Roseanna Cunningham faces backlash over ‘tweed’ remark

Dec 4 2009

PERTH SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham has faced a backlash after she derided country people who wear tweed.

The politician branded them a “laughing stock”.

But now, Peter Lyburn, the Conservative candidate for Perth and North Perthshire, has accused her of having “no understanding” of the countryside.

Ms Cunningham said she “hated” seeing other country dwellers dressing up in tweed to perpetuate “a very 19th-century Victorian gentleman’s view of rural Scotland”.

After her comments, made in an interview for the Gamekeepers’ Association Magazine, Mr Lyburn said: “It’s deeply regrettable that Perthshire is represented by a person and political party who have no real understanding of the countryside.

“At a time of recession, it is important that we support Scottish businesses.

“Harris Tweed is loved the world over and there are numerous tweed retailers in Perthshire that will be deeply worried by this outburst.

“The SNP have exposed themselves for what they really are. This is old-fashioned class warfare and there is no room for this kind of low level politics in Perthshire.”

Lydia Walton, spokeswoman for Harris Tweed Scotland, said: “It’s such a silly thing to say. You absolutely don’t need to be a gamekeeper to wear it.

“That’s like saying only farmers can wear wellies. We have got such a huge variety of customers. We wouldn’t really have a business if we just sold to gamekeepers.”

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance added: “It supports the Scottish economy and she should be promoting, not denigrating, tweed as a material for everyone who is outdoors, whatever activity they are involved in.”