Four charged after staging 'picnic' protest in Edinburgh Sainsbury's

Two men and two women were charged.

Four campaigners have been arrested after staging a protest 'picnic' with items taken from a supermarket.

This Is Rigged staged the picnic at the Sainsbury’s store in Edinburgh Waverley station on Wednesday, as part of a string of protests about the cost of living crisis and food prices.

A group sat in the middle of the shop floor to make a statement about “food insecurity and corporate profiteering” in Scotland.

The group is demanding that supermarkets cut the price of baby formula and that the Scottish Government “fully fund and introduce a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland”.

It comes after protesters from the group staged at sit-in against food insecurity at the Palace of Holyroodhouse royal dining room in Edinburgh.

Xander Cloudsley, 30, a community food organiser said: “During the peak of the cost of living crisis, Sainsbury’s’ CEO Simon Roberts saw fit to give himself a raise to the tune of around £1.5 million.

“His company has made profits in the hundreds of millions, year in and year out, despite the people of Scotland facing increasingly dire food insecurity and financial insecurity.

This is Rigged protesters arrested after staging stolen 'picnic' protest in Edinburgh Sainsbury's

“I work directly work with people facing dire food and financial insecurity every day as a community food organiser, and the fact that Simon thinks that his wallet is of greater priority than their wellbeing is beyond self-interested.

“We will not starve just so Simon can line his pockets with yet more gold.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 11.05am on Wednesday, 28 February, 2024, police were called to a report of a protest within a supermarket in Waverley Mall, Edinburgh.

“Officers attended and two men aged 28 and 30 years, and two women aged 27 and 33 years were arrested and charged. They were released on an undertaking to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.

“A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”