CAST IN THE SHADE

Two very different city days in a row. Glasgow today was bright with sunshine and flowers, alive with friendly folks and still in party mode, casting Edinburgh into the shade.

But in spite of the glamour of the city centre , especially of the Merchant City, I'm not blind to Glasgow's other side - its aching periphery, it's huge divisions. Here we sit in the sun drinking expensive coffee, just over there folks are eating cold baked beans out of ring pull cans from food banks.

It was a work day - chairing the first meeting of the see me Advisory Group - but I felt alive and free in way that was impossible yesterday. It felt good to play a different role; over the past few weeks I've necessarily had a narrow focus.