Three people arrested as red paint sprayed on Scottish Parliament in food insecurity protest
Climate campaign group This Is Rigged is calling on the Scottish government to implement a community food hub for every 500 households in Scotland.
Monday 11 March 2024 14:52, UK
Red paint has been sprayed across the front of the Scottish Parliament as part of a protest against rising food insecurity.
Police Scotland said three people have been arrested in connection with damage to the building in Edinburgh as enquiries continue.
Climate campaign group This Is Rigged is calling on the Scottish government to implement a community food hub for every 500 households in Scotland.
The group's ongoing campaign is also urging supermarkets to slash the cost of baby formula to March 2021 prices.
This Is Rigged has vowed to continue to escalate actions until its demands are met.
Just last week, a bust of Queen Victoria was spattered with porridge and jam during a demonstration at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
In the demonstration in Edinburgh on Monday, the activists claimed a quarter of Scots have experienced food insecurity in the past year.
This Is Rigged said on Instagram: "We are demanding that the Scottish government meet with us to discuss the implementation of a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland.
"Until we see the foundational human right to food met, we will continue to disrupt, to resist, to redistribute, to take back what's rightfully ours."
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Shirley-Anne Somerville, social justice secretary, agreed that no one should have to compromise on food or other essentials.
She added: "Scotland is the first nation in the UK to publish a plan, grounded in human rights, that works towards ending the need for food banks - and the Trussell Trust have commended this.
"Over three years, our £1.8m cash-first programme will support eight public and third sector partnerships. This will strengthen urgent access to cash in a crisis and reduce the need for food parcels, meaning people can access the essentials they need whilst maintaining dignity.
"Our recently published infant food insecurity toolkit will provide local areas with the information they need to avoid health and wellbeing harm to babies whether they are formula or breastfed.
"Where needed, families with babies should be able to get advice on appropriate routes to access infant formula milk safely through health professionals and other local service providers.
"We have consistently called for the UK government to provide additional support to people with the cost of living crisis - but the chancellor has failed to deploy the full range of powers available to him to make a real difference to people's lives.
"It is particularly disappointing that he failed to use the opportunity of his spring budget to be bold and introduce an essentials guarantee, ensuring that social security benefits adequately cover the cost of essentials and properly support our most vulnerable people."
The Scottish Parliament said criminal damage is a matter for the police and advised that "delays are likely for anyone arriving at Holyrood today".
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Three people have been arrested in connection with damage to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh following a protest around 10.45am on Monday 11 March 2024.
"Enquiries are ongoing."