The hole in Glasgow’s Brexit plan

Scotland needs a strong economy to tackle poverty and inequality. Most people would agree with that. In the third sector, we believe fairness should go hand in hand with prosperity. Most other influential voices tend to agree with us, not least the Scottish Government. Why then does Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, appear to be thinking something else? I ask this question in light of the Brexit report produced by Glasgow City Council, the Glasgow Economic Leadership board, and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. It points out that the city will face great challenges when the UK leaves the EU, as I’m sure it will. It then argues these can be overcome if the Scottish and UK Governments take specific policy decisions to support the city region.

there is not one word about how to transform people's live

Broadly speaking, and I am paraphrasing here, the city authorities’ answer is a basic case of just give us more - whether that be money, land or tax relief. There are some bold statements about transforming the city economy, as you might expect. But there is not one word about how to transform people's lives. It’s a huge omission. Let’s remember that in comparison to surrounding local authorities, Glasgow has a higher proportion of children living in poverty, and around one in five working Glaswegians earns below the Living Wage. Almost half of Glasgow’s residents (286,000 people) live in 20% of the most deprived areas in Scotland. In 2013, 19% of households had a net annual income of less than £10,000, the highest rate of any local authority in Scotland. Respected organisations such as the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – both of which the Chamber & Council have close links with – recognise that inequality is a drag on the economic and social cohesion of countries, regions and cities. Their solution is inclusive growth, a model which boosts prosperity at the same time as addressing inequality. It is widely regarded as one of the most progressive forms of economic development and is the single biggest and most influential development in economic strategy in recent years.  How odd then the organisations behind Glasgow’s Brexit report are entirely unaware of, or are perhaps completely indifferent about it. This is worrying for the city’s citizens, myself included, and perhaps worst of all, utterly daft in terms of politics. Inclusive growth is one of the twin pillars of the Scottish Government's economic strategy. In her acceptance speech to the Scottish Parliament in November 2014, the then new First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, spoke about building "a socially just Scotland and a Scotland vigorous and determined in its resolution to address poverty, support business, promote growth and tackle inequality". Her subsequent programme for government was founded upon three key priorities: participation, prosperity and fairness. Each of these inclusive growth principles has been carried forward into her current government plan. That is the political spirit within which Glasgow's economic leadership is working. It is then, frankly bizarre, that their report doesn’t even bother to pay lip-service to these principles. What the report should have been asking for is a form of financial protection for the city from Brexit which is connected to social and economic policy. A word to the wise: next time, try involving the third sector. Glasgow’s charities and voluntary organisations are some of the best, most active and most connected anywhere in the world. They have a direct relationship with the people of the city and would, I’m sure, be more than willing to help in developing a truly fair and inclusive economic plan for the whole city community, not just its business and establishment actors.