The 2026 Commonwealth Games, albeit in truncated form, are set to be hosted by Glasgow after the city decided to come to the rescue of Victoria in Australia, which had decided it couldn’t afford them and maybe had more urgent priorities.

Glasgow was able to step in as not only do we have a lot of the existing infrastructure required, having hosted the Games in 2014, but will receive financial support from, amongst others, the Scottish and UK governments.

The same institutions we are also told, regularly and at length, are already on their financial uppers and toying with further tax increases or spending cuts.

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The issues of finance and budget at Scottish Government level have seen swingeing cuts to the grants allocated to local authorities to the extent that many services have not only been cut but are now at crisis level.

Since we last hosted the Commonwealth Games 10 years ago Glasgow residents have seen their bin collections cut, charges introduced for bulk items or garden waste uplifts, graffiti, vandalism and fly-tipping all increased and the state of our roads deteriorated beyond compare.

Reports of vermin across the city have increased and many of the outlying green areas of the Dear Green Place remain unkempt and unable to fulfil their roles as community spaces.

The one and only swing park in the Swinton area of my ward remains unavailable for children to use, while the period for replacement swings spreads into the ever further future, with the lack of funding being the main cause seemingly.

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In addition, Glasgow schools have seen cuts of more than 160 teacher posts this year and the threat of over 200 more to come in the next two, while at the same time the city looks to increase revenue by charging locals for evening parking, driving older vehicles or in some cases merely entering the city centre.

I mention all of this by way of setting the context between the two bids.

Can Glasgow host a successful Games in 2026? Of course we can.

Arguably, we hosted the best ever in 2014, with Glaswegians themselves being a major part of the event’s success.

Competitors and visitors alike were given a welcome to this city like no other while Glasgow’s sport and hospitality venues made sure the Games provided life long memories.

But that was 10 years ago and before the SNP and Greens had brought so much damage to our city.

We know our city doesn’t look or feel the same as it did in 2014, we only have to look at our roads, our streets, our green spaces and our once thriving city centre.

The above is why my mailbox reflects the scepticism over this latest bid by the council.

It’s not that Glaswegians aren’t willing to host the Commonwealth Games, but my constituents ask “are we able to?”

Undoubtedly, they understand that there may be some short-term financial gain to the city and its businesses but wonder that if the preparations mean that already stretched resources will reach breaking point.

While welcoming any chance for my city to take to the world stage, I have sympathy for this concern.

If Glasgow citizens are being told today that schools, play areas, parks and pothole strewn roads cannot be repaired due to stretched resources, what is going to happen to service provision when the Games preparations begin?

My constituents will always support any attempt by Glasgow to increase its global presence but not at the expense of the city administration’s ability to conduct the most basic of council services.

To paraphrase my wonderful mother, who knows all about basic housekeeping: “We want to welcome visitors to a home that looks great all of the time and not just because we’re expecting company.”