CLIMATE protest group This is Rigged have occupied the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to protest rising food insecurity.
At 1.15pm on Monday (February 19), nine activists entered the royal dining room carrying banners with slogans including "is treasa tuath na tighearna" - the slogan of the Highland Land League, translating to "the people are mightier than a lord" -, and "change begins in the kitchen, not the boardroom".
They crossed the barrier and sat down at the table, and began eating food out of Tupperware and drinking tea out of flasks they brought along. The wing of the palace was temporarily closed to the public.
Police attended but the protesters had already left.
It comes as the group have announced the start of a wave of actions against food insecurity in Scotland, demanding that supermarkets slash prices of baby formula to March 2021 prices, and that the Scottish Government fully fund and implement a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland.
Speaking about why she took action, 22-year-old student Josephine O’Connor from Glasgow said: “I’m taking action because I’m really worried about the future.
"As the many crises that we are facing are continuing to worsen, it becomes more apparent that those with power are not coming to help, that profit once again reigns higher than people. We need to speak up and take up space because it is our future.”
READ MORE: This is Rigged: The climate activists who keep disrupting FMQs
This Is Rigged said that if the Scottish Government won’t provide communities with a warm space to get a healthy, nutritious meal, they will reclaim spaces themselves.
The group argued that the Scottish Government is failing to ensure the human right to food for Scots, highlighting that under the Good Food Nation policy, it has already committed to making good quality food accessible to all by 2025.
They also took aim at supermarkets, saying these companies "continue to exploit our rights and fail to provide accessible, nutritious food at fair prices even as they publish record profits".
Jasmin Robertson, 19, a student and grower from the Highlands also participating in the protest, said: “Our food system is something that connects us all, but it has become so fragile in the hands of profiteering corporations.
"It's time we make space around the table for people, and invest in communities, in a food system that is equal and just, that doesn’t let individuals profit from collective struggle.
"The Scottish Government have to stick to their promises of a ‘Good Food Nation’, it’s time we take back the power from corporate greed!”
The group have vowed to escalate their action until their demands are met.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.15pm on Monday, 19 February, we received a report of a protest in a room open to the public at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Officers attended but the protestors had left.
"No damage has been reported at this time but enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”
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