When food and politics mix: Holyrood's top three culinary controversies

Macaroni cheese pies entered the debating chamber recently, following the news that Greggs was planning to remove them from sale in Scotland. Fans reacted in outrage, with Kezia Dugdale joining a campaign to ‘save the pie’, while Nicola Sturgeon was forced to admit that, though she did not care for them herself, she had agreed to back the pie campaign following pleads from her father.  

It was not the first time food and politics have mixed. Here are Holyrood’s top three food based political controversies:

1) Pasty-gate
This one kicked off with changes in tax rules meaning ‘hot takeaway food’ would be charged VAT. As well as increasing the price of hot baked goods, the move plunged the PM into controversy after he claimed to have bought a large Cornish pasty from a shop that did not not exist.​

2) Irn Bieber
Relations between Scotland and Canada turned decidedly frosty after a mix-up saw Canada ban Scotland’s national soft drink from sale because of colourings used. SNP MEP Alyn Smith even wrote to the EU trade commissioner, saying: “I’m sure many ex-pats across the pond will be worried about how to get their daily fix of the Bru if this supposed ban remains. I think if it does, we need to look into banning Justin Bieber and Celine Dion here in Europe - between them they’ve produced more sugary schmaltz than Irn Bru ever has.”

3) Subway snub 
When a photocall went wrong, then Labour leader Iain Gray was widely mocked after trying to hide from protestors in a sandwich shop, before becoming trapped by them inside. Gray himself later brushed the incident off, pointing out he had visited war zones around the world in the past, “I’ve been a lot of places, seen a lot of things - that certainly wasn’t the worst of them.”​