Shameless sockpuppetry in Scotland

Holyrood, a magazine aimed at politicians in Scotland, has recently given us some nice examples of sockpuppetry in action.

On Friday, it published an article by Sheila Duffy calling on the government to further increase the vilification and extortion of smokers.

We need policy decisions that are bold, and we need to ensure that Scottish Government have the tools and power to make those decisions.

Sheila Duffy is the CEO of ASH Scotland, which gets most of its income from the Scottish government. The article was bought and paid for.

Sheila Duffy is the chief executive of ASH Scotland. This feature was sponsored by ASH Scotland.

On Tuesday, Holyrood ran a poorly written article by Alison Douglas calling for the minimum price of alcohol to be raised.

Personal choice versus the nanny state. That’s the way that public health prevention is characterised by opponents. But with one quarter of Scots regularly drinking more than recommended, surely there’s more to it?

Er, no. Not really.

Now is the time for the Scottish Government to review and raise the minimum unit price.

Alison Douglas is the CEO of Alcohol Focus Scotland, which gets most of its income from the Scottish government. The article was bought and paid for.

This piece was sponsored by Alcohol Focus Scotland

This is how the political elite speak to each another. The government gives lobbyists a stack of taxpayers' money which the lobbyists spend on sponsored editorial to call on the government to interfere in the lives of its citizens. If it sounds corrupt, it's because it is.

Incidentally, Douglas writes...

We also need to turn our attention to tackling how heavily marketed and easily available harmful products are. Children have told us they see alcohol all around them, all the time.  It’s time we stopped exposing them to alcohol marketing and protected their right to grow up healthy and happy, free from alcohol harm.

And which children told them that? The children of the Children's Parliament, a Scottish government initiative, paid for by the taxpayer, in which kids as young as nine were handed over to Alcohol Focus Scotland to be brainwashed for a few hours before being filmed for a low quality propaganda video. I wrote about it last September.