Glasgow's indomitable spirit is its eternal strength

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/07/glasgow-inner-spirit-clutha-disaster

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There appear to be no scientific theories to explain why some parts of Glasgow are always the worst in the UK for ill health and low life expectancy. Other UK cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle are afflicted by similar rates of unemployment and disease, yet their citizens simply do not die as young as Glaswegians do. Yet there are some aspects of Glasgow's social and cultural history within which the DNA of the "Glasgow Effect" has been carried for some time and can point to its uniqueness.

No other city in Europe underwent as massive and as intense a programme of heavy industrialisation as Glasgow in the 19th century. At one point, the city was supplying around a quarter of the world's locomotives and around half of the UK's shipping and it was one of the first cities in Europe to reach a population of one million. With such a production record, Glasgow ought to have had a rock and roll economy sufficient to make its citizens among the most affluent in the world.

Instead, as Glasgow became richer, bigger and more productive, the majority of its citizens grew poorer. The city had some of the worst overcrowding in Europe as the men who grew rich on the back of the population boom simply refused to build proper housing for their tenants. In many cases, they were paying meagre wages, then overcharging for rat-infested and disease-ridden accommodation.

The heavy industrial nature of the work done by poor Glaswegians and the cramped living conditions meant that many simply drank to relax in the taverns that proliferated in the poorest neighbourhoods and which were built for that very purpose. The influx of the Irish in the second half of the 19th century simply exacerbated the problem. They, too, were kept in the most foul of the city's slum dwellings and kept out of work by a merchant class resentful and fearful of their old Roman faith.

While education allowed many to escape and, in time, discover prosperity, alcohol and persistent poverty claimed many others. There are still neighbourhoods in Glasgow's East End that are suffering from the ravages of these years.

When the Labour party and trade union movement effected employment reforms, some of the workers began to enjoy a few of the fruits of their labours, but the golden age of decently paid employment was over almost as soon as it began. Following the end of the second world war, the decline in heavy industry was as spectacular as its growth in the first place. Poor management, a lack of investment and the doctrinal hatred of the working class and the unions displayed by Margaret Thatcher and her acolytes saw steel and coal production destroyed and shipbuilding decline.

The erosion of the self-confidence and morale of an entire industrial class during these years was spectacular. They went from almost full employment to nothing within a decade or so and neither the Labour party nor the Conservatives had the hearts or the minds to address it. Today, there are neighbourhoods in the south and north of the city still suffering the psychological wounds of being told that they were, literally, worthless and that none of them was worth saving.

This is your Glasgow Effect. And it continues today in the increase in food banks and the rise of fuel poverty; in the rise in alcohol-related crime and disease; in the destruction of family units caused by the long-term stress of unemployment or unsustainably low wages.

Out of two centuries of inequality and heavy blows, though, a warmth and sense of optimism has developed in my city that can perhaps be interpreted as a rebellion in the face of adversity. For a city that has observed and experienced a gutful of tragedy and cruelty, perhaps there is no other way to confront it all other than through song and laughter.

A week on, my city is still reeling from the blow of last weekend's helicopter crash at the Clutha Vaults pub that claimed nine lives. On many occasions since the last war, Glasgow's mettle has been tested and on each the response of our people has not been found wanting. In the last six decades, we have had the Cheapside Street Whisky bond fire in 1960; the James Watt Street fire in 1968; the Ibrox disaster and Clarkston gas explosion in 1971 and the Stockline Plastics explosion in 2004.

The Clutha tragedy was different from all the others in that the blanket, 24/7 news coverage allowed the entire nation to share Glasgow's pain. This is surely a good thing, even if aspects of this type of coverage can leave some of us feeling a little queasy. Otherwise eloquent and sympathetic broadcast journalists are forced to reach for hyperbole to avoid repeating themselves every half hour.

Are we really suggesting that ordinary passers-by in Liverpool or London, if faced with a similar incident, would not have reacted in the same way those heroic Glaswegians did last Friday in forsaking their personal safety by rushing towards a dangerous scene? And do we not risk trivialising the quiet dignity of grief by piling thousands of bouquets on top of one another when a single flower can speak much more eloquently? Perhaps not.

Each of those nine bereaved families knew very quickly that they were being supported and that the city and the country were reaching out to them. Similarly, it is tempting to be uncharitable to politicians when they try to choose appropriate words to convey the nation's sadness.

Last week though, Alex Salmond, Gordon Matheson, the leader of Glasgow City Council and Stephen House, Scotland's chief constable conducted themselves with dignity and courage in front of the cameras and microphones.

It was strangely comforting to see these three men visibly distressed and providing support for each other just hours after the crash. And it was entirely appropriate for the first minister to invoke the spirit of St Andrew on our patron's day.

The families of the nine people who died at the Clutha Vaults may never "come to terms" with the loss of their loved ones, and why should they feel that they ought to? It's simply important for them to know that Glasgow, battle-scarred and warm-hearted, will always be there for them.

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