Reform's charm offensive on Nationalists calls its Unionist credentials into question
The question arises because if it is, why is it seeking to recruit overtly nationalist recruits – you know people who have in the past supported, or who continue to back, an independent Scotland – to its ranks of parliamentarians?
In recent days, I was told by a prominent nationalist that they had been on the receiving end of a blatant 'join us' offer from Reform. It was made plain that joining the party's ranks was, given its current strength in the opinion polls, a sure-fire way of winning a seat in the Scottish Parliament elections next May.
My informant was surprised by the approach and rejected the invitation out of hand.
Polls point to SNP continuing in power
It is certainly true that the current polls point to Reform winning as many as 16 seats at Holyrood, six more than the Scottish Tories, which would make it he third biggest party, equal with the Scottish Greens, in the 129-seat assembly.
The SNP is expected to be the biggest party but without an overall majority, which would mean that Reform and the Scottish Greens would be able to decide who would become First Minister. That would be expected to be John Swinney, the current holder of the office, which would take the SNP into its third decade of government in Scotland.
Although Richard Tice, Mr Farage's deputy, is on the record as saying that Reform would block any attempt by the SNP to stage another independence referendum, the Reform leader has already made it plain that there are no circumstances in which he will do a deal with Anas Sarwar, the Labour leader, saying he did not want Mr Sarwar as first minister.
He accepted that this was likely to mean the SNP again forming the Scottish Government but in a newspaper interview he said he was not worried about the SNP, adding: 'Scotland is not going to leave the UK.'
However, his confidence is not shared by the other parties, who claim that Reform's entry into the race is a boost for the SNP.
Farage has eyes on England, claim opponents
According to both Tory and Labour sources, there are already at least five or six pro-independence candidates – those who are known to have voted for independence in the 2014 referendum – standing for Reform in winnable Scottish Parliament seats.
The Conservatives – both north and south of the border – have the word 'Unionist' in their official title, Labour constantly re-states its commitment to oppose any form of a separate Scotland and, traditionally, generally needs Scottish MPs to form a government at Westminster.
But while those two are happy to constantly re-affirm their commitment to the Union, there are many in what Mr Farage calls the 'old parties' who believe that while he's going hell for leather to form a British government, what he really wants is to be at the top of an English government.
As for the Scots, I can almost hear some Reform-ites muttering: 'Well, they can go and do whatever they like.' And, to be fair, I understand there might be several people not necessarily attached to Reform who would be glad to be rid of the 'Scottish problem'.
'We shouldn't really be too surprised by any of this,' claimed one former minister. 'After all he (Farage) is an English nationalist.'
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