TWO weeks ago in this column I wrote about Glasgow City Council’s introduction of a bulk uplift charge which came into force earlier this month.

For a service that had been free for decades before Glasgow had the misfortune of being ruled by the first ever nationalist administration in the City Chambers, from now on it’ll be £35 for each large electrical item disposed of in a responsible way by Glasgow taxpayers.

For an average family needing to clear out their home, this charge could run into the hundreds of pounds.

When I questioned the SNP on the fairness of this policy the Council responded saying that residents could still dispose of bulk waste at recycling centres free of charge.

So on the one hand they want to penalise people for driving cars by introducing a car park tax at your place of work, and on the other hand they say that to avoid the bulk uplift charge you just need to drive to a recycling centre.

It makes absolutely no sense and it’s those from poorer backgrounds like mine that will really pay the price.

£35 might be nothing to the SNP – from the Council Leader, Susan Aitken, ripping off the city day in day out in extortionate taxi expenses to their former Provost swanning around in the Rolls-Royce while making you pay for her designer shoes and pedicures – but to those of us living in the real world it will be a significant barrier to responsible waste disposal.

Any financial penalty to doing the right thing at a time when Glasgow has been named and shamed as the fly-tipping capital of Britain is clearly the wrong approach and a severely misguided policy.

This is why last week the Glasgow Conservatives launched a petition calling for the bulk uplift charge to be scrapped in a bid to tackle our cleansing crisis.

From overflowing bins to rodent infestation and rampant fly-tipping, the last four years of SNP rule has turned Glasgow from the dear green place into a dumping ground for abandoned rubbish and uncollected refuse. And every step of the way Glasgow SNP have been backed up by the bogus environmentalists in the Scottish Green Party.

It’s time for a different approach. They say that politics is about priorities.

Well the priorities of the Glasgow Conservatives are clear – we need to get back to the basics. Clean streets, well-maintained roads, and parks you can walk through without the need to dodge abandoned mattresses and furniture.

I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for in return for the taxes we pay to the council every year.

If you agree then please visit the Glasgow Conservative website and sign our petition calling for this bulk uplift charge to be scrapped.

So far we’ve collected hundreds of signatures and this is only the start. It’ll take enormous people power to reach SNP councillors sitting at the top of their ivory towers – completely out of touch with the people of Glasgow and ignorant of the reality of the situation across the city. It’s time to send them a message they can’t ignore.