A Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish Parliament has defended his party’s practice of publishing what industry bosses have termed “fake newspapers”.

Alex Cole-Hamilton has backed what he called his party’s “proud history” of using the tactic after his constituents in Edinburgh began receiving copies of the West Edinburgh News Gazette, a pamphlet produced by the Lib Dems in the style of a local press title.

The party has recently come under fire again in England over its repeated use of the ploy, which is frequently employed in the run-up to local or national elections, with a number of regional press bosses criticising the Lib Dems for doing so.

HTFP has highlighted several recent examples of the party’s attempts to mimic local press titles in Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, and Yorkshire.

Now news website Edinburgh Live has covered the issue after one of Mr Cole-Hamilton’s constituents contacted it to complain about the News Gazette being a “misuse of journalistic techniques” and a “prime example of political propaganda”.

The “newspaper,” pictured above, does not contain any obvious party branding on its front page.

In response to the anonymous constituent, Mr Cole-Hamilton told Edinburgh Live: “Liberal Democrats in West Edinburgh have a proud history of delivering this kind of tabloid to the communities we serve for over 30years.

“It’s a great means of getting local news and information to people and is just part of a broad stable of ways we keep in touch all year round.

“While local people go years without hearing from the SNP who only turn up at election times, they often compliment us on the detail and regularity of all our leaflets.”

John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, has joined industry voices in criticising the tactic.

He told Edinburgh Live: “News professionals take a dim view of political parties passing off their propaganda as objective information without any attribution, and at a time when fake news is a real concern, we can do without fake newspapers as well.”