this week my colleague, Miles Briggs MSP, will use Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Business Time to raise this issue with the SNP-Green government. 

He will be calling on SNP/Green ministers to use the record funding at their disposal from the UK Government to protect vital jobs and local services in communities across Scotland.

As I’ve stated though, this isn’t a one off. Scotland desperately needs to address the unfair way in which local government funding is allocated. 

That’s why the Scottish Conservatives are bringing forward a bill to enshrine fair funding for councils into law. 

This bill would ensure that councils would automatically receive a set percentage of the Scottish budget each year and would stop the SNP from passing down even more savage cuts in the years to come.

In the coming days I’ll be setting out the Glasgow Conservatives’ priorities ahead of the February 17 meeting, but it will come as no surprise that Susan Aitken’s silence on this issue is deafening.

Glasgow needs a council leader who will use their position to fight for our city, not bow down to her nationalist masters.

In just a few months’ time Glasgow will have an opportunity to change course. 

The local elections give us a chance to elect local champions who will fight for Glasgow. 
Not weak nationalists who will be puppets for Sturgeon. 

As SNP councillor Bell stated, “good luck defending that in May’s elections...”