LEAFING through the pages of the Glasgow Times day after day, it’s clear to see that there’s lots happening in the city. In just the past three weeks, we’ve seen stories about missed bin collections in Garnethill, polluted streets in the City Centre, complaints about potholes in Pollok and the disaster that is the Communities Fund affecting organisations right across the city.

So, as all Glasgow Councillors meet together for the first time since Halloween last year, can you guess which of these challenges – or the many others facing our city – the SNP wanted to put on the agenda of the full council meeting?

None of them. Instead, councillor Susan Aitken will be leading a debate on the right of the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum on leaving the United Kingdom.

Let me be clear, as someone who fought for the establishment of our Parliament in the first place: I do believe that the Parliament should fulfill the will of the people of Scotland. And the last time they were asked, the people of Scotland, and Glasgow, voted for parties advocating to stay inside the United Kingdom.

There is no mandate for a second referendum on independence.

And look around at your streets and the communities that we live in. Is another period of constitutional introspection really what our councillors should be spending their time talking about? We can’t get our bins collected on time. I’m sure we’ve all seen the videos from our frontline workers showing the chaotic state of our back courts, and the conditions that they have to work in.

Some of our streets look, as my Mum used to say, like Annaker’s midden.

Organisations across the third sector are handing out redundancy notices because there’s less money around for the Communities Fund.

According to the last Glasgow Household Survey, less than half said that they trust the Council, and that it provides high quality services. Just 40% said the Council provides residents good value for money.

Current estimates suggest that the Council will need to find a further £51million in savings next year.

It’s clear why the SNP would rather talk about independence, and not about how they are failing to deliver on the day job. It’s an often used tactic: promise the people of Scotland that the grass is greener on the other side, and in so doing, deprive any serious debate about the challenges facing public services in Scotland of any real oxygen.

I respect that there are many people out there, including constituents that I represent, who believe in an independent Scotland. But the time to debate and argue that is during a referendum, for which there is not yet a mandate.

Here and now, we must get on with delivering reliable, high-quality services – like getting the bins collected, getting the grass cut and supporting our teachers and young people in Schools.

That’s the day job and the SNP in Glasgow don’t even want to talk about it.