In this busy ol’ attention economy, thanks for paying yours to another edition of The Bell. We hope your weekend was full of blue skies and crepuscular rays. Our word of the week is apricity: the warmth of the sun in winter. Fittingly, Calum spent Sunday in the hills, carving snow-white pow and perfecting his snowboarding fit. After finishing his weekend read, Robbie sunk a delicious pint of Guinness in MJ Heraghty’s, followed by a dram of Redbreast 12. Glorious. Other weekend activities are detailed below; read on for a Celtic Connections gig report.
We’ve got another full week, kicked off by an exclusive scoop on a resignation at the CCA; the omnishambles behind-the-scenes continues apace. Let’s get into it.
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Glasgow in Brief
Exclusive: fresh drama at the Centre for Contemporary Arts
As if things couldn't get any worse for the CCA, its new chair just resigned after only a month in the job. The Bell has seen an email sent to staff on Friday by CCA management which announces that Muse Greenwood has “stepped down” from her position as chair of the board. Greenwood was appointed on 12 December following the resignation of all but two previous board members. Her tenure lasted just 35 days. Friday’s email says that appointing a new chair, as well as filling the seven remaining positions on the board, will be “the absolute and immediate priority” over the coming weeks. Protests last summer called for the entire board and managerial team to resign over the CCA’s decision not to formally endorse a cultural boycott of Israel over its military operations in Palestine. You can read our report on the turmoil.
Greenwood’s resignation comes amid public criticisms over her appointment. Artists The Bell has spoken to, along with campaigners, questioned the business consultant’s qualifications to lead the CCA through this turbulent period. Greenwood is CEO of Edinburgh performing arts charity Be United and describes herself as a “transformational leader in arts, equity, and community impact”.
Veteran art critic Clare Henry described Greenwood’s resignation as a “real blow to the CCA and [Glasgow’s] art world” as it seems the CCA is “in a mess”. She believes the news only builds upon a “blanket of doom and gloom” that has hung over Sauchiehall Street since the second Mackintosh fire in 2018. Responding to our requests for comment, the CCA told The Bell “the board is currently progressing trustee recruitment and will confirm governance and leadership arrangements once these processes are complete”.
McGill’s Buses millionaires take a crash course in politics
Picture the scene: a lunchtime meet-cute à trois. Sandy and James Easdale are here to meet Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at a swanky hotel. The matchmakers are a triple threat too, not to mention men of a certain age. Paul McManus, Labour donor and drummer of the band Gun handles the intros. Easdales PR guru, Jack Irvine, is also in the room. But there’s a problem: the restaurant at the Dakota hotel is closed. Worry not, hospitality bigwig Donald MacLeod is also in tow. He has a word with the manager and the restaurant is duly opened for these doyens of industry. And just as well, because a political donation of at least £100,000 is at stake. Don’t take our word for it; read all about it in The Herald.
Two glaring questions emerge from the above article about the Easdale’s six-figure donation to Scottish Labour, the result of the aforementioned luncheon love-in. The first: what do the Greenock millionaires expect in return? Second: is Kevin McKenna okay? A follow up article — which has all the trappings of another Easdale puff piece — makes the claim that “SNP gender ideology has stopped the party fixing the economy and transport”. But back to the matter at hand: Sandy and James’s foray into the fray of Scottish politics. It’s a puzzling move for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Easdales’ hobby horse is the fight to stop bus franchising, a policy Labour has historically supported. Secondly, Anas Sarwar’s bid to become the next FM lands somewhere in the grey area between overly-optimistic and delusional. Interestingly, the donation is said to be split into two parts; the first half delivered immediately, the remaining half contingent upon the party developing a “distinctively Scottish” identity and focus. Quite how the Easdales stand to benefit remains something of a mystery. Ostensibly, Sandy says the donation is intended to provide a “line in the sand for change” — taking square aim at the SNP government.
“This is just confirmation, as if we needed any more, that Labour is a party for the billionaires, not for the working class,” an excitable Ross Greer told us this morning, fresh out of an all-hands Scottish Greens meeting. “Given that [the Easdales’] main political priority for the last decade has been stopping us bringing buses back into public ownership, I would ask the leader of the Labour party to confirm what his policy now is on buses,” Greer said. The Scottish Greens co-leader would also like to know what “conditions are attached to this massive donation that he’s got from these opponents of publicly-owned buses”. Gathering steam, Greer also pointed out that Labour previously worked with the Greens to give councils the powers to bring buses back into public ownership.
Stories you might have missed
🏥 QEUH cancer patients “warned for years” of hospital water infections | BBC
🏨 Glasgow Virgin Hotel set to reopen after sudden closure | The National
💰 Glasgow councillors suggest move away from council tax | The National
⌚ Police officer Leonidas Deliroglou took missing man's watch in Glasgow | The Herald
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Read/listen/watch: Neil Scott’s ten questions on Greenock
Photographer Neil Scott — known to some as Glasgow’s premier flâneur and man-about-town — dispatched himself to Greenock for a recent Parkrun (he’s on an unstoppable mission to jog his way around every single one in the country). The wee piece on Inverclyde is pensive, probing, and not afraid of asking some tough questions. First among them: ‘Is Greenock rough?’ Scott explores its history, (unfair) reputation, and the latest addition to its multi-million-pound waterside development, the Wyllieum. Given Scott’s weapon of choice is the camera first, the pen second — it’s posed as a series of ‘question-photos, and published in his photographical Substack, The Crop. Gaun have a gander. And lang may Greenock’s lum reek.
We also rec:
- Peter Capaldi: ‘I wouldn’t mind some of my ashes being spread here one day | The Observer
- Music inspired by lost toddler son helped ease songwriter's grief | BBC News
- UK’s biggest hospital was nicknamed Death Star. Then things got worse | The Times
Catch up and coming up:
- If you need reminding, our mayoral debate, in which leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken penned an argument, produced some stellar comments from readers. Chris, opposing mayors, sarcastically said mayors are “such a ‘success’ that less than 1 in 3 people cared enough to vote in their last mayoral elections”. To which reader ‘N’ replied “You could use the argument of poor turnout to do away with local elections altogether. 44% total turnout in the 2022 elections in Scotland, 35% in England.” This is the sort of informed debate you can have in The Bell’s comments — get involved.
- On Saturday, Robbie sat down with comedian Scott Agnew to hear his life story, which oscillates between harrowing and hilarious.
Robbie Armstrong
Re:view: Celtic Connections at the Mackintosh Church
Say what you will about its fire safety protocols, there are few finer venues for a Celtic Connections gig than CRM’s singular church. On Saturday, the Rajasthan trio SAZ had the crowd captivated with their desert-infused trad and contemporary compositions. So masterful were their respective commands of the sindhi sarangi (a rare string instrument), the dholak drum and the khartal (a clicky-clacky percussive instrument not dissimilar to castanets), that the crowd gave them an enduring standing ovation; no small feat for a support act. Not even legendary Malian musician Afel Bocoum could top their performance. But the voice and guardian of the Niger River’s musical soul gave it a very good punt, making it clear why he maintains his status as one the Sahel's most beloved artists.—Robbie
Glasgow Calendar: The Alexander Thomson Society presents … at the Mitchell
Behold the vast array of free events the AGT society is organising at one of Glasgow’s most beloved buildings from January 24. It kicks off with Thierry Lye of the New Glasgow Society, who asks: ‘can we anticipate the Glasgow 900 celebrations in 2050?’
Other dates for your diary:
Byrne’s Night – A tribute to David Byrne and Talking Heads – Dumbarton Football Club
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