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Glasgow’s SNP group has accused Conservative and Labour candidates of “disrespecting” East End residents by littering closes in the Shettleston and North East Wards.
Conservative candidate John White said he enlisted the help of a partially sighted person to help him deliver his leaflets which is why some have ended up at the bottom of flat closes. Mr White then went on to say he was happy to see the SNP taking notice of the “litter issues” in the area.
The Labour group also says they have not been littering closes in Shettleston and have enlisted the help of Royal Mail to help them canvas residents. Shettleston councillor and candidate Frank McAveety says he will be getting in touch with the postal service to see what they can do to help address this issue.
READ MORE: Glasgow Election 2022: Conservatives say cleaning up Glasgow is heart of their campaign
Mr McAveety said: “I am almost certain that is the post office delivery and is certainly not the delivery we have been putting out. I find it ironic that the Labour party be criticised as I’ve hardly ever seen an SNP leaflet in Shettleston in the last three months.
“I will be contacting the post office to express concern about it as it is unattractive and certainly not the strategy we would want for leaflets as we are absolutely thorough with our delivery in the ward.”
The problem has been flagged by a number of local residents, according to SNP councillor Ruairi Kelly.
One Easterhouse resident, Mrs Thompson, told the Local democracy reporting service: “Last week it was Labour leaflets all over my close and this week it’s the Tories dumping theirs in our hallway. If part of their plan to clean up the city is to just dump their rubbish on my doorstep, then they won’t be getting any votes around here.
“I don’t know who John White is but coming into my community and telling me it’s a dump and at the same time throwing your leaflets all over people’s homes is disrespectful and frankly I’m sick of the negativity and the hypocrisy.
“My local councillor Ruairi Kelly has just delivered funding for a new youth enterprise centre in The Lochs, all Mr White has delivered is litter.”
Councillor Kelly says that campaigning must be done responsibly and should be respectful of people’s communities and homes.
He said: “To claim to be cleaning up the city while at the same time throwing your leaflets all over the place shows the contempt in which the Tories hold the people of Glasgow.
“I have been contacted by a number of residents who are rightly furious that the halls and closes they keep clean are treated as a dumping ground by people who can’t be bothered to climb the stairs and post their leaflets.
“On May 5 the people of Glasgow North East will have the chance to vote in councillors like myself and Councillor Mandy Morgan who have secured record amounts of funding and worked hand in glove with communities or those that offer nothing but negativity and trash their communities while doing so.”
Candidate John White said this was a mistake carried out by someone not familiar with leafleting. The person is not an activist for the party but a civilian who wanted to help.
He said: “This was an accidental mistake from someone who is not familiar with campaigning. They are registered partially sighted and so it is unsafe for them to get up and down stairs.
“We will endeavour to make sure it doesn’t happen again. However, I am happy that Councillor Kelly has finally taken notice of litter issues in his ward. It’s just a shame he hasn’t for the past 5 years. North East ward deserves better than the SNP.”
Councillor Kelly responded: “The idea that the party who cut universal credit and disability benefits for thousands of households in the North East, introduced the rape clause and just put fuel bills up by over 50% have anything positive to offer the people of Easterhouse is laughable.
“The SNP have a long list of projects we have delivered on with the community, all the Tories have delivered is misery.”
The Royal Mail was also asked to comment on the issue. They say that if Labour want to contact them about this issue they are very happy to discuss aspects of the delivery.
Shettleston candidates
Julie Ann Christie – Green
Laura Doherty – SNP
Thomas Kerr – Conservative
Frank McAveety – Labour
Jim McLaughlan – Scottish Socialist Party
Jill Pidgeon – Labour party
Henry Sullivan – Liberal Democrats
David Turner – SNP
North East candidates
Maureen Burke – Labour
Sharon Greer – Labour
Ruairi Kelly – SNP
Anne McAllister – Trade Unionist and Scottish Coalition
Iain McLarty – Greens
Cam Milne – Scottish Libertarian Party
Mandy Morgan – SNP
John White – Conservative
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