Anger as Keir Starmer 'excludes' Scottish cities from key government meeting

AN SNP council leader has hit out at Keir Starmer for “excluding” Scottish cities from a key government meeting.

The first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council of Nations and Regions is set to go ahead, and while mayors from across England will be invited to attend – the only Scottish representatives will be the Scottish Government.

Glasgow council leader Susan Aitken said that this means Starmer was effectively “ignoring and excluding” not only Glasgow but other Scottish cities.

(Image: NQ) Aitken (above) wrote in a tweet: “Not just Glasgow but all of Scotland’s cities & city regions are ignored & excluded, while our English peers are invited to a meeting taking place in Scotland.

She added: “Scotland’s city regions are among the leading drivers of investment into these islands. We seek only equal treatment.”

The Prime Minister – and new “envoy” to the nations and regions Sue Gray (below) – are set to hold the first meeting of the council in Edinburgh on Friday.

Sue Gray took up the envoy role after being booted out as Starmer chief of staffThe Herald first reported on Aitken hitting out at the exclusion, with the council leader writing in a letter to Scottish Secretary Ian Murray that she had only found out on Tuesday morning.

“As a major UK metro area with around one-third of Scotland’s GDP, Glasgow is a leading member of the Core Cities and GCR engages extensively with other UK/English metro areas at both political and official level – and is active in international engagements such as with COP and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership forum,” she wrote.

The Glasgow council leader told The Herald: “Keir Starmer and his team have talked up this new council as some sort of big reset of the UK Government’s relationship with local leaders.

"We’ve been promised change, we’ve been promised respect - but Labour’s first decision has been to shut the door on Glasgow.

“It is extraordinary. Starmer is bringing England’s local leaders to a meeting in Scotland, but not allowing any of their Scottish counterparts to join them around the table.

“Three months ago, Glasgow’s six new Labour MPs promised communities across this city that they would be at the heart of this new government. They’re not even in the same room.”

Cosla, the organisation which represents Scotland’s local authorities, has also hit out at the exclusion.

A spokesperson told The Herald: “We acknowledge that a letter has been sent to the Secretary of State for Scotland seeking clarification of why Scottish local government was not represented on the new Council of the Nations and Regions.

"We hope for an early response and further constructive discussion with the Secretary of State over how local government is better represented in these discussions going forward.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The council of nations and regions is one of the many ways that the UK Government is resetting the relationship with the Scottish Government.”