View from Red Road

THE Glasgow North-east by-election may excite political insiders, but not the electorate in this deprived seat, finds Eddie Barnes

FATHER David Brown, the Catholic priest at All Saints church in Barmulloch, sips a cup of tea in the front room of his chapel house. "My problem is not that I'm dealing with people who don't believe in God. It's that people think God doesn't believe in them," he declares. For ten years, Fr Brown has lived and worked in the shadow of the Red Road flats, the towering housing scheme seen by thousands of motorists from the M8 every week, but seen up close only by those who live there. On Thursday, voters in this part of Glasgow will have their first chance to take part in a genuine Westminster election for years – when former speaker Michael Martin was the MP, the result was never in doubt.

But the opportunity appears to be something few in Fr Brown's local community are eager to take up. "Nobody is that bothered by it. They aren't talking about it," he says. That apathy taps into a wider malaise, he adds. Crushing rates of unemployment and the area's record levels of deprivation have led to a sense of resigned despair. Ground down by a life living off the state, people have little self-esteem. As a result, many aren't interested in developing their lives, he says. "I've been here for ten years and I've done nine marriages in all that time," says Fr Brown. "There isn't the permanence in people's lives to make a commitment." A perfect metaphor for the dysfunction lies across the road from the chapel house. "Look at the shops," he says. "There is a Chinese takeaway, a fish-and-chip shop, an Indian takeaway, two bookies and an off-sales. There isn't a single shop where you can get food to cook a meal." It is a takeaway culture, he says, where tomorrow can always wait. Little wonder then that the by-election - still four whole days away – has yet to fire the imagination. The common view in the constituency is that Labour will hold this bastion of socialism once again, beating off a strong SNP challenge. But the story on Thursday night may not be of that race. Instead it could come from the expected, dismal turnout or a high percentage share for the far-right BNP, which is hoping to capitalise on Barmulloch's simmering resentment. In a by-election that was caused indirectly by the expenses scandal that saw the bond between politicians and the people stretched to breaking point, could the message from the Glasgow North-east by-election be to further confirm that collapse of trust?

FOR the man with it all to lose, Willie Bain was maintaining his aura of calmness yesterday. The Labour candidate, and odds on favourite to become the next MP for the area this week, spent the morning greeting shoppers outside the Tesco at St Rollox, down the hill from Red Road. The site itself is symbolic of the seat: once home to the huge railway works that made Springburn one of the great engines of the UK economy, it is now a retail park dominated by Tesco and Costco. "The difference is that they used to produce wealth. Now they just recycle it," says one community leader. The two stores employ hundreds of local people but the working pattern has changed since the days of railways. "There are a lot of jobs for women at Tesco and Costco but not for the men. That has had ramifications for family life," says one local.

Bain hands out leaflets to the shoppers that focus solely on attacking the SNP government, and hint strongly at an east-west bias. "This year the SNP government in Edinburgh has a record amount to spend. But Glasgow is getting a raw deal from the SNP," it reads. But those who might assume Springburn would rally to their Labour candidate without question are in for a surprise. Many shoppers can't be bothered with the by-election.

"They're all tarred with the same brush," says Iain Forbes, pushing a trolley. "All that carry-on with the expenses in Westminster. We've given them a chance but what have they done for this area?" An even angrier woman, an SNP supporter called Evelyn Stenhouse, who appears to have decided to try to sabotage Bain's photocall, marches up and begins finger-jabbing. "I went to university so that I could get out of here. Now they've taken away the grants," she shouts, almost close to tears. Afterwards, a couple walking past the Labour balloon carriers refuse to take any leaflets. On the other side of the supermarket car park, a BNP van carrying an advertising hoarding declaring "Punish the Pigs!" has drawn up. "None of you are worth voting for," says the man. "See them over there (he points at the BNP], I'm voting for them." "You're entitled to your opinion," replies a Labour activist, condescendingly.

But those activists are all on message: "Willie's the local candidate!" they declare. Labour is hammering that message home with good reason. Another local man, who declines to give his name, sums up the mood. "A lot of people feel let down. They got promised a lot and they haven't had much back in return. But Willie will win because he's a local lad. He used to sing in the choir at the chapel, so he'll be bringing a lot of people down from the congregation." Some of the shoppers remark about how much weight Bain has lost recently. If casual shoppers at Tesco know the candidate's stomach size, his claim to be the local candidate is on solid ground.

FURTHER into the seat, near Springburn shopping centre, Conservative leader Annabel Goldie and candidate Ruth Davidson are limbering up in the sports centre, ahead of a photocall. For the Conservatives, with no chance of winning, the by-election is a chance to showcase their policies. Davidson thinks the campaign has offered evidence people are confused about who to back. "As a first time candidate, I didn't know what to expect," she says. "But people do want to listen to us because many of them don't know how they are going to vote." That difficulty is even worse for the local Orange Lodge, jokes one constituent. Bain, the Labour candidate, is a former choir boy, while the SNP candidate, David Kerr, is a member of Opus Dei. "The Orangemen have got a choice between a practising Catholic and an Opus Dei Catholic," he declares.

Up the road, there is music for the SNP's ears. Naeen Gilahi, a small shopkeeper, has put up posters of Nationalist candidate David Kerr in his window. Why? He points to the Small Business Bonus scheme which, he says, allows him to employ more staff. "It makes it easier for us as a shop, for my family. It means we can employ people, things like that," he said. Alex Salmond claimed last week that the bonus scheme would have an impact in a seat where small firms play a key role in the local economy. But the trouble for the SNP is that, being in government, is also has to defend its less popular policies – starting with its ill-timed decision to cancel the Glasgow Airport rail link. As with any party which has spent some time in government, it is beginning to lose its sparkle. One grandmother, walking her grandchildren up the road near the park, is furious with Labour for closing her local school. But she blames the SNP as much. "I'll vote for Tommy Sheridan. If I can be bothered," she says. Meanwhile, SNP insiders say that the campaign has lacked the drive which saw them take neighbouring Glasgow East last year.

Yesterday, the campaigns of the various parties rolled into the final lap. Labour issued figures showing three-quarters of the police in the city recruited since 2007 had been paid for by the Labour-run council and not by the SNP government in Edinburgh. Bain declared: "This is another SNP rip-off. Glasgow City Council has done its best to ensure that officers are on the streets of Glasgow but without support from the SNP in Edinburgh those officer numbers are under threat." Labour MP Ian Davidson, meanwhile, once again raised the matter of Kerr's birthplace, pointing to how his claim to have been "born on Duke Street" – in the constituency – was contradicted by his birth certificate. "The issue is playing really strongly in the seat," said one senior Labour figure.

Kerr kicked off the day with an early morning jog through Springburn before joining Alex Salmond in Possil. "The SNP campaign continues to close the gap on Labour. More and more people are sick of being let down by Labour and they want to see a fresh start for Glasgow North-east with an SNP MP," he declared.

But is anybody listening to the big parties? In Springburn high street, Tommy Sheridan's socialists mixed alongside the small number of BNP activists surrounding candidate Charlie Baillie. "If we keep our deposit, it will be a success," said one BNP member. A greater worry for the main parties is that the BNP could come third, ahead of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Both the impact of BNP chairman Nick Griffin's TV appearance on Question Time, and the lingering resentment over the housing of asylum seekers locally could pull their vote above five per cent for the first time in Scotland.

FOUR days out, the odds are still stacked in favour of Labour, with senior figures in the Glasgow party suggesting they are well ahead of the SNP. However, many expect the turnout to be less than 40 per cent. Whoever wins on Thursday will have the job of trying to make Glasgow North-east get noticed. "You can drive from Glasgow city centre and on to Bishopbriggs without even seeing us," says Fr Brown, in his parish house. "There will be people who won't be voting because they don't think it'll make a difference."