THE leader of the Scottish Conservatives has been accused of "hypocrisy" after charging £3000 for a single article that states capitalism is getting a bad reputation.
Ruth Davidson called for a Tory-led "re-boot" of capitalism in an article for Unherd, a new centre-right blog run by Tory journalist Tim Montgomerie.
The article, titled "Ctrl + Alt + Del. Conservatives must reboot capitalism", appeared in July and claimed that despite the supposed success of capitalism, it had led to the kinds of inequality and injustice that were resulting in people "losing faith" in the system.
Davidson concluded: “Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty and made the world a better, safer, healthier, more comfortable place.
“It’s not working for everyone, however, and some people are enriching themselves through the kind of restrictive practices that Adam Smith warned us about two centuries ago.
“Nationally and internationally, capitalism needs a reboot. Time to press Ctrl + Alt + Del.”
Davidson was paid one pound a word for the piece, and delcared the income in her parliamentary register of interests. The article brought Davidson's total earnings outside of her £61,778 salary as an MSP up to about £30,000.
SNP MSP George Adam said: “Ruth Davidson’s hypocrisy knows no bounds – even when she is admitting to how her own party has reduced living standards, she is coining it in.
Adam stated that Davidson had "no self-awareness".
He continued: “While many of her own constituents and people across the country suffer at the hands of her party’s welfare policies, she is able to sit comfortably and write blogs to boost her income knowing that she’ll never have to suffer the impact of those policies.
“Ruth Davidson is absolutely right when she says ‘some people are enriching themselves’. She just seems completely unaware that she is one of them.”
The Scottish Conservatives have been asked for comment by The Herald.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel