Today’s challenge: find 10 good things to say about the east end of Glasgow. This is hard – like the area itself, which sets grotesque records for deprivation, as the Glasgow East by-election underlines. But here goes:

1. Women are the backbone of the east end. According to the local media, male life expectancy there is 68, five years below the Scottish average – dropping to 54 in one ward – but women live on average to 74. Some put the gap at up to 10 years in the poorest areas. The women are too busy making ends meet and keeping their children off drugs, to die.