I found rats in my home, says MSP in Nicola Sturgeon’s back yard

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of turning a blind eye to Glasgow's rodent infestation on the eve of Cop26 after an MSP living in the First Minister's constituency disclosed she found rats in her home.

Pam Duncan-Glancy, a Labour MSP and Holyrood's first permanent wheelchair user, told Ms Sturgeon that there were rats in the city's streets "and in my flat." She lives in the SNP leader's Glasgow Southside seat.

In a direct appeal to Ms Sturgeon at First Minister's Questions, Ms Duncan-Glancy challenged her to meet refuse workers who are threatening to strike during the summit "and hear from them first hand what is happening".

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, accused Ms Sturgeon of lecturing world leaders on the environment while "turning a blind eye to the environment Glaswegians are living in every single day".

But Ms Sturgeon accused him of "talking down Glasgow" and claimed the language Labour was using to describe her home city was "for political purposes and not in the interest of the city."

More than 120 world leaders and tens of thousands of delegates are due to arrive in Glasgow for Cop 26, which starts on Sunday, but widespread concerns have been expressed about rats and overflowing bins.

Susan Aitken, the council's SNP leader, this week blamed the legacy of the Thatcher government for the state of the streets and argued that "all cities have rats."

But, in a direct plea to Ms Sturgeon, Ms Duncan-Glancy said: "As my representative, as my MSP, I ask the First Minister again: please meet with cleansing workers tomorrow and hear from them first hand what is happening.

"I can assure you there are rats in our streets and there are rats in my flat."

Ms Sturgeon told her: "I don't shy away - as a resident of and a representative of the city of Glasgow - I don't shy away from the challenges that the city faces."