ALL too often, an MSP gets to their feet during First Minister’s Questions to ask about the impact of redundancies in their area. Job losses, especially when unexpected, generally unite politicians across party lines in asking the government to offer practical help to the community that’s affected.

The closure of The Arches will of course hit hardest the 130-plus people who face the prospect of losing their jobs. But the community affected will be more than just the local area. This is a venue which has made a huge contribution to the artistic, cultural and social life of Glasgow, and the whole of Scotland. Indeed its reputation is global, and its loss will be felt way beyond my own city.

The worst thing is that this loss was so avoidable, and will be so futile as a response to the problems which prompted it.

It would be wrong to downplay the public safety issues which arise from recreational drug use, whether that’s alcohol, illegal drugs, or the plethora of new substances not yet covered by legislation. Those who have lost someone, or nearly done so, will of course be deeply concerned about a venue in which problems have happened.

But over many years The Arches has been one of the most responsible club venues in the country, training its staff and providing medical facilities.

It was repeatedly recognised for its efforts, and had a reputation for dealing with the issues of drug use in an enlightened and intelligent manner.

The problem is that the rest of our society doesn’t see things that way. An authoritarian approach to drug use has, over many years, made the problem worse not better, increasing the risk of harm and ensuring that most of the recreational drug trade is in the hands of gangsters (the exception being alcohol, where it’s mostly in the hand of multinational corporations; you may reach your own value judgement about that difference). The situation is about to get worse too, with the UK Government’s proposed Psychoactive Substances Bill which will sever any remaining link between legal status and the risk of harm. Supply will be pushed further into the control of criminals, and users will be left uncertain what they are buying. Those who get into trouble, whether in a club environment or anywhere else, will be unable to tell medics with any confidence what it is they have taken.

None of this is to say that recreational drug use doesn’t cause any harm. It does.

A rational debate about the level of harm it causes compared with other activities is difficult to have in this country, as Professor David Nutt found to his cost.

But I cannot understand how anyone imagines that closing one of the most responsible venues in the country and shifting club-based drug use to other venues with less experience of dealing with the issue can be in the public interest. This will surely increase the risk of harm to the public.

And that’s before we even consider the wider harm which the loss of The Arches will cause. As an arts and cultural venue its importance is hard to express. As stated in the open letter from more than 400 leading cultural figures such as Irvine Welsh, Liz Lochhead, and members of Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian and Franz Ferdinand, it has been “a key venue at the centre of Glasgow’s remarkable cultural renaissance of the past 25 years”. Adding to those voices, nearly 40,000 people campaigned to save The Arches by way of a public petition.

All to no avail. With the club no longer able to operate, the whole venue is at risk unless a rescue package can be put together. That’s why I’ve felt so frustrated trying in vain for weeks now to get the chance to ask one of those questions in the Chamber, one which I am sure would have gained at least some degree of cross-party support.

I can’t know whether it would have helped, but it would surely have had more chance if I’d been allowed to raise the issue before the administrators were called in, than it can now. I did lodge a motion seeking MSPs’ support for a rethink of the licensing decision. Sadly only a dozen MSPs signed up, and none from Glasgow.

Surely it’s not too late.

The jobs matter, and so does the impact on arts programming in Glasgow. But if Creative Scotland and the city council can work together they can give a new life to The Arches itself, allowing it to continue to contribute to the cultural life of Scotland as well as helping Glasgow’s social scene to flourish. Please, let’s not give up on that.

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