Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2026
I am aware that Glasgow, like many other communities in Scotland, is not immune to some of the economic pressures that are faced by Scotland and across these islands. Many of the United Kingdom Government’s policies are taking their toll, such as higher employer national insurance contributions and higher energy costs, which are impacting Glasgow businesses as well as those in the rest of the country.
We should note that there are reasons for optimism. The recent global financial centres index ranks Glasgow alongside some of the world’s top-performing cities. Glasgow ranks 37th globally and 12th in western Europe. It has made consistent and steady progress in the past year since that survey.
There are plenty of indicators that show that Glasgow has many strengths. It is important that we talk the city up, but there are challenges, and it is important that we work together to address them. We will continue to do that, and, of course, yesterday’s budget contains a lot of measures that will support Glasgow going forward.