Activists take over Holyrood Palace as they stage sit-in protest in royal dining room

Activists from This is Rigged occupied the royal dining room at Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Protesters staged the sit-in as part of its ongoing campaign to slash food prices.

A total of nine demonstrators entered the Palace of Holyroodhouse at around 1.15pm on Monday.

The group clutched Gaelic-written banners with slogans, including “Is treasa tuath na tighearna”.

The banner when translated means “The people are mightier than a lord”, and “change begins in the kitchen, not the boardroom”.

Activists were seen eating food out of Tupperware and drinking tea out of flasks.

The impacted wing of the Palace of Holyroodhouse has been temporarily closed to the public.

This is Rigged is calling on supermarkets to slash prices of baby formula to March 2021 prices.

It is also urging the Scottish Government to fully fund and implement a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland.

Josephine O’Connor, 22, a student based in Glasgow, said: “I’m taking action because I’m really worried about the future.

“As the many crises that we are facing are continuing to worsen, it becomes more apparent that those with power are not coming to help, that profit once again reigns higher than people.

“This is in our hands … we need to speak up and take up space because it is our future.”

The group claimed one-in-four Scots have experienced food insecurity.

It added that 1,000 children per year are being taken to hospital with malnutrition.

Jasmin Robertson, 19, a student and grower from the Highlands, added: “Our food system is something that connects us all, but it has become so fragile in the hands of profiteering corporations.

“It’s time we make space around the table for people, and invest in communities, in a food system that is equal and just, that doesn’t let individuals profit from collective struggle.”