GLASGOW has now spoken with one voice about Brexit. I published our report “Brexit and the Glasgow economy” yesterday in front of an array of the city’s business leaders. You could say that the entire proceedings were summed up in the latest city slogan that we are hoping to spread far and wide - Glasgow is Open for Business.

The narrative of the report is clear - there will be daunting challenges for our city in Brexit but these will be overcome. And they will be overcome especially if the Scottish and UK governments take the right action to help the city to do just that. We are confident of that because Glasgow has the record of a city that can deal with crisis.

The city’s economic performance in the last 10 years has been extremely strong. Glasgow weathered the economic storm of 2008, and has emerged as the fastest growing major city economy in the UK, with 7% growth in 2014.

Glasgow’s growth in that time was more than double that of the much vaunted achievements of the cities of Manchester and Edinburgh to give only two examples. So we are in a good place to face the challenges of Brexit.

If you need more proof consider the development of Glasgow’s high tech digital economy. It’s a testimony to how the city has become a diversified powerhouse in the Scottish economy. Recent academic research measured the value of Dundee’s digital economy at £61m; likewise for Edinburgh the figure is £378m. Glasgow’s digital development significantly exceeds both Dundee and Edinburgh combined, at £480m. Glasgow is open for business.

But we need to call a spade a shovel when we are dealing with the threats that Brexit will bring. Take the plummeting value of the pound last week. That alone shows that anyone talking about there being no real effect of Brexit is deluded.

The Fraser of Allander Institute has pulled no punches in its reports on the effects of Brexit. Its first analysis post Brexit forecast dire effects on the economy in Scotland - plunging economic growth, even the possibility of a recession, rising unemployment and the possibility of a general fall in living standards. If anything, since then, the Institute’s predictions have become more severe.

The Scottish government must acknowledge these perils. Action needs to be taken to assist the development of the Scottish economy by bringing forward investment projects that are current. Like the Glasgow airport rail link. Like the East End Regeneration route. There isn’t a better time to do that. Big infrastructure investments can help the economy to battle with the negatives of Brexit. Our report argues the case for an acceleration of big City Deal capital infrastructure works.

There will be daunting challenges for our city in Brexit but these will be overcome. All we ask is for the two governments - the Scottish and UK governments - to work with Glasgow, beyond what is done even now, to ensure that our city of resilience and ingenuity can face up to its greatest economic challenge since the crash of 2008.

Next week marks the start of Challenge Poverty Week. Between October 16 and 22, a series of events will take place to raise awareness of poverty and to look at how we can tackle this scourge.

Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. Nevertheless, much more needs to be done to raise children and families out of the desperation that haunts all afflicted by poverty.

I co-chair Glasgow’s Poverty Leadership Panel, which works directly with those experiencing poverty to identify what practical steps need to be taken to reduce poverty in our city. We have made significant progress, but without the support from all tiers of government and all sections of society, scope for change will always be restricted.

We need to remove the stigma attached to poverty, which often acts as a further barrier to making progress. A central part of next week is the Poverty Alliance’s Stick Your Labels campaign, which asks all institutions with public profile to end the use of stigmatising language and look at ways of providing viable pathways out of poverty for our citizens.

It is reprehensible that in 2016, some 900,000 Scots live in low income households. I am determined to play my part in banishing this shameful state of affairs to the past.