Four arrested after protestors stage picnic in Sainsbury's at Edinburgh Waverley Station

Four people have been arrested after protestors staged at picnic in an Edinburgh supermarket.

This is Rigged campaigners staged the picnic at the Sainsbury’s store in Edinburgh Waverley station on Wednesday with food items taken from the store.

The protestors sat in the middle of the shop floor to draw attention to “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 implement a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland”.

This is Rigged has 'vowed' to escalate actions until their demands are met by the Scottish Government. — This is Rigged has ‘vowed’ to escalate actions until their demands are met by the Scottish Government. Supplied

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

Speaking about why they took action, Jam, 28, a furniture-maker from Airdrie said: “Emerging from lockdown and being plunged straight into another emergency (food insecurity and climate catastrophe) came with the realisation for me that we have always been in a state of emergency to protect our basic rights.

“I’ve been goaded into action by our government’s assumption that we will forget that the power they wield is tangible and capable of impacting our daily lives, and supermarkets that assume that we won’t notice the enormous profits and bonuses they have made under the guise of inflation.

“The greatest hope I’ve found is the motion of ordinary people against greed and hypocrisy.”

This is Rigged has “vowed” to escalate actions until their demands are met by the Scottish Government, who in 2014 committed to becoming a ‘Good Food Nation’, in which quality food should be available for all.

Xander Cloudsley, 30, a community food organiser from Glasgow, 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.

“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 putridly 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, February 28, 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.”