Archive for March 11th, 2010

The Land of Wild West Labour:

The Steven Purcell and Strathclyde Passenger Scandals in Context

Gerry Hassan

The Scotsman, March 11th 2010

Glasgow as a city has always been a bit on an enigma from ‘second city of the Empire’ to ‘second city of shopping’. Its politics have been shaped by the allure of ‘Red Clydeside’, while driven by the reality of a city of pragmatism, deals and doing business.

As long ago as 1953, ‘The Times’ said in an editorial, ‘Nowadays, the ‘Red Clyde’ is no more than pink’, and that has been the prevailing motto of the last few decades, explicitly so in the decades from ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’ onward as the city consciously tried to rebrand and promote itself.

The resignation of Steven Purcell as Glasgow council leader has been a tragic one personally, but also one with a wider political dimension which has yet to fully unfold. This touches on the unacceptable face of Labour patronage which still prevails in parts of Scotland, and rules Glasgow and much of the West of Scotland in particular. Read the rest of this entry »