THERE were furious scenes within – and outside – Glasgow City Chambers in December 1951 when the Progressive-controlled Glasgow Corporation approved a controversial move to sell 622 houses that had originally been built for let. The measure, described by Labour as “class legislation with a vengeance”, and centred on houses in Merrylee Road, on the Southside, was passed at a five-hour-long meeting marked by bitter arguments as Labour councillors, in the words of this newspaper, “sought by every means at their disposal” to block the scheme. One Labour councillor was suspended during the sitting. Outside, 1,000 demonstrators, including building workers from Merrylee, were joined by many other protestors in the pouring rain to voice their anger at the proposal (above). There was a scuffle at the doorway to the chambers.

Herald Diary: Please impeach me, let me go

Later, with tempers rising, a man in the public gallery was removed.

The Progressives said Labour had allowed its “class hatred, fomented and encouraged by a movement foreign to this country”, to influence them. The sale of the Merrylee houses, they added, would save ratepayers and taxpayers £2.5 million over 60 years; furthermore, 609 applications, including some from Corporation tenants, had already been received in a “clear indication of public reaction”.

Protests, nevertheless, continued, and Labour said that it if won the elections in May it would let any of the Merrylee Road houses that had not yet been sold.