GLASGOW City Council leader Susan Aitken has compared comments from union chief Gary Smith that the city is "filthy" and "unkempt" with "notorious ditties" sung by football fans.
Mr Smith, the secretary of GMB Scotland said that Glasgow was in economic and political decline, derided the quality of the local airport and said Glasgow is suffering from an “epidemic” of rats.
He added: “Glasgow is teetering on the brink of crisis.”
But Ms Aitken who said she had been on a social media ban for a couple of weeks hit back at Mr Smith's view of the city saying that he periodically goes on "prejudiced anti-Glasgow rants", accused him of denigrating public service workers and said he was ill-informed about "both the nature of Glasgow’s deep-seated physical & social challenges and of how the city has and is being transformed".
READ MORE: 'Filthy' Glasgow is in political and economic decline, says trade union leader
She said: I never shy away from the scale of the deep-seated legacies we face as a city. That’s my job and I welcome constructive engagement with that. But Smith’s ignorant comments are more like certain notorious ditties sung by visiting football fans. Glasgow doesn’t need more of that.
"Anyway, I’m supposed to be on a social media ban for a couple of weeks. When I’ve told people in this place where I’m from, they react with delight & fall over themselves to share their Glasgow stories. Keep being your fabulous self Glasgow, be good, see you again very soon."
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Mr Smith, who moved back to Scotland after living and working in the south of England, had said: “It feels like a city that is in decline. We’ve got public buildings in a state of decay - the Mitchell Library, the problems with the People’s Palace - the streets are absolutely filthy and we’ve got an epidemic of rats in large parts of the city.
“Too often the politicians are happy to hide behind this bluff and bluster about ‘people make Glasgow’. The people of Glasgow deserve better than they are getting.”
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