A HOLYROOD candidate who claimed people forced to use food banks are “far from starving” has returned with a new Twitter pull-up challenge after being suspended from the Tory Party.
In his podcast Craig Ross, who was due to contest the Glasgow Pollok seat for party in May, criticised people asking for help feeding their families during a Channel 4 report.
The comments, unearthed by the Daily Record, included the claim that “people have no idea how fat they are” and for some food bank users “their biggest risk is not starvation, it’s diabetes”.
Ross said: “In this world of such tremendous hunger, in this world where people are routinely struggling to eat, in this world where people appear on Channel 4 News and talk about how their children eat but they don’t because they can’t afford to … almost everybody in that world is grossly overweight.”
READ MORE: Tories suspend Glasgow candidate who said food bank users are 'far from starving'
He went on: “I’m not saying that every single person who claims to be really hungry and is reliant on charity is also very overweight, but what I am saying is if Channel 4 News is having a reasonable go at showing the reality of food bank usage, then we know that the people that they film are far from starving.”
The former lecturer also criticised footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford for his work on poverty during the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite Boris Johnson and Douglas Ross both praising Rashford, Ross said: “Has Marcus Rashford stood for election to anything? Not that I’m aware of.
“So should we turn our welfare policy upside down in order to suit Rashford’s view as to what would be decent?”
Ross also called the Human Rights Act an “obscenity” and rejected claims that the UK has benefitted from migration.
The Tories this morning suspended Ross, saying his “unacceptable comments do not reflect the views of the party”.
READ MORE: 'They're full of excuses': Tory MSP hopeful tries to shame SNP ... with pull-ups
Earlier this month Ross was mocked on social media after filming himself doing a pull-up challenge to shame the SNP.
Writing on Twitter the candidate, who wants to unseat Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, said: “I’m nearly 56. Here’s me doing 18 pull-ups. I’ll guarantee you that none of the SNP’s candidates for Holyrood 2021 will be able to do anything similar.
“How do I know? Because their lives are full of excuses.
“Everything is someone else’s fault.
“They take responsibility for nothing.”
This morning following his suspension, Ross broke his silence by posting a new pull-up challenge to his account.
I'm back, and making a serious point. I was overweight and physically weak. Most things are achieved through relentless hard work. By constantly telling people there's a political solution to their problems - and only politics will work - you disempower them.#ScotlandNeedsChange pic.twitter.com/BydJ90yBUt
— Craig4Glasgow (@Craig4P) January 15, 2021
In a tweet he said: “I'm back, and making a serious point. I was overweight and physically weak.
“Most things are achieved through relentless hard work. By constantly telling people there's a political solution to their problems - and only politics will work - you disempower them.”
The clip then shows Ross doing pull ups for 1 minute and 17 seconds. There is no sound other than him panting through the exercise.
One person responded to say Ross would enjoy not having to “toe the party line” as an independent candidate.
The former lecturer responded: “I suddenly feel as if I can breathe.
“As I said to the party guys this morning - and they were very decent about it – ‘There's something I should have told the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party a long time ago. I'm actually a Conservative and a Unionist.’”
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