Conservative politicians in Scotland have faced a backlash today after a Foodbank publicity stunt backfired.
MPs including Ross Thomson, John Lamount, Kirstene Hair and Luke Graham appeared to use scripted copy to boast about donations they made to an annual food collection organised by supermarkets in conjunction with Trussell Trust.
Stephen Paton, online content editor at The National, tweeted: “If you want to give the impression you’ve spontaneously donated to a food bank, probably best not to mostly copy and paste whatever the Scottish Tory PR office sent”.
Last month the Trussell Trust announced it had handed out a record number of emergency supplies this year as the government’s roll-out of their flagship welfare programme Universal Credit continued to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable people in the country.
More than 650,000 emergency supplies were handed out to people in crisis in the six months up to October, a 13 per cent increase on same period in 2017.
Charlotte Hughes posted that “Foodbanks and organisations grow a backbone and REFUSE any Tory politician that wants to take publicity shots at your organisation”.
She added: “They voted to starve people, they’re laughing in your faces. Just stop it.”
If you want to give the impression you’ve spontaneously donated to a food bank, probably best not to mostly copy and paste whatever the Scottish Tory PR office sent over… pic.twitter.com/oBVoXAMaie
— Stephen Paton ? (@stephenpaton134) December 2, 2018