Charity workers and trade unionists resist "devastating" council cuts

Charity workers and service users joined trade unionists and poverty campaigners to deliver a blistering anti-cuts message as Glasgow City Council set its budget for this year.

Bosses at Scotland’s largest local authority have warned their coffers are in such a mess they require a stinging £29 million worth of cuts to be made.

A series of savings will see cash provided to frontline charity the Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH) slashed by 40% - putting its future in doubt.

Changes already agreed in how grants are provided to the voluntary sector will result in £2m worth of savings.

Demonstrators met outside the City Chambers on George Square as councillors set the budget.

The protest was called by four unions – Unite, Unison, GMB and EIS.

They had already submitted a scheme for an alternative budget which would have avoided drastic cuts by using reserves and the city’s borrowing power.

The Labour-run authority rejected this.

Speaking on behalf of GAMH, Tom Gallagher delivered an electrifying speech:

City Unison convener Brian Smith said cuts would have a devastating effect on mental health services, see learning disability services closed and support for voluntary groups, sheltered housing and community development decimated.

He told the crowd: “Next year they are saying it will get worse. When things get worse you should say we’re not going to do it anymore, because it’s the sign of a very unusual person who keeps doing the same thing and getting the same result.

“There’s plenty of cash in society – it’s just in the wrong hands, the tax dodgers and the super-rich. They’re getting off scot free and the people in this city are paying the price and we have to fight back.”