Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP Drew Hendry joins group set up by Advertising Standards Authority to fight rip-off delivery fees
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HIGHLAND MP Drew Hendry is aiming to cut the £32 million Scots pay each year in delivery surcharges amid continued fury that companies advertise free delivery to mainland UK but exclude parts of the north.
The member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey has accepted an invitation to join a new parliamentary network group set-up by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to step-up the pressure on rip-off delivery charges.
The independent advertising regulator will look at a range of issues including misleading delivery advertising, online harms and public health.
Mr Hendry hopes by joining the new group he can build on the work of his SNP colleague MSP Richard Lochhead.
“I am delighted that the Advertising Standards Authority has recognised the issue of misleading delivery advertisements and my campaign to put an end to these unfair practices,” he said.
“I have been calling on the UK government to right this wrong for a long time and even took a People’s Delivery Guarantee Bill to parliament highlighting the impact of this false advertising on Highland shoppers.
“My colleague Richard Lochhead MSP has also been relentless on the issue, and his dossier of evidence on rip-off charges led to ASA taking action on several retailers.
“For too long, companies have got away with making false claims about ‘free delivery’ or ‘delivery to mainland UK’ only for consumers in the north of Scotland to be faced with delivery surcharges or, even worse, no delivery option at all.”
Mr Lochhead welcomed the appointment: “He has consistently raised this issue in the House of Commons since he was first elected in 2015 and has never let up on putting pressure on the UK government to act to end rip-off surcharges, which cost households across Scotland £32 million each year.”
