Dear All
Glasgow is famous for many things as the second city of the Empire, one of the less attractive things about the city is the treatment doled out to the poorest and the homeless. Through-out the city however there are many people who volunteer at homeless drop in centres and soup kitchens. For the most part, we, the public only get a glimpse of them and the problems they face when there is a xmas appeal. Every week in the city pre covid, homeless and poor people could stop off at various locations and get hot food. The most well known places in the city are the Glasgow City Mission, Lodge House Mission and the 'Wayside' club. These places do a combination of free food and/ or cheap food, they are a lifeline to many. As well as food, some locations run other activities for those who drop in off the street, such as counselling, internet access, free haircuts, free second hand clothes and footwear, toileties, as well as help with medical and benefits advice. At these locations, the customers are a mixture of people from the elderly to the young, from those who can't cope with life, to those who stop by as they come out of prisons before going back into prison. The homeless and poor aren't just solely men, women can be seen using the services, and also migrants who can't work due to regulations.
One of the myths of the poor is the notion that they live a life of luxury on benefits, if you think that then wake up. Drop by one of the many soup kitchens which operate in the Glasgow city centre and have the myth explode in your face. No one is wearing designer clothes, driving BMWs, dripping with gold and has an air of wealth about them. When you listen to some people's tales of how they ended up at the soup kitchen, it is sometimes unpleasant. When you hear about people being benefit sanctioned for 6 months and upwards, it's a tale all too familiar. The political masters may change at Holyrood but one thing over the last 13 years of SNP misrule is nothing has changed for the poorest, it's got worse. The SNP would punt the lie of being 'Stronger for Scotland' but they haven't bothered to help the poor, in fact they have made these people's lives worse due to doing things like cutting drug treatment services. Here is a link worth a skim on how backward the SNP is driving Scotland.
Yes, good old photo opportunity Nicola Sturgeon could give a monkeys about the homeless and poorest in society. If you read the report highlighted by the National, you read how families with children being turned away without accommodation and the council knowing of single people sleeping on the streets. When you read what the SNP controlled council is all about, it paints a shocking picture, The inquiry found that SNP run Glasgow City Council operated a practice of “gatekeeping”, this is when a homeless person is denied access to services. At the same time the SNP was actively denying help to the homeless, we had the spectacle of SNP Cllrs championing their 'homeless strategy' as some kind of breakthrough. Even Sturgeon's pet dug, SNP Cllr Mhairi Hunter got in on the act of championing the SNP approach to homelessness. Ms. Hunter remains in my eyes as trash, much like her mother, another useless individual of limited mental abilities who clung to Sturgeon's apron.
The SNP policy to "assist" the homeless and the poor seems to be based on giving the less amount of money possible. When it comes to the poor, the SNP candidates use them to bolster their careers. Who could forget Mhairi Black who rails on the plight of the deprived after her stint of handing out a roll and square sausage at Glasgow City Mission. I suppose now she is an MP, we could ask if she ever went back since elected? But Black isn't the only one to venture down the city mission, you have to add in David Linden and Ivan McKee, it seems Glasgow City Mission is the 'go to' place to speak to the poor. Well, it's a nice and reasonably new shiny building. Apparently they don't frequent the less glamorous places like Lodge House Mission or the Wayside Club. The story of the SNP and the poor is the story of Scotland, the projection of fake hope and concern, the story of short term politics. When it comes to white working class Scots down on their luck, it is the story of institutional neglect, homeless people aren't on Nicola Sturgeon's priority list, except in the photo op section.
One of the really worst of the services for the poor is the 'flop house' in the east end of Glasgow just up from the Barras, it is notorious, it's called the Bellgrove Hotel. This place is a living nightmare for homeless people, and worst still the people who run it charge the earth, housing benefit of up to £199.25 a week pays for tiny cell-like rooms and shared squalid toilets and bathrooms. £800 gets you an utter shithole if you are poor, but if you check the web, you can find really nice places in affluent areas.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86584522#/
Two bed flat in seriously trendy Newton Mearns, if Newton Mearns isn't your cup of tea or latte, then how about a one bedroom in the city centre, and not too far from the Bellgrove either.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/72552845#/
I show these examples to contrast the quality of life that the poorest get, the glass ceiling on opportunity is manifest right across the board for those who life has dealt a cruel hand. Does keeping people in places like the Bellgrove serve a point? The fact is that the Bellgrove is like other low quality places in the city, it's a place to send people to be forgotten about and to die. Tiny rooms with barred windows that looked on to a rat-infested courtyard destroys the soul of man, prison would be a substantial upgrade and cleaner. The SNP in national and local government have known about the plight of the people in the Bellgrove for years, and did nothing but talk and talk and talk. The thought of taking action wasn't even on their radar, back in 2016, an election year obviously, SNP MSP John Mason raised a motion signed by 21 members from across the political divide calling for urgent, better regulation of the hostel.
It doesn't take four years to plan, it doesn't take four years to take action, but the SNP moves slow because they don't care unless it suits their agenda at the moment. It now appears that owner's of Scotland's most famous flop house want to possibly sell up, it is said that they are wanting an eye-watering £1.5m for the rat infested slum building despite making a fortune out of a building they bought for £65,000. If anything, the owners should donate the building and the land to the council given the amount of money they have made. But I guess £1.5 million is a good nest egg for old age, and perhaps the owners have fallen on hard times. Apparently a source is saying that:
“Glasgow City Council was interested in possibly buying this place and trying to change the way the place is run. The current business model is far from ideal and changes need to be made. It raised a few eyebrows when people were told what the price tag was. They must have had other interested parties though as they seemed fine about letting the council walk away from any potential deal.”
The Bellgrove Hotel needs to close and the residents moved to better accommodation. Why are Glasgow City Council run by the SNP wanting to keep the status quo going with tweaks, well it is possibly due to the fact that many residents have addiction and mental health issues. They have given up on life because they have no quality of life, every avenue for them is closed in their experiences. The Bellgrove is also said to be awash with drugs and alcohol, and residents often lie passed out in pools of their own urine. This would also explain why the SNP Council would want to keep the 160 men bottled up in this place. I suspect they view these people as unworthy of help and it would explain their mentality, put in place a 'holding action'.
David MacIver, of Shelter Scotland, said:
“We want to see unsuitable hostel accommodation consigned to the history books. No one experiencing homeless should have to face the kind of appalling conditions that have been reported at the Bellgrove over the years. Councils must invest in safe, suitable temporary accommodation that is available when needed.”
And
finally, to show an example of what help really means from the SNP Council in
Glasgow, a Glasgow City Council spokeswoman confirmed they had walked away from
any potential deal to buy the property. As xmas rapidly approaches, you will
see your yearly up close and personal fishbowl look at the poor, and with covid
in the mix, it will add an extra dimension for the lovelies at STV and BBC
Scotland. The public will be treated to 'poverty porn' in which certain poor people
will be selected to give a piece to camera and try to sound cheery as they wait
in line for a hot xmas meal. A lot of people in politics think they know what
poverty actually means without ever having experienced the life, but in reality
their experience is... I saw and talked to poor people!
Yours sincerely
George Laird The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
4 comments:
The council do fuck all for the homeless. I've worked in the City Centre for 25 years and a lot of the generosity comes from ordinary people, ranging from cleaners to lawyers. I've seen people buy food, drink, even cigarettes and hand them to the homeless.
The genuine homeless have their regular spots. There are two in the street where I live, and both guys have obviously been dealt with badly. Neither is a junkie, and both are very polite. One of them has been there over ten years. He's out in all weathers.
They have designer trainers because these are donated to charities. Likewise with their clothes.
The money that has been wasted on Gaelic signage could have been better spent.
I was brought up in poverty, luckily "out west" by Anniesland, left at 19 into the mob, it was a job, more than was on offer. People as me why, I say for 3 meals a day.
Go forward 40 years and eventually back working in glasgow what do I find.
NOTHING HAS FUCKING CHANGED
Oh there some more bright lights, colourful paint, a SECC and the rivers cleaner [at what cost?] but the deprivation and poverty is still rampant.
I DESPAIR at the wasted years, where opportunity to change for the better has instead been spent on political oneupmanship, "devolution" and independence.
Independence from whom? it sure ain't from poverty drugs unemployment and lying politicians backhanding themselves dressers full of shoes.
Hi Weemonkey
You are right to despair. people need to take back control of our political system as it is utterly corrupt and poisoned. The advances have been slow and are like new paint over a rotten structure. We as a people have been failed.
George
I tell you George, the first party that actually picks up the mantle and delivers meaningful results in tackling all those issues [ and I don't mean glib soundbites] will rule Scotland for a generation!
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