I don’t want to imagine what it’s like to go and visit the grave of a friend or relative and discover the cooncil has slapped a gummy, gaudy information notice on it headed “Warning! this memorial has failed to meet safety standards.” People have called it disrespectful and I think that’s exactly the right word. It is. What were they thinking?

Glasgow City Council’s argument is they have no choice and are forced to put the warning stickers on gravestones when there are concerns about safety. They say they have a statutory duty to inspect headstones but that the maintenance is a matter for the owners, usually relatives. Applying the notices to the stones, they say, is an effective way to find the relatives and get the repairs done.

To some extent (but only some), I can see where the council is coming from, and we know the terrible background don’t we? The case of eight-year-old Ciaran Williamson, who died in 2015 when a stone in Craigton Cemetery in Cardonald fell on him. The fatal accident inquiry said the council didn’t have a proper inspection system to ensure the safety of graveyards and so the council said they would introduce one, which they did and it was the right thing to do.

But having a proper inspection regime doesn’t mean you have to put stickers on memorials to people’s friends and relatives. In the first place, couldn’t they have worded it in a more respectful way; why does it have to be so blunt?........

© Herald Scotland