Tuesday February 3rd 2026
Screenshot from Colin Beattie's video after he visited Loanhead Primary School.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Midlothian Council is to write to their local MSP demanding an apology after he posted a video agreeing with children’s views that school meals were ‘substandard’.
Colin Beattie, who is the constituency MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, visited Loanhead Primary School last summer for a question and answer session.
Following his visit he recorded a short video for his social media where he said youngsters had ‘utterly condemned’ the food they are served in the school adding “I support them”.
The video, which was shared nearly 500 times sparked anger from council staff leading to calls for action.
At a meeting of the council’s performance review committee today the council’s chief officer place Derek Oliver confirmed a letter would be sent this week requesting an apology.
In the short video, posted on his Facebook page in September last year Mr Beattie said: “I’ve just done an hour with the pupils in P7 and it has been fantastic. They universally condemned school meals as being substandard. They want steak pie and chips, they want decent pizzas, they want hamburgers and I can only support them in that.
“They also want a new swing, I support them in that too. It was a really good experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it says a lot for the quality of teaching and the enthusiasm of the kids themselves.”
Councillor David Virgo asked for an update on action by the council in response to the comments telling today’s committee: “There was a fair bit of outrage in the council around his comments about school catering and I would like it to die a little death and be confined to the scrap heap.”
Fellow councillor Bryan Pottinger agreed telling the meeting he suspected the video was “electioneering”. He raised concerns that any further delay in issuing the letter would move members into the pre Scottish Parliament elections purdah period making it difficult to comment on a response.
Mr Oliver told councillors: “A letter is to be issued to Mr Beattie. I will have it issued this week to avoid any concerns over purdu period.”
Colin Beattie MSP responded to Midlothian View saying:
“Despite what was said during today’s Performance, Review and Scrutiny Committee, I have already received a letter from Kevin Anderson, Executive Director- Place and I responded in full on 21 November 2025. The points raised by the committee refer to my taking on casework on behalf of a group of Primary 7 pupils.
“I regularly visit primary and secondary schools across the constituency detailing my role as their constituency MSP and how they can be involved in the democratic process.
“My duty as an MSP is to listen to my constituents concerns and pass them to the relevant third party for response and/or action. In this instance, the pupils raised concerns with their school meals, amongst other things. I raised these points on their behalf with Midlothian Council, and the response I received was then shared with the class. The young people have a right to a voice, and I fully support them on this – I used my platform to ensure they were heard. The democratic process is not just for adults, it is for everyone and it is our duty to ensure people are empowered to contribute to decisions that affect their lives. I will always stand up for my constituents, and I fully support their right to be heard.”
To watch Colin Beattie’s video click here.
You can read the letters between Kevin Anderson to Colin Beattie below.
