Don't use my name to sell Highland timeshares, says Iain Duncan Smith

Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith has asked for an apology. Photograph: Getty Images

Duncan Smith spent two weeks holidaying in one of the lodges at the Loch Rannoch Highland Club, (LRHC) in Kinloch Rannoch, near Pitlochry in Perthshire, last Easter, and is believed to have visited since.

With its views to Rannoch Moor, Schiehallion and Tay Forest Park, the 85-lodge timeshare holiday complex, owned and run by its timeshare owners, attracts high-profile visitors and celebrities who value its reputation for exclusivity and privacy.

However, it has now emerged that Duncan Smith is unhappy that his name has been used as part of a marketing promotion without his permission.

He was contacted by an owner alarmed about the breach of confidence after details about Duncan Smith appeared in a newsletter, and a committee member email.

The owner also said distributing such information was a “security risk” for the politician.

“People come here to get away from it all. The last thing we want is our names being publicised. These details go to thousands of timeshare owners across the UK. In Mr Duncan’s Smith’s case it is made worse in that it was blatant false advertising.”

Duncan Smith wrote: “I was surprised to read that my presence at Rannoch had been used as part of a promotional release and more particularly that others were informed that I had enquired about purchasing a week in the club.

“I was not consulted about this and had I been, I would have made it clear also that at no time did I enquire about purchasing a week.

“I am concerned that I seem to have been used unwittingly as part of a marketing promotion without my permission.

“This is compounded by the use of false information concerning my future relationship with the club. However, on the matters directly related to me, I would be grateful for an apology for the use of my name, a retraction of the false information propagated and an undertaking not to use my name as part of any promotion in the future.”

A spokeswoman for Duncan Smith said: “He asked for an apology and assurance that his name wouldn’t be used again incorrectly.”

A LRHC spokeswoman said: “Our general manager was not at the club when Mr Smith stayed here. No-one who works here now at the club knows who he is.”

Two years ago the GMB union investigated claims that some club committee members were bullying staff and “strutting around like pseudo Highland lairds”.