Penny Mordaunt has compared an art installation funded by the Scottish Government to a “hardcore porn movie”.
Creative Scotland awarded £84,555 of public money to the Rein project in January, which recruited actors to participate in “non-simulated” and “hardcore” sex scenes.
Earlier this week, Creative Scotland said it was investigating the decision to award money to the project and following a review made the decision to seek “recovery of funding paid in respect of this award to date”.
Creative Scotland said: “The central role that ‘non-simulated’ (i.e real) sex acts now play in the project, marks a significant change to the nature of the work presented in the original application which was assessed for funding.”
On Thursday during business questions in the House of Commons, Mordaunt told MPs: “The SNP never fails to disappoint.
“Asking a question today about sound administration and morality, or money over morality, in a week when it has been discovered that the Scottish Government has presided over a six-figure sum of Scottish taxpayers’ money being spent on art installation that promises and I quote ‘a magical, erotic journey, through a distinctly Scottish landscape’.
“Otherwise known to the rest of us as a hardcore porn movie.”
The comment came in response to SNP MP Deidre Brock, who said the Conservatives had chosen “money over morality” in the row over alleged comments made by donor Frank Hester.
The businessman, who has gifted £10m to the Conservatives, is alleged to have said MP Diane Abbott makes him “want to hate all black women”.
The Edinburgh North and Leith MP, speaking from the frontbench, said: “[Mordaunt’s] party also distinguished itself once again this week by choosing money over morality with its grubby handling of the racist comments allegedly made about one of our colleagues in this House.
“A debate re-examining how parties are funded is called for at the very least.”
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