Leòdhas Massie, a Your Party councillor in Glasgow, and Niall Christie, the recently elected central executive committee (CEC) representative for Scotland, spoke to Socialist Worker about what was proposed
By Jude Mckechnie
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Friday 27 February 2026
Councillor Dan Hutchison was one of those pushing for an alternative budget (Pic: @thisisyourparty on X)
The Scottish Greens and the SNP teamed up to pass a budget on Glasgow City Council this week that offers nothing but more austerity. It is full of short-term fixes that won’t address the systemic issues blighting the city.
But there was an alternative. Your Party councillors had proposed a budget without cuts to public services, but the other parties refused to back it.
The Your Party councillors’ proposal would have included steps towards ending homelessness in the city and moving council workers to a four day working week with no loss of pay.
It argued that council services should be brought back in house—out of the hands of private contractors.
It proposed a strategy to reintroduce council housing directly managed by Glasgow city council. This would help to alleviate the worsening housing and homelessness crises engulfing the city.
Leòdhas Massie, who defected from the Scottish Greens to join Your Party in Glasgow, spoke to Socialist Worker about the “People’s Budget”. He explained how Your Party represents a different kind of politics in Scotland.
Leòdhas said that the budget proposed this week was about “future-proofing” and not doing further harm to public services.
He explained the pressures on councillors to prevent them from offering more radical, anti-austerity budgets. “Councillors have to propose a balanced budget, it’s a legal requirement. What that usually means is that there are two options—council tax rises and cuts.
“Councillors are left operating within those confines. But, we managed to put together a proposal that the council’s legal team confirmed was competent. One that offered a route map to a 4-day working week for council workers and a route map to social housing.
“It’s really disappointing that none of the other parties backed it,” said Leòdhas.
At the Your Party Scotland founding conference in February, members voted that Your Party Scotland’s elected representatives should “never vote for cuts” and “will support the moving of legal no cuts budgets in council chambers and in Holyrood.”
“There are rules to this party that were voted on by the membership that govern what we do. No Your Party councillor politically should sign up to austerity,” argued Leòdhas.
“All three councillors joined this new party because we wanted to fundamentally transform the system we live in. That’s why we’re not in the Greens anymore.”
“The Greens position themselves as a political force that is ‘socialist’ and ‘anti-capitalist’ but then they sign up to budgets that are an acceptance of the status quo and the system.
“We’re now in the financial situation that we’re in now because of the budget cuts they’ve voted for.”
With the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, and the Scottish local elections in 2027, Leòdhas said, “What we’ve done here, hopefully, gives those who are thinking about standing as candidates in elections an example of what can be achieved.
“That they can take a stand against what permeates through all the other parties. They can take a stand against cuts.”
This was echoed by Niall Christie, the recently elected central executive committee (CEC) representative for Scotland.
He explained to Socialist Worker that, “there was a willingness from trade unions, particularly from Unison, to help draft this budget”. That is because people are “absolutely despondent” about the current situation in Glasgow.
“For me, this budget was the starting gun towards the 2027 local elections.
“The issues that councillors were building a framework to address in Glasgow” are “the same issues you’ll find across the other 32 councils in Scotland,” he argued.
“Your Party is offering a total step change,” said Niall. “There’s a need for a different kind of politics. There’s a need for a political alternative that doesn’t just rule in their own interest, but in the interests of the people of Scotland.”