Kirkcaldy hotel faces ‘distasteful’ comments after Reform UK Malcolm Offord’s visit
The owners of a Kirkcaldy hotel which have hit out at “distasteful” online comments after they hosted a visit from ReformUK’s Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord.
The right-wing politician was in the Lang Toun on Friday where he joined Kirkcaldy candidate Julie MacDougall for a visit to the Links Market.
Before they arrived in the town centre, they held what was billed as private visit to the Strathearn Hotel - but when the venue posted photos of Mr Offord behind the bar, it received significant criticism.
The venue hit back with a strongly worded statement posted to its Facebook page, stating: “When the next political party, or indeed any other group, visits our venue, we shall greet them exactly as we did, with the group yesterday.”
The Strathearn said its post on the visit by ReformUK had “gained more traction” than any other, adding “sadly with a number of distasteful comments.”
Its statement said: “The Strathearn Hotel Kirkcaldy is a hospitality venue, which is open to every individual, group, team or party. Yesterday, we were visited by members of the Reform Party and we welcomed them, as we would any other visiting group or individual. Anyone reading any more in to this, is sadly mistaken.
“We have no affiliation to any political party, we do not fly flags, nor wish to be involved in local, Scottish or UK Government. Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed a huge number of people, to various functions, events and for meals or drinks.
“This has included MSPs, councillors and others, whom are members of various political parties. If individuals or groups request a photograph, in our venue, we are happy to oblige and this adds to the history of the hotel. We offer the same ‘Strathearn warm welcome’, to them all!”
It added: “We use social media, to keep our friends, followers and the public informed and this generates a huge amount of interest.
“Yesterday's post gained more traction than any other post in the recent past, sadly with a number of distasteful comments. When the next political party, or indeed any other group, visits our venue, we shall greet them exactly as we did, with the group yesterday. Hopefully this clears up any confusion and we thank all our loyal customers again, for their tremendous support.” The hotel isn’t the first business to suffer a backlash after a political visit. In Wales, a cafe owner apologised after a visit from the party’s UK leader, Nigel Farage, resulted in it losing thousands of social media followers, There was also a backlash to the leader’s recent visit to Ipswich Town FC’s ground.