A SENIOR Scottish National Party MP who has campaigned against social deprivation built a buy-to-let property portfolio by buying homes at knockdown prices from families struggling to pay their mortgages, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Michelle Thomson, the SNP’s frontbench business spokeswoman, and her husband Peter Thomson, a private school music teacher, were accused last week of “taking advantage” of vulnerable families. The couple say they have always behaved according to the highest ethical standards.

The Sunday Times has spoken to families who have sold their properties in deals involving the Thomsons. In some cases they claim the purchase prices recorded in the public records are several thousands of pounds higher than the amount they say they were paid for the properties.

One mortgage