Flag wars: a new player enters the game

Dear readers, we are delighted to inform you that Robbie has returned from his sojourn in the Caucasus, with a suitcase full of wine, smoked cheese and walnuts in tow. On home shores, he made the most of the autumnal weather at the weekend in Stirlingshire, picking sloes and apples in an old orchard and foraging for mushrooms — the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle shrouded in mist in the middle distance. Calum, meanwhile, was being Calum: namely seafaring in the Firth of Clyde with his dog and trusty rod. He caught ample mackerel and pollock, the former proving quite the catch in a fish pakora. 

We think you’ll agree that Mr Grewar has been holding it down deftly over the past few weeks; so much so we’re about four dozen members away from hitting our 1,000 target. Now, time for your briefing.

Glasgow in Brief

🇵🇸 We can reveal the group behind the Palestine-Saltires popping up on lampposts across the city as the activists ‘United in Resistance’. We spoke to a member of the group, who wish to remain anonymous. “The idea that the Saltire can be used as a symbol of division and fear is not a true representation of Scotland's legacy of fairness and equality,” they told us. They describe those raising the saltire as “far right” figures using the flag “as a weapon to dehumanise migrants in Scotland”. They explained that the Palestine-Saltires, which they are calling ‘flags for freedom’ are “a visible message that Scotland stands with refugees and the people of Palestine. Resistance, they told us, means “resistance against genocide, anti-immigration, racism, and colonialism”. 

It’s notable that the flags have been appearing all along Victoria Road, as well as Argyle Street near the university and Kelvingrove Museum, as opposed to areas like Milton, Maryhill and Possil. Last night, the groups were also out in Battlefield and Pollokshaws Road. They told us they are “not out to antagonise”, and so made the decision to avoid the areas where Saltires have already been raised, predominantly in the north of the city. Over a week on from the Palestine-Saltires being put up, we’ve noticed one has been ripped down on Victoria Road, while two directly in front of Kelvingrove have been removed. Given the council has made the decision not to remove the Saltires in north Glasgow, United in Resistance told us they “strongly hope” it was not a decision by the council to remove their flags. The group are working with the support of the Glasgow Genocide Emergency Committee and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity campaign. They’ve launched a crowdfunder with a target of £5,000 to “fill the streets of Glasgow” with solidarity flags. “At a time of genocide and displacement, we want to show that compassion, dignity, and solidarity are stronger than borders,” they write. 

🏠 Speaking to Sky News’ Connor Gillies before party conference in Aberdeenshire, first minister John Swinney was strong-armed into taking a position on Glasgow’s asylum and homeless hotels situation. The headline (‘Swinney joins call for pause on new asylum arrivals’) felt a bit of a leap. The FM only went as far as conceding — under journalistic duress — that Glasgow City Council’s plea to pause new asylum arrivals as “a fair and reasonable approach” to “give more time for issues to be addressed around homelessness”. 

GCC has previously said it is “struggling” with the number of refugees, and that the asylum system risks “damaging social cohesion”. Glasgow houses around 4,000 asylum seekers, the highest level in the UK, with “hundreds” of people travelling from other cities to claim homelessness after Home Office support had ended parts of England and Northern Ireland with stricter policies on who can claim for accommodation support. 

👙 We’re struggling to think of a more ignoble Glaswegian in the media right now than Dennistoun’s own Baroness Mone. On 1 October, the government won a legal case against PPE Medro, the firm linked to Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, ordering them to pay back £112m over 25m faulty gowns (103 of 140 gowns tested failed sterility tests compared a normal standard of around one in a million). The contract was awarded via the notorious VIP lane during the pandemic after Mone approached Michael Gove. Mone and Barrowman denied involvement in PPE Medro before eventually admitting their roles in 2023. Mone also admitted she had lied. David Cameron made Mone a Conservative peer in 2015. She has now said she has no desire to return as a peer to the House of Lords.

The deadline for repaying the £112m is this Wednesday, however the government is unable to enforce the judgement, despite spending millions on the case. The partners of the company have said they are open to a “possible settlement” with the government. PPE Medro has spent a total of £4.3m defending itself in court. £75m of Mone and Barrowman’s assets, including a Belgravia townhouse, were frozen under a court order in 2023. The townhouse was sold in 2023 for £17.8m according to the land registry, £5m under asking price. 

🥙 In the least surprising news ever, Shawarma King has been named one of the top kebabs in the UK. Owner Majed Badrekhan has been busy: he was recently down in the House of Commons speaking to parliamentarians at an event celebrating excellence in the kebab industry, ahead of next year’s British Kebab Awards. Finalists for 2026 will be announced on November 1. Badrekhan has taken home the best kebab house in Scotland gong four years on the bounce. 

The wrap game: how shawarma ate Glasgow

Doner and shish kebab used to dominate, but now there’s a new kid on the block

The BellRobbie Armstrong

🤼 In pro wrestling news, Tommy Lockhart appeared to be nailed to a cross in the Grand Ole Opry last night as part of a ‘Crucifixion Match’ organised by wrestling promotions company Valor. But the news we bring you isn’t Lockhart’s shocking loss, but that Valor, the promoter which started three years ago in the Lochwinnoch Community Annexe, has put the Scottish pro wrestling scene back on the box.

Starting with Sunday’s ‘hearse match’, which saw a female wrestler standing atop a large black hearse in Govan, Valor events will be aired on the Extreme TV channel in over 60 countries. The clashes will be shown alongside other alternative sporting shows on the 24/7 streaming service such as surfing, bare knuckle combat, and strongman competitions. Glasgow wrestling seems to be on the up, with Maryhill hosting yet another grudge match this coming Saturday by Blockbuster Pro Wrestling. The question we have is this: when is the Blockbuster v Valor unification bout? They can host it at Bell HQ if they like, maybe Robbie will get in the ring too.

Stories you might have missed:

💔 Ex-council leader compared himself to 'Tinder Swindler', BBC

📱 Tommy Sheridan relives his role in hacking drama, Sunday Post 

💉 MSPs vote against legal right to addiction treatment, BBC

🍉 The two remaining Glaswegian Sumud Flotilla activists return (The National, £)

🚗 Part of Clyde Expressway to close over three nights this week (Glasgow Live)

🗣️ Woman charged over abuse of pro-Palestine protesters (BBC)

Read/listen/watch: The academic who fell in love with a Glasgow IRA man

When Mary Attenborough’s partner, Michael Gallgher, was linked to a mortar attack on Heathrow in 1994, she used her background as a scientist to attempt to thwart forensic evidence, convinced he was the victim of a stitch up. She even raised £500,000 in bail money. When Gallagher was convicted to 20 years in prison in 1998, Attenborough immediately set about organising an appeal. But when she visited him in prison with the appeal forms the day after sentencing, he confessed to it all. It’s an extraordinary story. Their co-written memoir, Unbroken, is available at Calton Books. 

We also rec: 

• STV cuts and the future of the media, BBC
• Saltire picture essay by Chris Leslie, the Guardian

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Catch up and coming up:

• Last Wednesday Calum sent out his dispatch from the day Homeless Project Scotland learned the fate of its night shelter. The result was slightly anti-climactic but the charity’s combative leader ensured there was no lack of drama.
  
  Eagle-eyed readers of the Glasgow Splash may have noticed Calum got papped at the livestream, at a particularly tense moment in proceedings. Did somebody say ‘lunchgate’? 

• On the weekend, we had a debut piece from journalist Gordon Cairns as he relived, somewhat traumatically by the sounds of it, his 198 working as a civil servant in Kentigern House on Argyle street in the eighties before being fired. There are a few lovely comments from readers on the article, remember we love hearing your thoughts and reflections from our stories.

When the Ministry of Defence came to Glasgow

Hired and fired from the MoD’s Kentigern House

The BellGordon Cairns

• This week, we have another brilliant Eve Livingston piece on a historic single-sex living cooperative that’s going through some trying times as the first solo male moves in. Then, on the weekend, we’ve got the answer to the question you’ve no doubt asked at one point: why do all the Pollokshields/shaws train stations sound the same?

Headline of the week

Historic Environment Scotland manager sanctioned for 'twerking on Martin Compston', upsetting Penny Lancaster

From the Editor's inbox

Reader Ewan commented on Gordon Cairn’s weekend piece about Kentigern House and the first cohort of Ministry of Defence civil servants to work there (and the first, him, to be fired), with his own experience of a similar building just south of the river:

Re:view: Station Kitchen, 120 Dumbarton Road, G11 6NY

It’s peculiar that Partick must have tenfold more Chinese restaurants than Chinatown, or even the wider Garnethill area. So much so it can be hard to keep up with restaurant openings on Dumbarton Road these days. Since 2021, one of the busiest spots for Chinese students has been Station Kitchen, which specialises in hot and spicy meat and fish dishes. One such speciality is their whole sea bass, which Calum assures us is nothing short of “immaculate”, even if he does begrudge the higher prices the establishment commands compared to similar, less well-polished eateries. For vegetarians, choices are restricted, but a plate of mapo tofu was a delight. Numbing Sichuan pepper spice, silky smooth tofu yielding gently to the chopstick, and flecks of dried chilli flakes layering up the heat. Delivery riders came and went, couples and solo diners popped in for a quick lunch, and the waiting staff shared a meal together in between service. Humble and yummy, but falling just short of Humble Yum.—Robbie.  

Glasgow Calendar: Working Over By 

We loved this wee exhibit celebrating the work of Donegal men and women in Scotland in the 20th century, from tattie hokers and tunnel tigers to legendary herring gutters and mine workers. We had a wee read through the guest book last week to find many touching comments already written by numerous visitors whose parents had arrived via the ‘Scotch boat’ long ago. A reminder that the constant movement of people has long been an essential facet of life in this city.

Donegal emigrant working lives in Scotland, 1940–1990, The City Archives at the Mitchell Library. Until January 2026. More info here. 

Other dates for your diary:

• Savoy Centre art exhibition by Rachel Lowther and Kerry Stewart, from 18 October
• Andrew O'Hagan: On Friendship, 16 October 
• 25 Years of Mungo's Hi Fi Soundsystem, 17 October 
• Glasgow Vegan Festival, 18 October

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