Dear readers – it’s a big week for us at The Bell. For the first time, you will be able to join us as a paying member, supporting our work and getting access to our members-only stories.
Some of you have been asking when you can become a paid up patron of this new approach to doing journalism in Glasgow and the answer is: from around 7am tomorrow morning. Please ready your credit cards and tell your friends.
Today, we’re cold snapping into a new week, with arctic air moving south – but our cockles were fair warmed over the weekend.
While Kneecap were raising the roof of the Barrowland Ballroom, we were at Niteworks’ last ever show at the O2 Academy. Skye’s finest also stormed the barn – and we have never seen the art deco masterpiece at Eglinton Toll quite so packed to the rafters. We left with full hearts and the words of Sorley MacLean in our ears. Taing mhòr, Niteworks.
Over the weekend, we published our profile of visual artist Trackie McLeod and his second solo show FRUIT. The artist himself got in touch to say we “smashed it” but pointed out an unforgivable and glaring factual inaccuracy: his hooped earrings, like his plated front tooth, are gold, not silver. Worry not, we have amended the record and hereby issue a correction.
"I wanted to explore what the closet sounded and smelled like as a teenager in the West of Scotland".
— The Bell (@theglasgowbell) November 17, 2024
For the weekend read, @robbiejourno meets artist Trackie McLeod to talk Burberry, nostalgia and why sunbeds sum up life in the closet.https://t.co/pVjpfqfygN
Later this week, we’ll be asking if a river can become a person. If you’re now worried about what psychotropics we may have consumed over the weekend, fear not. This is an entirely serious question, being asked by serious people, and involving a petition to the Scottish parliament.
Now, your Monday briefing.
Your Bell briefing
🎓 Glasgow University’s principal has called on the Scottish government to stop relying on international student fees to keep universities afloat. In an interview with The Herald, top economist Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, said the government should “fully fund” higher education and “at the very least” plug the current financial gap for domestic students in Scotland. On international students, he said: “These students come from overseas. They invest in their education [...] We benefit, too, because they make our universities more vibrant. But we have to ask ourselves: ‘Is this sustainable? And why should [our governments] not properly fund higher education for our own students?’”
📚 Protesters gathered yesterday at Cardonald Library to protest its ongoing closure after the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in its foundations. In September, Glasgow Life announced the “temporar[y]” closure of the library, saying that timescales and costs for redevelopment were under review with the city council. But with little news forthcoming on the ‘when’ of it all, demonstrators were outside the library on 17 November, bearing slogans such as “Education is a human right”. Glasgow Live has the story.
⚽ Glasgow City kept their top spot in the Scottish Women’s Premier League, with a 6-1 win, nay, thrashing of Queen’s Park on Sunday. The team are currently a point clear of Rangers, and are hoping to win back the title, after not finishing in the top two teams in the 2023/24 season for the first time in over 20 years. But the season is far from over yet; next up, City faces Spartans on 24 November.
Big story: The great airport sell off
Top line: Glasgow Airport has been sold to a Canadian pension fund – or rather, the investment arm of a Canadian pension fund.
Tell us more: We’ll keep it short and sweet because too many numbers and everyone’s eyes start to close. Glasgow Airport was formerly jointly owned by an Australian investment banking group, and a Spanish infrastructure company. That is, until last Tuesday, when it was announced that airports in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton had all been sold to AviAlliance, who paid £900m for the lot and agreed to take on £653m in debt.
Who’s the buyer? Glad you asked. AviAlliance is an airport management company, which currently has a stake in airports across Greece, Germany and Puerto Rico. More importantly, they’re a subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP), one of Canada’s largest pension funds. The money they invest funds pension payouts for the Canadian military and police forces.
Wait, pension funds? Yes, pension funds. Some readers may already be aware of the growth of pension funds as big financial players. Thanks to the regular injection of cash from employees paying into their pension, some bright spark had the idea that they would take all this cash and make even more of it. Well, that’s the theory. In practice, this has seen pension money behave like a hedge fund, or investment bank would. Pension funds now do everything from backing private equity takeovers of care homes to even becoming mass landlords.
Why Canada? Canada is one of the more aggressive countries when it comes to this way of funding pensions. Funnily enough, the day the sale of Glasgow Airport was reported, UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, made her own announcement: that she was going to be adopting the Canadian pension model for local government retirement schemes in England and Wales. This will cut 86 separate streams down to just eight “megafunds”, managed by professional investors.
What’s the risk? Well, it’s investing large amounts of people’s money – aka acceptable gambling – into unstable ‘assets’, like private equity and infrastructure. There’s a chance that money will get lost. But beyond the buzz words, there’s another story about what sort of ideas this model underpins. Canada’s pension funds for example, held up as a golden goose, have more invested in China than they do domestically.
- As of July of this year, only 27% of Canada’s public pension funds were invested in its home nation. All the other cash is poured into ‘assets’ overseas. Which is why Glasgow Airport – a key bit of the city’s infrastructure – now services the retirement of Canada’s military.
- It’s like other British assets that have been privatised, with the local area not seeing nearly (if any) of the money promised when the deal was initially struck, back in the mid-20th century heyday of selling off bits of the state. And let’s not even get into the functionality of the privatised services themselves.
Plus, there’s a darkly funny kicker, watching the likes of the UK’s largest pension fund for academics buy up huge swathes of housing, amid a housing crisis that many of those in line for payouts will certainly be affected by.
Flight turbulence: As for Glasgow, its airport is already struggling. In 2022, only 6.5m terminal passengers passed through, compared with 11m for Edinburgh. Edinburgh also reported one of the fastest recoveries of any UK airport in 2023, with 14.4m flights and a 28% growth on 2022; in contrast, Glasgow posted an increase of 12.91%. While we all ought to be reducing our emissions and flying less often, the fact many Glaswegians now have to travel to Edinburgh to fly only adds to the total carbon footprint.
A missing link: Edinburgh now has its tramlink, but plans for a direct connection between Glasgow Airport and Central Station have been scrapped in the plans for the Clyde Metro project. Earlier this year, the head of Glasgow Chambers of Commerce urged ministers to do more to support Glasgow, highlighting the “troubling” fact that every new flight to America the Scottish government has financially supported in the last two years has gone to Edinburgh Airport. Will the recent buyout do anything to shift Glasgow’s fortunes?
Bottom line: Some Glaswegian politicians have asked why a local pension fund didn’t buy the airport. It’s a solid question (and we’re sure a reader will provide the answer). But – if you will forgive us sharing an explicit opinion – there’s more questions here about a model that seems to resemble a snake eating its tail. Public sector pension money is invested increasingly in private companies that are contracted to deliver public services, like adult social care, or transport. And, excuse us again for the candour, but the pursuit of profit often involves a payoff: the functionality of the service itself. But don’t let us lecture you; what do you make of Glasgow Airport’s sale? Unfussed? Think services will improve? Let us know in the comments.
Spot of the week: The Pot Still, Hope Street
Whisky royalty graced one of the world’s best whisky bars last week. Dave Broom was back on home turf launching the new edition of The World Atlas of Whisky. He shared seven drams from the Isle of Harris, Japan, USA, Finland, New Zealand and, if I dare mention it, England. It almost doesn’t matter what time or which day you visit the Pot Still, it’s perpetually rammed, brimming with folks from all over the world craning their necks to find an obscure bottle of single malt from the top shelves, sharing craic and meeting locals.
Media picks
Welcome to the whirlpool: Glass Tank describes itself as “a whirlpool of artists” highlighting the cultural scene of Glasgow and beyond. So far, they’ve welcomed Andrew Thompson, Maveen, Miss Cabbage, Aisha and many more to the decks, nestled between the brewery tanks of Drygate. Most recently, it was the turn of Maya Medvesek, better kent in these parts as Nightwave, with a set spanning Detroit techno, electro, acid and Chicago house. The rest of the series are worth a gander too, and criminally underviewed on YouTube.
DIY ‘til I die: If you’re keen to read more about Glasgow’s underground music scene, look no further than regular Bell reader Henry Ivry, who’s penned an article for Bandcamp Daily about the city’s DIY spirit, including a playlist of Glasgow’s best experimental music.
You’re a Star Bar, so you are: This review of the Star Bar by YouTuber Gary Eats filled our cup to the brim. In fact, it almost brought a tear to the eye – such was the emotion watching Gary appreciate the homely food at the famous Glasgow pub. “How many of you have driven past there and paid no attention to it? If I’m in the area I will never drive past here again. I will stop, I will go in and I will spend my money there. What they’re doing for the local community is incredible … Wholesome food, just simple wholesome food.”
Things to do
Tuesday
🎞 Geek out on all things Studio Ghibli with Helen McCarthy, who wrote the first books in English on both anime and Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. She’ll guide you through the celebrated studio’s history and its inspirations, with a choice list of books, websites and places to visit if you’re keen to explore the Ghibli universe further. Tickets here.
Wednesday
🏴 There are still online places available for a talk on Gaelic Place Names at Glasgow City Heritage Trust. Dr Alasdair C. Whyte, Scottish government Gaelic ambassador of the year, will guide you through the Celtic toponymy of Glaschu.
Thursday
🍷 What better to do on the third Thursday of November than celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau at Made From Grapes? The day marks the release of the new wine from the lesser-appreciated red wine of Burgundy, coinciding with the end of the grape harvest. Great food, French music, pourquoi pas! No tickets necessary. 166-168 Nithsdale Rd.
Friday
🎷 It’s Jazz at the Glad Festival all weekend, starting with the Roz MacDonald trio for a one-off performance. The double bass player hails from Ayr, but is based in Berlin. She’s performed all across Germany and throughout Europe too.
Saturday
📷 Tramway’s new immersive exhibition on Scottish-Ghanaian poet, artist, photographer, writer, curator, gallerist and publisher Maud Sulter (1960–2008). You are my kindred spirit showcases the artist's rarely exhibited moving image and spoken word archives. Preview 7pm to 9pm, then 23 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.
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