Lego asks government to remove Scottish independence images
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Version 0 of 1. It was supposed to be a brick-by brick demolition of the economic case for Scottish independence, but the UK government's attempts hit an unexpected brick wall of their own – toy manufacturer Lego. The company asked the government to remove images of Lego figures used in a press release telling Scottish voters all the ways they could spend the money they would apparently save by voting against independence. The list of "12 things that the £1,400 UK dividend could buy" is illustrated by a colourful assortment of Lego characters. It attracted criticism on Thursday for patronising Scots with suggestions including: "Scoff 280 hot dogs at the Edinburgh Festival". Lego UK said it had not granted permission for the images to be used and that they were used without the company's knowledge. "We have requested that the images are removed due to our neutral political stance. We are a children's toy company and therefore all of our communication is targeted towards children. People all over the world use Lego to depict stories and scenarios – some of it not to our knowledge. We maintain our position as being a politically neutral company." The government press release refers to the dividend announced last week by the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. According to financial analysis from the Treasury, every Scot will be £1,400 a year better off if the country stays within the UK. Suggested ways to spend the cash include: "Hop on the bus between Glasgow and Edinburgh (and back) 127 times", "cover your family's yearly shoe habit for about the next 6 years" and "watch Aberdeen play all season with two mates – with a few pies and Bovrils thrown in for good measure". The government denied it was patronising Scottish voters. Although the government has not removed the images, Lego confirmed that the government had agreed to make clear on the dividend web page that the images were not provided by the company. As of Friday evening, the clarification had yet to appear online. The Scottish National party's Treasury spokesman, Stewart Hosie, said: "It's not surprising Lego want nothing to do with this patronising stunt, and demanded the treasury remove it from their website. The no campaign's bogus arguments against a yes vote are being dismantled brick by brick." The Treasury did not comment. |