Well, well, well. The general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress has found herself at the centre of a rather embarrassing scandal. It transpires that Roz Foyer – who has repeatedly blasted second home ownership – owns a total of, er, five homes, including a flat in Spain as well as a £100,000 plot of land. Talk about hypocrisy, eh?
As revealed by the Mail on Sunday, Foyer – who earns up to six figures a year – lives in a £280,000 four-bedroom home in north-west Glasgow. On top of this, however, she has a £240,000 flat in Edinburgh, a £145,000 terraced house in Glasgow, a £125,000 Spanish flat that she rents out for a staggering £1,000 a week and a £150,000 holiday cottage on the Isle of Jura. More than that, just three months ago Foyer purchased a plot of unused land for £100,000. Alright for some!
The revelations may be a little painful for Foyer, who has publicly slammed second home owners for worsening the housing and cost-of-living crisis. Just under two years ago, the STUC boss called for a 300 per cent council tax premium on second homes, and houses lying empty, in a bid to tackle homelessness. Some months later, she went on the record saying:
Scotland is facing a simultaneous housing and cost-of-living crisis putting an unbearable strain on working people. Second homes and short-term lets can have significantly negative impacts on communities, exacerbating these crises as well as undermining the local economy.
Last February, the trade unionist continued her war on second home owners, highlighting the number of properties lying empty in the Highlands – and pointing out that workers living there faced an ‘acute housing crisis’. The details of Foyer’s housing portfolio come just a month after the Scottish parliament heard how a rise in the number of holiday homes was making life more difficult for the very people the STUC claims to represent: public sector workers across the country. Good heavens…
For her part, the STUC general secretary has defended herself, insisting:
I’m proud that the STUC has pushed for and secured a doubling of council tax on second homes and we remain committed to arguing for a proportional property tax. I can look in the mirror knowing that I’m actively arguing to increase my fair share to society. Fighting every day for fairer taxation and to spread wealth throughout the country brings its critics. As a woman from a working- class background, I won’t be made to feel ashamed for legitimately owning property that my family and I, like of thousands of families across Scotland, have worked tirelessly for.
But that hasn’t stopped Foyer from facing calls to quit her post, with the union leader branded a ‘champagne socialist… [and] a sangria-sipping one too’. Ouch.
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