Episode 1 Commonwealth City

The host for the 2014 Commonwealth Games...

will be Glasgow.

Seven years ago, Glasgow won the bid

to host the 20th Commonwealth Games.

This summer, athletes from 70 countries

and millions of visitors will pour into the city.

And Glasgow's run-down East End will get a multi-million-pound make-over.

But where sporting dreams are made...

communities can get destroyed.

We are in the way. There's a massive development coming here,

there's a machine coming here,

it's called the Commonwealth Games. Of course we're in the way.

For the last four years, we've followed the people of Dalmarnock

in Glasgow's East End, the epicentre of the Games this summer.

With the Games comes big opportunities...

Who wouldnae want 500 fucking million

spent on their doorstep?

..new jobs...

How can human beings build something like this?

It's unbelievable, man, it's just great, man, how it can be done.

..and a new East End.

When will I get one of they houses?

But what happens to a community

when Scotland's largest-ever sporting event comes to town?

Ya bastard!

This, in this day and age,

so arseholes can run about in shorts for two weeks.

And then say they're going to leave us a legacy.

Glasgow, 2010.

Four miles from the city centre lies Dalmarnock in the East End.

One of the UK's biggest regeneration projects has just got under way.

Four years to the Games and a Velodrome and sports arena,

as well as a village for 6,500 athletes,

has to be built from scratch.

And all of it here in Dalmarnock.

-You ready?

-I'm ready.

I think the Commonwealth Games is one of the best things

to happen to this community

-Ya fucking bam.

-I'm not. From a decrepit...

shithole...to a nice area.

LAUGHTER

Once thriving, Dalmarnock used to have over 10,000 residents.

Now there's less than 2,500.

It's one of the UK's most deprived areas, with a life expectancy

ten years less than the British average.

But with the Games, all this might change.

This is Dalmarnock.

This is you right in the middle of the homeland here.

At 30 years old, Darren Faulds is a father of five.

A Dalmarnock lad born and bred,

millions of pounds are being spent in his back yard.

Oh, you're going to love it up here, Steve, I'll tell you.

The full Commonwealth Games.

The Velodrome, the car parking, the cycling tracks,

everything you can possibly think of,

right in front of your very eyes.

I seen all this land getting cleared,

I never realised it was so big.

It was nothing but trees and dirt and tyres and...

But what a difference, I tell ye.

Can you come around here, Steve?

Dalmarnock's my homeland, my father's, father's, father's,

father's always been fae here, and I've always taken pride in that.

You know that Dalmarnock was my homeland.

Want to show you the shops.

Darren is the local entrepreneur.

He and wife Amanda own an off-licence, a pound shop

and a cafe.

My little empire. Come on, I'll take you into it.

I'll give you a tour of the shops.

So this is my... my little off sales, Steve.

Hey, Linda, how are ye?

The shops are soon to be flattened

to make way for the Commonwealth Games,

but he sees this as a golden opportunity.

This is prime land we're on at the moment.

And it's only going to get wealthier.

See, up until three, four year ago,

you says to somebody "Oh, I'm fae Dalmarnock,"

you know, anywhere in Glasgow, they'd go, "Uggh!"

"Dalmarnock, what you doing staying down there?" kinda thing.

And then, but, see, all of a sudden when the Games

was announced that they were coming to Dalmarnock,

"Oh, Dalmarnock, I'm fae Dalmarnock!"

All the dafties that couldn't even spell Dalmarnock.

Just around the corner lives Margaret Jaconelli.

A grandmother of three,

she's a front-row seat of the new development.

Look. It's fantastic.

My man kept saying, "Oh, it's huge," but...you don't imagine it

till you see everything all derelict and all...

..all the land all just cleared.

It's going to be something once it's finished.

It's new beginnings, isn't it, when you see it all like that.

For the few of us going to be here.

You see, when you think all the houses that was all here

at one time, and then...it's just all land.

Margaret's tenement block once housed over 50 families.

Now hers is the only one left.

My neighbours moved out seven year ago.

She was my neighbour for 30-odd year.

She moved round to one of the new houses.

All the council tenants were moved

but Margaret and husband Jack, who owned their flat, remained.

That's me putting the light on.

I call it a wee compound, cos that's what it's like now.

They've just left everything.

Windows is opened and everything. No real...

I try to keep in here clean and tidy.

Her youngest son, Aaron, still lives at home.

Call it my rogues' gallery.

All my photos.

I've got four boys, the lot of them brought up in this house,

and that's ma wee granddaughter, who loves it here.

She comes to me every week.

My wee father-in-law, he passed away.

My mum and my dad.

And my other wee grandson, Aiden his name is.

They mean everything to me, my grandkids and my boys,

we're family orientated.

But seven years of living in a condemned street has taken its toll.

That's me there. I've lost 12 stone. With what's happened.

People...people actually walk by me, they don't realise it's me.

The City Council have tried to get Margaret out for years,

offering her £29,000

or part ownership of a house a few miles away.

But Margaret wants to stay mortgage-free

and in the area she grew up in.

This wee thing's older than I am.

This belonged to my mammy.

She has now been served a compulsory purchase order, for £30,000,

giving the council the right to take her home.

Where I'm sitting is where the Commonwealth Village is, and, as far

as I'm led to believe, my building's got to be down for next year.

700 new houses will be built between Margaret's house

and the Clyde, and a further 765 after the Games.

Do it there, it might be better.

Local councillor George Redmond remembers how the River Clyde

was used to sell Glasgow to the Commonwealth Games Federation.

Delegates came in there. They walked down this path.

Springtime and summer, the trees are...are green, you know,

there's animals all about the place, you know, the ducks

and the swans are swimming, there's people on their bikes,

there's joggers,

you know, the rowers come right down here as well,

so they're seeing all of that and they're...they're selling

a vision about how Dalmarnock would look,

er, once it was...it was regenerated

and once it had the...the houses right on the Clyde itself.

George has been rooting for Dalmarnock

since being elected in 1999.

It's what you've known, what you've grown up with.

Been born into the area, you know, you've been raised in the area.

My family have a...a history there.

I have so many relatives and friends, you know, within that area

and you really want to... to do well for them,

you want to do well for that neighbourhood.

They needed a wee bit of inspiration and they needed,

you know, just somebody to come up with...a way forward for them.

Hopefully, through the Games, you know, we're putting

Dalmarnock back on the map, but back on the map where

people are proud to say, "Come and visit me in Dalmarnock.

"Come and see the... the new facilities that are there."

You have that stuff in for me?

One of the main attractions will be the Velodrome and sports arena

costing £113 million.

And, with 70% of those who CAN work round here unemployed,

it's a chance for some local boys to learn a trade

on one of the Games' biggest construction projects.

Once I found out about the Commonwealth Games, I really

wanted to get on a job on site, do something really a part of it.

18-year-old Steven is from nearby Dennistoun.

At first, I was a bit nervous coming on here,

because when I was at school I was the class clown.

I hardly had any standard grades.

In here I feel as if I can gain...

..a lot more achievements

and, plus, do something in life what I want to do.

Just weeks into his new job,

and Steven is already getting a reputation.

So, Steven, why do they call you Golden Straw?

Cos he's a fucking sook.

It's the way you've got to go in life, sooking up.

So I can become an engineer.

Fucking old, older than me by the looks of it.

Put that in your pocket and take it to The Antiques Road Show.

It's mad, innit?

Workmate Liam also grew up here, but he's unsure about what he's seeing.

All my childhood memories are here

and basically they've all just been flattened

and something's going to get built on top of it.

Is this going to make it better, or is it going to make it worse?

Time will tell, but, won't it?

Today, Glasgow's East End has a mixed reputation,

and Dalmarnock's no different.

But it was once a thriving community.

I remember all the weans and all the dogs, and all the gangs

all running up and down the streets. It was something else, so it was.

The good old days, as they say. Been and gone.

And when Darren's uncle, Councillor Redmond, was growing up, there was little unemployment.

In the '60s, early '70s, a fantastic place

and, you know, just a whole Bedlam of people.

This whole street here was tenements at one point.

My family - you know, my uncle, my grandfather - had shops.

A grocer's shop, a furniture shop, so, you know, there was a bit of

prosperity in those days, and a fantastic place to live.

Full employment, lots of opportunities.

Many who lived here provided the skilled labour for Glasgow's

renowned shipbuilding industry.

By the late '70s, the industry declined.

Before long, East End tenement slums were amongst the worst in Europe.

The city's answer? Whole scale demolition.

And tenants scattered.

In 2005, another round of demolitions.

This time, the high rises that had replaced the tenements.

Soon the only people left in Dalmarnock

were the ones who couldn't get out.

Demolished and demoralised, for the community,

the Games are a chance to bring back some prosperity.

With four years to go to the Games,

there's a big event in Dalmarnock's hub - the community centre.

Today, the council is setting out its vision for the first time to the locals.

Both George and his nephew Darren have come to hear

the man with the plan, Councillor Archie Graham.

I'm the politician that's responsible for everything to do with the Games.

What that means really is that, if the Games go well,

the Lord Provost and the leader of the council will take all the credit.

LAUGHTER

And if there are any difficulties, guess who's going to get the blame?

It's my responsibility, from the council's perspective,

to make sure the Games are delivered on time,

on budget, and leave a lasting legacy for the city of Glasgow.

I'm up for that.

I'll make sure that happens.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need the public

to be behind what we're doing, to support our efforts

and to believe that they can benefit from the Games.

Tagged onto the Games is around £2 billion

to be spent here in the East End over the next 20 years.

From housing to a new business park and train station,

this is one of the UK's biggest regeneration projects.

We will, unashamedly, use the Commonwealth Games to help us

regenerate the East End of the city, which is long overdue.

We are determined to try and get to as many Glaswegians as we possibly can

to improve their life expectancy, to improve their lifestyle

and to, generally speaking, improve their standard of living on the back of the Games.

As work progresses on the Velodrome,

the athletes' village is just getting started.

But before you can build the future, you need to get rid of the past.

Margaret Jaconelli has decided to refuse the council's order and stay put.

You can see there's the... Where she's living.

You know, the tenement.

Somebody said to me, "do you no' think she likes the attention?"

and I'm thinking, but why would you want the attention of living

in a place where the water system can't be the best.

You know, you can't probably heat the property. You know?

Do people go and visit you there? Or, you know, can she bring her family in?

I don't really know.

George Redmond's no' did anything for me.

He's maybe doing it for the Commonwealth Village but he's no' did anything for me.

'It's very difficult to advocate and represent someone

'when you don't really know what they want.

'Does she want a house? Does she want money?

'Does she want both?

'I don't really know what she wants,

'but the compulsory purchase orders have been sent,

'and I'm sure that'll concentrate minds

'and get the solution for Margaret.'

PHONE RINGS

The compulsory purchase order of £30,000 is not enough

to buy Margaret a similar two-bedroom flat here in the East End.

I'm only a wee woman fae the East End of Glasgow.

I'm a Glaswegian.

And I've got rights like everybody else,

but they way they're putting it through it's like as if we're non-existent.

I've just got to stand up and fight for everything.

And I believe in... The council is stealing my house off me.

They're stealing it, and they're stealing my property,

and I'm going to fight for it, cos I'm no' letting them away with it.

Margaret's refusal to move has attracted interest from the West End.

Dr Libby Porter, a tutor in regeneration at the University of Glasgow,

has brought her students to Dalmarnock for a field trip.

Did they accept first offers, or were there problems with the neighbours?

They all rented. They all rented from the Housing Association,

so, of course, Margaret had bought her property

and her family had bought her property through Right To Buy, and, of course,

then got stuck in a situation where everybody else got happily re-housed.

She applied for a house round the corner,

and would have liked to have moved round there

cos all her friends had moved, you know, the people that lived around her, all her neighbours had moved,

and they wouldn't let her have one cos she wasn't a social tenant.

She owned her property, so she wasn't eligible to be moved.

We've got to ask questions about the roaming nature of these events

and what effect they have on local populations.

These kinds of events tend to get located, if you've noticed,

in the poorer ends of cities, the poorer sections of cities,

because their land values are much lower, so it's much easier to get the land.

And you don't get as much of a stink from the local population

because they don't have as big a voice as the wealthier parts of cities.

It's spring 2010 and, at the other side of the city,

the new Commonwealth Games logo is about to be unveiled.

Our mission, is to create a long lasting identity

that will be associated with other world-class leading sports brands.

APPLAUSE

Today, on Commonwealth Day, all eyes are on councillor Archie Graham.

Absolutely, absolutely. It's another milestone on the road to the Games, and it's absolutely fabulous.

The City Council hope the image of the Games will help change Glasgow's reputation.

There's been an unfortunate image attached to the city in times gone past.

So, we're trying to make sure it's the image of the modern Glasgow

that people have, rather than the one that existed 40 years ago.

But in the East End, the stats haven't much improved.

A 15-year-old boy has only a 50-50 chance of making it to the age of 65.

-Did you write that?

-What?

-"Say no, say no to the Games."

No, I wrote "fuck off."

Dalmarnock boy Calum will be 15 by the time the Games come to town.

Are you coming?

He's a very outdoors boy, isn't he?

Oh, aye, he has to be out all the time. He's always out.

He's interested in being a fireman and things like that,

or a builder. Something that he needs to get really dirty at.

He likes getting dirty, so something like that.

The last school in Dalmarnock closed in 2003,

so the kids now have to be bussed to the nearest primary and secondary schools.

The odds are stacked against boys like Calum.

Living here, he's three times more likely to leave school

with no qualifications than the average British teenager.

-Thinks he's muscle man!

-TEACHER:

-Calum.

He's got a bad attention span.

He found out he was dyslexic six months ago,

and they got help for it, so when he found out that he calmed down a lot

and things like that, and he's going a lot better at school.

I just hope he gets the support at secondary that he gets at primary.

-TEACHER:

-Two fives. Two times five, Calum.

-Five and five.

-Ten

I just hope he does good in the future.

I know he will. Long as he's out the jail, don't want him to

end up in jail like a lot of other people and things like that.

I want him to do good for his life.

Meanwhile, Darren has received news about the compensation for his shops.

Give me two seconds just to ask my wife it's OK if I announce it, right?

Cos this is top secret information I'm going to tell you.

Amanda, is it all right if I let Steve and Emma know?

Your choice, what you asking me for?

Right, OK. Let's go back out, cos they're going to make a noise.

It worked out 65 grand a shop we got.

So it's not bad, taking into consideration the size of the units.

And what did you buy them for?

Roughly about, between ten and 20 grand a shop.

But we spent a lot of money on them.

With five children and another on its way,

the compensation could set up Darren and his family for the future.

First thing we'll be doing is going on holiday,

clearing my head, paying the bills

and then, maybe come back and look at investment opportunities.

Engineering Assistant Steven is also making progress.

Today, he's come to show Calum's school

what he and his boss and mentor, Manousos, are up to.

We have some visitors here today,

and I want to introduce you to everyone first of all.

We have Steven and Steven, when he was your age,

came to Dalmarnock Primary, and he's now working in the area,

building all the new exciting buildings.

My ambition is to become an engineer.

I've always been, wanted to be an engineer since I left school.

But first I need to go to college and sit my A levels and that.

So I can go to university.

And, if I play my cards right and, hopefully,

gain enough from this job, I think McAlpine will do that for me.

Good afternoon, boys and girls.

ALL: Good afternoon.

Good to be here, we are your neighbours on the site

and, you know, this is a great photograph of the area,

taken just about a week or two ago.

Does anyone see their, their home in this photograph?

Brilliant, now I think....

Manousos went to one of the best universities in Scotland,

really, he's just an inspiration to me for to become an engineer.

Not much seems to be happening, but I promise you, from now on,

you'll be seeing big changes.

But to give you a better idea of what it's going to look like,

I've got this image here. It looks really good, doesn't it?

I mean, this is going to be the Velodrome here,

and the arena next door.

Another two years' time you'll see that as a brand-new building.

Big arena and Glasgow'll look ten times better.

Amidst all the change in the East End,

there is one thing that remains the same.

-Legends!

-Football.

Today, it's the Old Firm. Rangers versus Celtic.

With Celtic's football ground right on the borders of Dalmarnock.

The supporters bring hard cash,

good for Darren, as his shop is soon to be shut down.

-The full fucking street blue with Union Jacks.

-A tin of beer!

And a chance for young Calum and his pals to make some pocket money

looking after supporters' cars.

You watch them and then you run away.

And then when you see them all walk down you run back up.

I warned them to take their sat navs out.

-So have you done well money wise today?

-Aye.

What do you reckon you made?

Don't know, about £40.

Come in, Steve.

And sales of one of Glasgow's favourite drinks have soared.

Look at my Buckie! What's left.

Export, Tennents, there's hardly anything left!

I'd like to go home and watch the football game,

but I obviously need to go over to the Cash and Carry,

get more stuff in for them all coming out.

But for many fans, football goes hand in hand with religion.

Glasgow's two main rivals are Celtic,

historically a Catholic team, and Rangers, a Protestant one.

A history of sectarian tensions between the teams

and their supporters goes back well over 100 years.

Hey, guys, just grab a seat and we'll make a start.

Youth workers in Dalmarnock's community centre are now trying

to play their part to stamp it out.

The first week was "What is sectarianism?"

We came up with different definitions of what that was.

Some of you knew what it was but didn't know....

In the last ten years, over 2,200 people have been convicted

of sectarian crimes in Scotland, including several murders.

Do you think sectarianism is a problem in your life?

Put your hand up.

I'm going to show you a perfect example.

This is what I'm talking about.

This is where the boy, Stuart Spencer, died.

This is a memorial they have wrote for him.

Come up and see it.

What happened?

His life was taken from him.

-You mean he was killed?

-Murdered, aye.

Why did you want to show me that?

Just to show you what the sectarianism was like in Dalmarnock.

While sport has long divided the community,

the council hope the Games will bring it together.

I am absolutely convinced

that sport is probably one of the most powerful tools

to bring about social change, bring about a better life for people

and I'm absolutely determined to use the Commonwealth Games in 2014

to make sure that that's what happens in Glasgow.

It's Summer 2010,

and there is still no set date for the shops to be shut.

In Darren's cafe, locals wonder about the council's priorities.

They paid all the money for the railway station

and everything else to be done up, but if they leave houses like that

for people coming from different countries to see,

see that kind of situation, it's ridiculous.

Why not take those houses down and give the community new houses

instead of spending all the money on all that? For two weeks.

That's the houses there that I stay in, now they're pre-war houses.

They are, about 80 or 100 year old or something,

and we're still getting left, we want to know if they're coming down.

We don't know nothing.

Today, three quarters of the community live in social housing.

After 2014, and a second phase of building work,

over a thousand new houses will be up for sale.

What we will have is we will have a very modern estate,

a mixture of houses for rent, houses to buy

and indeed a care centre for elderly people,

on that site after the Games, a real integrated estate,

where, where people will have a much improved standard of living,

many of them from the standard of living

that they enjoy at the minute.

It's a brilliant example of what we're trying to achieve

in terms of legacy.

A legacy they hope will benefit Dalmarnock's youth.

Today, 11-year-old Calum's leaving primary school for good.

I'm just terrified, going to secondary, he's only,

a wee boy, really.

He's my baby, and I'm losing him. That's him.

Going to secondary and all grown-up now.

It's terrifying, for me, never mind Calum.

Just seems so wee to go to secondary.

That's my last baby away.

Sandra is raising Calum on her own.

-Is there a dad on the scene?

-Oh, no. Not for Calum, been ten month.

He don't want to see him.

He takes drugs now, so he's not getting involved with my kids.

And he doesn't really want to see his father,

he's had the choice, but nae chance.

-Wow!

-Dad thinks he can pop in on a yearly basis,

but that's no good for Calum, that's just, coming in one day,

then giving him things and then just walk away again,

so that's no good, for Calum, I mean, that's not what he needs.

He doesn't need that.

-Do you want to see your daddy soon?

-Nah!

-No!

Hate him!

-Dad? Why?

-Don't know.

In two thirds of households in Dalmarnock,

children are brought up by a single parent.

Darren is bucking the trend.

Ma weans, I love them.

I'd like to, hopefully, give ma weans a chance in life, Steve.

It's not something you hear a lot in the East End of Glasgow,

cos there's a lot of mams and dads,

maybe have no work, or cannae work.

After over ten years of trading,

Darren is forced to shut the last three remaining shops in Dalmarnock.

Demolition is scheduled for a fortnight's time at the end of July.

Dalmarnock is going to get smaller and smaller and smaller.

Anyway, ladies, to the end of an era.

Tweet, tweet.

Sad.

Terrible.

Poor people of Dalmarnock have to suffer because of the Games.

-Do you agree with me, hen?

-It was a good wee area once

-and now it's just gone to shit.

-Aye.

Did you get that?

There you go, for the last time ever. God bless.

The final chapter has now closed in the history of Dalmarnock.

As far as the wee beautiful shops are concerned.

106 and 108 Springfield Road.

The end of a great era,

in the history of Dalmarnock.

Tweet, tweet.

To be honest with you, I'm thinking, I'm saying to myself,

I'm not really giving a fuck the shops are shut.

To be honest, I'm glad.

Cos hopefully something good's going to come out of it.

Autumn, 2010.

After refusing to accept the compulsory purchase order

of £30,000, Margaret is taken to court by Glasgow City Council.

Three hours later, Margaret has lost.

She decides to appeal her case.

I've got to stand up this week for my family

and for my rights to be able to stay in my own home,

till they come in and start to negotiate.

We've just got to keep fighting.

At the end of the day, somebody'll listen to us.

And listen they do. Soon the family become front page news.

I'm in the house of Margaret Jaconelli.

Now, tell us what's happening to you.

If you don't pay for something, that's stealing,

and this is what the council's doing, they're stealing my house.

Despite the media interest, there's no thaw between Margaret

and the city council.

The council say they've tried to negotiate, but without any success.

I'm on watch, I'm watching in case anybody's coming round to evict me.

I'm laughing now but it's not funny.

When you go out your home, you want to go out happy cos you're

moving to a new home. You don't want to go out sad

that you're getting evicted from your home.

It'll be in Leith Street cos I ain't going anywhere.

With Margaret and the Labour-led council in deadlock,

MSP for Glasgow Bob Doris and Councillor McAlister,

both from the Scottish National Party, get in on the act.

The last thing I want to see is that, as we prepare

to get the handover from Delhi to Glasgow,

for the Commonwealth Games, is that we're talking about things like

Mrs Jaconelli, when what we should be talking about, is the great

opportunity that the Commonwealth Games brings to our city.

I think it's in our job to, where appropriate,

act as middlemen to make sure we can, not broker a deal,

but just make sure that both sides are still talking,

and they don't both become entrenched in their views,

and ultimately make sure Mrs Jaconelli gets a fair price for her property.

My father used to say, "Never take the first offer, son."

-Well, I'll leave that to you.

-He was a gambler.

They're hoping to persuade the city council

to give Margaret a better deal.

But on the very same day,

Margaret receives a much better offer from the council by post.

Now all of a sudden they've upped heritage, and they've offered me,

I think it was £60,000 or £70,000 heritage, so.

And what does heritage mean?

Heritage is to do with how long you've been in the place.

I think the home loss was only 2½

or something like that, and now they've upped that to eight.

All in, it comes to about 80 something.

Just need to wait and see what the lawyer says, take it from there.

Before she has the chance to speak to a lawyer,

Councillor McAllister and his advisor turn up.

They cannae go back now. That is the least you're going to get,

and I think there's room to negotiate.

So, that's what I was told this morning, there's room to

improve on that, you know, so, hopefully you'll get more,

and hopefully you'll get somewhere to live that you're happy with.

I don't want a mortgage, that's the only thing.

-There's definitely room for negotiation, then.

-Aye.

With their advice, Margaret decides to refuse the offer.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

BAGPIPES PLAY

Meanwhile, the City Council's top brass have some business

4,000 miles away in Delhi.

HUW EDWARDS: This is the moment when Glasgow takes centre stage here in Delhi.

-FEMALE ANNOUNCER:

-And now the flag is being handed over

to Lord Provost of Glasgow, Councillor Mr Robert Winter.

Glasgow's looking forward with great anticipation to 2014,

when we will celebrate the great sporting occasion

which is the Commonwealth Games.

300 volunteers from all over Scotland

perform a lavish handover ceremony.

MUSIC: "Auld Lang Syne"

RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Back in Dalmarnock, the man known locally as Gorgeous George,

Councillor Redmond, is doing his rounds.

# Gorgeous George

# The last of the go-getters. #

I remember as a young boy, walking up and down this road,

and it was really, really vibrant with people, you know.

Probably 10,000 people living in Dalmarnock at that time.

Yes, it's sad, but we're creating a new Dalmarnock,

a new village, you know, where you actually have

new shops and businesses, you know, real focal points for the community.

Having won a landslide in the last two elections,

George's constituents expect answers.

George, we've got nothing here.

WOMAN SHOUTS: Gorgeous George!

£140 a month community charge I'm paying,

I've not got a shop to go to.

They forget people stay in here.

They built a Berlin wall all the way round the area.

We cannae get out, we cannae get in.

There's very few places in Scotland which will see the investment

that's going on here.

-We've got to do what's best for the area.

-Obviously!

-And we cannae have...

-I think some of these decisions are made

and not thinking hard enough about the people in the area.

It's all about managing change.

The managing change agenda, there's never been anywhere...

George, I don't know who managing change is.

That's one thing about me, I'm not going to run away.

You cannae run away, cos you still work down the road,

the credit union, your mother says in Bridgeton

and your brother stays up there, where can you run to?

Cos you've got to remember, if you want elected,

you've got to show the people that you care for the area.

SMALL CHILD SPEAKS DARREN: Come here!

With Darren forced to close his shops,

the community centre tried to plug the gap by selling everyday basics.

Oh, for fuck? In the paper!

November, 2010.

Darren and his family have yet to receive their big pay-out

for losing their businesses.

Not a penny off them. That's been 14 weeks.

15 weeks, maybe 16 weeks now.

Even worse, the shops are still standing empty,

months after they were meant to be demolished.

So far, the shops have been shut for about four month,

and the community is just pissed off,

because it's made everybody's life ten times harder.

We want to know what's happening, when the work's starting,

when the shops are getting built,

when life can fucking start picking itself up a wee bit down here.

Cos all it is at the present moment is fucking lorries sat still.

And fucking walking for miles to get a loaf of bread.

It's about what we're living in.

With a large family to support and no livelihood, finances are tight.

Ten days to Christmas and Steven is getting frustrated.

They're still waiting on trying to get us into college,

but they've not got the fundings yet for, like, us to go.

It does get quite annoying when you get told that

you will be going to college and then you end up no.

Have to wait and see what happens.

Oh, this is brutal, man.

Today is his first review.

Never had one of these before.

I'm actually quite nervous about this.

Oh.

What would you say your ambitions, your career ambitions are?

I want to become an engineer, but if I'm out there every day,

then I'm not really learning any experience anywhere.

It's a case of turning up, doing the same job over and over again.

I've experienced the same stuff, like, if I go and do a survey,

then, two days later, we've go to do another survey.

Every job's going to have repetitive aspects, repetitive tasks,

so that is something that you, that you need to be mindful of.

As a company, Sir R McAlpine are very much wanting to invest in you

-and progress you. All right?

-Nay bother.

-OK, brill.

Keep up the good work, and it'll be hopefully another year.

Aye, hopefully.

Winter 2010, and the UK's hit with the big freeze.

One of the coldest on record.

In Glasgow, the council have upped Margaret's offer even further

to £90,000.

But her last-ditch attempt in court to halt eviction has failed.

They threw it out, they threw it all out again, but I've to meet...

'I've hardly slept, cannae have a good sleep,

'my full family's the same.

'They don't know what's going to happen to us.'

You're thinking things, "How did they no do this?

"How did they no do that? This isnae being done right,"

and it's as if you're trying to correct everything yourself,

as if nobody's listened to you.

Margaret and her husband Jack have been spending a fortune on heating,

not helped by the empty flats surrounding them.

That's frost.

14 degrees below.

Windows have been took out above to froze us out,

and, if you see this picture here, that's our home there.

That's us heating the whole, we're heating this whole block.

Normally I would have only been, between £800

and £1,000 gas and electric a year.

But because they took the windows from above me,

I've been £5,000 a year.

The Jaconellis have spent an extra £50,000 on fuel bills

since all their neighbours left over eight years ago.

Armed with a new lawyer, Mike Daily, they launch a secondary action

against the Housing Association who own the flat above them.

I've can't think in, you know, 20 years of my experience as a lawyer

in Glasgow of somebody who, because they were holding out in

their house, had the property above them, had the windows removed

and mesh put in, so that the elements would go in,

water could go in above your ceiling, and your heating bills

would go up and rocket.

That's what happened, and we're looking at a claim

against the Housing Association that's responsible for that.

I've never seen that kind of intimidation.

Out of legal options to fight the eviction,

Jack - a roofer by trade - takes matters into his own hands.

In there.

Steel bar across there.

Screwed to the door, top, bottom, middle, and that's that covered.

Back door's basically the same.

I cannae go to work now.

I've got to stay here and give her a hand

cos I cannae leave it all to Margaret.

I'm ready for a good fight, don't worry about that.

Nobody walks over Jack Jaconelli. And that's that.

They'll need to bring the army in to get me out.

No' the army, the SAS, cos I'm no' going anywhere.

I've made up my mind.

While the Jaconellis don't want to leave Dalmarnock,

Darren is keen to step out.

His oldest daughter, Cameron, is taking piano lessons

in Glasgow's affluent West End.

Steve - look there, the big, lovely Finnieston Crane.

Wait till you see it.

There's building work here, too.

Foundations for another Commonwealth Games venue -

the Glasgow Hydro.

Looking at it, it's phenomenal the work they've done.

About another... A year, I think, Steve, if we come back up

and have a look at it, I think you'd see a major progress.

CAMERON PLAYS THE THEME FROM EASTENDERS

She's always wanted wee keyboards or something

and I says to her mother,

"There's no harm in trying it, then, is there?"

The work she's doing is just phenomenal,

it's sometimes me and her ma cannae stop laughing

at how successful and much progress that she's made

for the time that she's worked with Anne. It is unbelievable, honest.

She's doing a great job.

Cameron's reached Grade Three in piano,

but Darren won't let her forget where she came from.

My wee granny taught me to be thankful

and grateful for everything and anything that you get.

And that's the way it goes.

And as I say, if any of my weans want to try picturing themselves

or comparing themselves to people...

..then I don't know any ma or dad

that wouldnae fucking kick their wean up the arse

if they tried to do that to anybody, cos I would certainly do it.

Simple as that.

It's March 2011.

Do you want a cup of tea, Jack?

After eight years of living in a condemned street,

the Jaconelli family prepare to face down eviction.

DRILL WHIRS

Four sleepers.

Steel rod.

So they cannae chain saw.

So good luck to them. Bastards.

Scholar-turned-activist Dr Libby Porter

from University of Glasgow is on hand to lend support.

They've barricaded themselves in

and, well, the Sheriff's offices' eviction notice,

as far as I'm aware, was good from Friday noon,

and what we anticipate will happen

is that Sheriff's officers will remove them.

'The outcome of eviction is not something anybody wants

'Really what we needed was a bit of movement from, from Margaret.'

The Games, given obviously the importance of it

to Dalmarnock, to Glasgow, to Scotland,

um, will not be...

There's not one person who'll stop that Athlete's Village being built.

As day three of the barricade comes to an end,

friends and family sneak out for a carry-out.

Gorgeous. Tuck in.

That's the last supper wi' us.

DRILL WHIRS

Day six. Still no eviction.

Hopefully, Auntie Margaret and your granny

and everybody will get out, won't they?

Margaret's lawyer plans to scale up the fight,

but getting in to see his client isn't that simple.

-TV:

-'Margaret Jaconelli's lawyer was forced to climb through the window

'of her home to discuss the move, after she barricaded herself in.

'The Council, who want to demolish the flat

'ahead of the Commonwealth Games...'

We've got the application,

I've drafted this application to the European Court of Human Rights.

I think we've got a... We've got a pretty decent case, to be honest.

So...

Right.

I've got the envelope ready to go to Strasbourg,

European Court of Human Rights. Now, obviously, as I explained...

-I know how long it could take.

-It could take a long time, right,

but the point is...

if you're successful, it's a really powerful remedy.

Mike wants to take Margaret's case to the European Courts,

and fight for a universal principle.

The Compulsory Purchase Order process in Scotland

is not fair to ordinary working people.

Because you don't have the money to pay for a legal team,

to pay for evidence, to pay for expert witnesses

and, if you're on a low income, there's no legal aid available.

-So there's one there.

-Right.

-Give you that pen.

'The council have access to QCs,

'they have access to expert witnesses,

'so they can present this case in a very compelling way.'

So in terms of the equality of arms between the parties,

it's really a case of David versus Goliath

but, in this case, David doesn't even have a slingshot.

Now, what's the best way to get out?

CAMERAS CLICK

-That's it, Mike.

-Where's this foot...?

Right. Thanks.

-Yeah.

-Thanks, Mike.

-OK, cheers.

As night falls, all but a few press have left,

with many supporters having to resume their own lives.

Margaret and her close family can only wait.

Feel like a caged animal now.

I mean this is... I can't even open the window

in case there's a Sheriff's officer out there.

And a hand coming in the window to grab you.

We're waiting on them to make the move.

We cannae do nothing. We've...

We're done ours. We're done ours.

Our move's been made,

the...fort's been built.

We're waiting for the Indians to come.

To take the fort off us.

It's as simple as that, isn't it?

What time is it?

Five o'clock.

Five o'clock in the morning.

Day seven.

Two hours to sunrise.

Jack has rigged a CCTV camera to give them an early warning.

Christ almighty, that's a... That's a lot of cops.

DRILL WHIRS

SHOUTING

This is what we've fucking built this for today.

I knew this was going to happen, but I put up a fight and that's it.

DRILL WHIRS

They've got to come in the front door

BANGING

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

BANGING CONTINUES

Guerilla tactics. PHONE RINGS

BANGING CONTINUES

They've killed it at the mains.

Hello?

They've turned the lights off. Right. Aye.

DRILL WHIRS

Jaconelli, and any other occupants within the premises,

I'll ask you to stand back from the door.

-No!

-No!

-No!

-Get out!

No!

BANGING

Watch it.

Stand back from the door, please.

-No! I've got my back to it!

-No!

Right, they're my hands coming in!

-Watch your hands, please!

-No!

British Government's allowing this in this day and age,

so arseholes can run about in shorts for two weeks.

Then displace a whole lot of people in Dalmarnock.

And then say they're going to leave us a legacy.

We've got a fucking legacy -

black and blue marks by these Sheriff's officers.

-My arms.

-Arms there, look.

OCCUPANTS JEER

Do your best!

The Sherriff's officers have come in just now, OK?

They've come round to the house just now.

It was granted against you back in September,

there's nothing to serve, there's no warrant to serve or anything.

Ha-hey! That's him in there.

Excuse me, sir...

Next time on Commonwealth City...

..Margaret and Jack's family home is torn down,

with no compensation in sight from the council...

Six weeks down the line,

I've no' had a penny or any correspondence from them.

..Darren uses the compensation money

to give his kids the life he never had...

I'm sure it's every man's dream,

getting their weans sent to a private school.

..and, when all seems lost,

Dalmarnock calls on one of its own to save the day.

For us, the only way is up.

And to get as much out of this as we can for this community.