Satire was declared officially dead this week after the SNP’s latest right-on wheeze. In their desperation to declare that ‘Scotland is leading the world’, SNP-run Dundee City Council has named its new period poverty rights expert. Unfortunately the appointment has caused something of an immediate backlash – from women. It came after the city commissars opted to choose a, er, man as the Tay region’s ‘Period Dignity Regional Lead Officer.’ Jason Grant told the Dundee Courier of his appointment:
I’m absolutely buzzing about it. It’s definitely pioneering as Scotland is the first to do this. It’s about making people aware of the availability of period products for anyone of any gender, whenever they need it.
‘Any gender’ eh? Grant’s task will be to promote the new access to free sanitary products across schools and colleges, where he will also have to discuss issues around the menopause. He added:
I think being a man will help me to break down barriers, reduce stigma and encourage more open discussions. Although affecting women directly, periods are an issue for everyone. We’ll also raise awareness of the menopause, which, although a natural process for women, has wider repercussions in the world of work and family.
Unfortunately not all of those pesky women agree with Grant’s assessment. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova branded the move ‘ridiculous’. She said: ‘Have we ever tried to explain to men how to shave or how to take care of their prostate or whatever? This is absurd.’ Actress Frances Barber meanwhile called the appointment ‘weird’, adding: ‘I don’t know how Scottish women feel about this, but as an English lover of Scotland, I’m fuming.’
The SNP’s efforts to paint themselves as the party of women are all the more egregious given that they opposed Scottish Labour’s efforts last year to introduce free tampons. When Labour MSP Monica Lennon put the case to the Scottish Government last year, Communities Cabinet Secretary Aileen Campbell slapped her down.
She suggested that ‘Such a provision could be to prevent people outside Scotland seeking access to the products or people accessing them to sell at a discounted rate outside Scotland.’ A year on and such concerns about English hordes mounting Hadrian’s Wall to loot free Tampax appear to have vanished. Instead the policy is now being trumpeted by the SNP as proof they are ‘Delivering for Scotland’.
Talk about a bloody cheek.
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