Summer has provided a well-earned break for many of us.
For some, it’s been a sunny break on new shores or a windswept day doon the watter.
One thing the break provides me the opportunity to do is see some of the most successful policies to emerge in this city – Glasgow’s Holiday Programme.
From Drumchapel to Easterhouse, Castlemilk to Pollok, thousands of weans have been enjoying an exciting range of activities across the school holidays.
Over eight years, £2 million has been invested annually and well in excess of 150,000 young people have enjoyed the summer Holiday Programme.
Despite being a proven success, Glasgow SNP was the only party to allocate funding to continue the Holiday Programme in this year’s city budget.
A total of 59 community and third sector organisations, supported by over £2.2m of council funding, have been providing meals and activities across all of Glasgow’s wards.
And, of course, enjoyed some delicious and nutritious meals along the way.
Over the past six weeks, 300,000-plus breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks were served, many made by the kids and their youth workers' own hands with produce from local food growing initiatives.
I like to think my Club Tropicana days aren’t over, so hearing that one of the many summer activities being offered was an 80s dayglo disco filled me with as much joy as when I danced the jitterbug in my Wham t-shirt as a teenager.
For many pupils, the summer is filled with dread though.
Which is why I was delighted to hear that yet again, Glasgow school kids excelled in their exams.
The long-term trend in the city is also one of progress, with this year showing solid and steady progress across indicators for each year group.
The 2024-2025 results saw a rise in overall attainment rates and a narrowing of the poverty-related attainment gap, while the total number of vocational and technical qualifications – the skills-based awards that unlock training and career opportunities – passed 100,000 for the first time ever.
I was therefore surprised to hear Gordon Brown warning: "In Scotland, things are getting worse every day" for children.
The headlines, that child poverty in Scotland is getting worse, is not supported by official government figures.
Relative child poverty rates in Scotland have fallen from 25% in 2021 to 23% in 2024, according to the most recent statistics available.
At the same time, UK-wide child poverty rates have remained at 30%.
However, rates in England and Wales have climbed in recent years, with both at 31% in the latest figures.
Now we know as Chancellor, like the current Labour one Rachel Reeves, that Gordon Brown wasn’t too good at his sums, and he was amazed when the banks went bust under him.
It seems his geography isn’t that good either!
However, should that be an ‘F for Fail’ or ‘F for Fake News’?
Child poverty rates in Scotland are not getting "worse every day".
In fact, the trend is downwards.
Experts say this is due to interventions such as the Scottish Child Payment, amongst many other unique and universal child benefits.
However, in England and Wales, child poverty rates are indeed worsening.
And Brown is right to say that scrapping the two-child benefit cap would likely help reverse this trend.
In Scotland, the SNP have already committed to doing so, meaning the gap in child poverty rates on either side of the border is likely to widen – unless the UK Government takes similar action.
To pay tribute to the great George Michael: "Labour should either Wake Up, or go!
"Go!"
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