TEMPTED though I am to write this week about the latest shenanigans of the unkempt man-child that is Boris Johnson, I will resist.

To be frank – he is yesterday’s man who has no answers to the challenges we as Glaswegians face today.

With any luck, he’ll have left the political stage for good and we can now get on with focusing on the big issues and injustices which are so pervasive in society.

Equal pay for women has been one such long-standing issue, with many women across the world facing pay discrimination and unequal treatment in the workplace.

It is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed to ensure a fair and just society, and to truly promote gender equality.

The recent efforts of SNP-led Glasgow City Council to end the equal pay scandal and compensate all those affected have been a significant step towards achieving this goal.

For years, women in Glasgow City Council were paid less than their male counterparts for doing the same job.

This was a systemic issue that impacted thousands of women, who were systematically undervalued, underpaid and discriminated against by a Labour, yes Labour, council.

However, this injustice could not continue forever, and it took the election of an SNP council, led by councillor Susan Aitken, to step up and take the necessary steps to rectify this issue.

In October 2018, Glasgow City Council formally apologised for its use of discriminatory pay practices, which had denied women equal pay for far too long. The council acknowledged the harm that had been caused to women as a result of this discrimination and pledged to take action to right this wrong.

But words alone, however important, would not be enough. The council quite literally had to put its money where its mouth was.

Since then, my SNP colleagues at Glasgow City Council have worked tirelessly to address the issue and have made significant progress in ensuring that all women are paid equally for their work.

This did not come without a cost. In October 2019, the council announced that it had agreed to pay an eye-watering £548 million in compensation to thousands of its former and current female employees who had been discriminated against on the basis of their gender.

This was a monumental moment in the fight for equal pay for women, not just in Glasgow but across the world.

It was a clear signal that pay discrimination and gender inequality will not be tolerated, and that efforts must be made to address these issues head-on.

As the council announced this week that it had agreed the final and last round of compensation, it’s important to celebrate that but also face the blunt reality that this has had a devastating impact on council finances.

In short, cleaning up the mess left by Glasgow Labour has meant we have less resources for our roads, parks and schools as we have had to quite literally pay the price of Labour incompetence.

On top of the millions of pounds the council already pays in eye-watering interest charges on Labour’s Private Finance Initiative agreements every year, this is simply unforgivable.

But I still believe it was the right thing to do, because the importance of equal pay for women cannot be overstated.

According to the World Economic Forum, it will take another 257 years to close the global gender pay gap at the current rate of progress.

This is unacceptable, and urgent action is needed to address this issue.

Unequal pay comes at a cost.

When women are paid less than men for doing the same job, it not only denies them the financial security they deserve but also undermines their sense of self-worth and dignity.

This is particularly true for those who work in low-paid, female-dominated industries such as care work and cleaning, where the gender pay gap can be as high as 30%.

Furthermore, unequal pay for women has a knock-on effect on families and the wider economy. When women are paid less, they have less money to spend, which impacts consumer spending, reduces tax revenues and slows economic growth.

This is why addressing the gender pay gap is not just a matter of fairness, but it is also essential for the health and well-being of society as a whole.

Glasgow City Council’s efforts to finally end the equal pay scandal and compensate all those affected has been a significant step towards promoting gender equality and addressing the gender pay gap in our city.

I’m only sorry that it took so long and so much pain for the women of our city to get the justice they deserved.

But when the next election comes round, don’t forget that the Labour Party in Glasgow used council cash to fight these women in court.

Thankfully, the SNP-led council has now ensured the money is finally where it belongs – in the bank accounts of hardworking Glaswegian women.