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Niall Christie
Scotland editor
THE Scottish Conservatives have expelled a Holyrood candidate after he claimed that foodbank users are “fat” and “far from starving.”
Craig Ross, who was standing in Glasgow Pollok, also expressed scepticism about whether the Westminster government would heed campaigning footballer Marcus Rashford’s calls for action on food poverty and feeding hungry children.
The Scottish Tories initially suspended Mr Ross pending an investigation of the “unacceptable comments,” which were unearthed by the Daily Record newspaper.
Speaking on his podcast, Mr Ross discussed media coverage of people using foodbanks and said: “Their biggest risk is not starvation, it’s diabetes.”
He claimed Manchester United star Rashford had organised an “online mob” to press the government to change its policy on free school meals for pupils.
In the podcast, which aired on June 29, the former lecturer said that footage of people at foodbanks shows that users are “far from starving.”
The would-be MSP also disputed the conclusion of the Macpherson report, published in the wake of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, that the Metropolitan Police is “institutionally racist.”
“This is the least racist country in the world,” Mr Ross claimed.
The current MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, called for him to be dropped as the Tory candidate.
He wrote on Twitter: “His remarks that those who use foodbanks ‘are far from starving’ are utterly heartless.
“To then go on to deny institutional racism in the context of the murder of Stephen Lawrence is deplorable.”
The Scottish Tories later announced that Mr Ross had indeed been dropped.
A party spokesman said: “Craig Ross is no longer a candidate or a member of the party.”