ANAS Sarwar has been accused by Nicola Sturgeon of “talking down” his home city ahead of the COP26 climate summit.
The First Minister insisted she will not “shy away” from problems all cities face amid concerns about Glasgow’s cleanliness and readiness for the UN conference.
At First Minister’s Questions, Sarwar claimed the SNP, who runs Glasgow City Council, have “let down” the city.
He said: “Tonnes of waste piling up on our streets, fly-tipping on the rise and over a million rats.
“Glasgow deserves better. So while Nicola Sturgeon lectures the world about the global environment, she is turning a blind eye to the environment Glaswegians are living in every single day.”
The Scottish Labour leader announced he will on Friday join cleansing workers in Glasgow who are threatening industrial action during the global climate change summit.
Responding, Sturgeon said she will be “working hard” to ensure the dispute between unions and local government body Cosla is resolved.
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She told MSPs: “I don’t shy away from the problems and the challenges that cities like Glasgow – Glasgow is not unique here – face in the times that we live through right now.
“But nor will I stand here and allow Glasgow, one of the greatest cities in the world, to be talked down for political purposes in the way that Anas Sarwar has disgracefully been doing in recent times.”
Sarwar replied: “That was probably a historically out of touch answer from the First Minister.
“She’s basically saying to Glaswegians, that’s just as good as it gets.”
He also criticised the Scottish Government’s record on the environment, saying targets for renewable heating and greenhouse gas cuts have not been met.
Sturgeon stated that Scotland has decarbonised faster than any G20 country in recent years and the Government is publishing a “catch-up” plan for greenhouse gas cuts.
She said: “We decarbonise greater and faster than most other countries in the world.
“That’s why we lead by example.”
The SNP leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, faced questions about the waste situation from a committee of MPs earlier in the week.
She denied that bins are overflowing and said she is “not embarrassed” about the condition of the city ahead of COP26.
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