Farage accuses Sarwar of sectarianism after defending ‘racist' by-election advert

Telegraph

27-05-2025

Nigel Farage has accused Anas Sarwar of 'sectarianism' after the Scottish Labour leader said that a Reform UK advert was 'dog-whistle racism'.
The by-election campaign advert used clips of a speech by Mr Sarwar in which he said he wanted more people from South Asian backgrounds to stand for election.
The clips were preceded by the caption 'Anas Sarwar has said he will prioritise the Pakistani community', a phrase Mr Sarwar did not use.
On Tuesday, the Reform leader defended the attack ad and said Mr Sarwar's speech had 'introduced sectarianism into Scottish politics'.
But his intervention came shortly after his party's candidate in the Holyrood by-election admitted Mr Sarwar did not use the words 'prioritise the Pakistani community' and the phrase was a 'quote from us'.
Ross Lambie vehemently denied 'misleading people', arguing that prioritising the Pakistani community was what the 'whole speech is about'.
Mr Sarwar was joined by SNP First Minister John Swinney in accusing Reform UK of racism but Mr Farage doubled down on his party's claims at a keynote speech in London.
He played the advert to the audience and insisted that all his party had done was to 'put out the exact words spoken by him [Sarwar] without any comment'.
Mr Farage argued that the attacks from Labour and the SNP demonstrated that 'maybe we're getting something right' and that 'we are winning' the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, which is being held on June 5.
Support for Reform is said to be strong on the doorstep, with Labour facing the threat of being pushed into third place, in a major political humiliation. Mr Farage is due to visit the campaign trail next week.
The advert has been running on Facebook and Instagram since May 12 and cost Reform £15,000. It is estimated to have been viewed around 600,000 times.
It featured video clips of a speech Mr Sarwar delivered in 2022 at an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence.
In one section, he said: 'Pakistanis need represented in every mainstream political party in Scotland and across the UK'.
Another excerpt featured Mr Sarwar stating that 'the days where South Asian communities get to lead political parties and get to lead countries is upon us'. However, he did not directly state he would prioritise the Pakistani community.
Mr Sarwar was born in Glasgow to Pakistani Muslim parents and his father, Mohammad Sarwar, became the UK's first Muslim MP when he was elected to represent Glasgow Govan in 1997. He was later the governor of Punjab in Pakistan.
After playing the advert at the Reform event, Mr Farage said: 'So it was Anas Sarwar that introduced sectarianism into Scottish politics. Making it perfectly clear his priority was to a certain section of the community.
'All we've done, all we've done is to put out the exact words spoken by him without any comment, we've said nothing, just that we will represent the people of that constituency.
'And the fact that they, having chosen to go down the sectarian route, choose to throw accusations back at us, says to me that we are winning.'
Threat of libel action
Mr Lambie, who defected from the Tories to Reform in March, accepted that Reform had used the phrase rather than Mr Sarwar but denied this was racist, telling BBC Radio Scotland that Reform was 'advertising Anas Sarwar's own words', adding: 'We're not misleading people at all.'
He threatened Mr Swinney with libel action if the First Minister repeated his accusation that the advert was racist and suggested Mr Sarwar had complained about the advert to 'deflect' attention from Labour's 'car crash' campaign.
Mr Lambie said Reform had highlighted the speech because it demonstrated that the Left wanted to build a 'two-tier society', with people being given preferential treatment if they belonged to a minority group.
The South Lanarkshire councillor said Nigel Farage's party believed that 'people should be in a position of power based on their merit and their contribution to society'. He added that 'we shouldn't be trying to foist various minority groups' into prominent roles.
Mr Sarwar last week accused Reform of 'dog-whistle' racism over the advert, which he said 'seeks to question my identity, question my loyalty and question my belonging in Scotland'.
Mr Swinney this week accused Reform of launching a 'racist attack' on Mr Sarwar and of trying to 'deceive' voters with the advert.
'Scummy tactics'
He also joined Labour in urging social media giant Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, to remove the advert from its platforms.
Aisha Mir, the Liberal Democrat candidate in the by-election said the video was 'scummy tactics.'
Responding to Mr Farage's comments Mr Sarwar said 'This is a blatant attempt from Nigel Farage to try and poison our politics here in Scotland. I have fought against sectarianism all my adult life.
'I was working in Scotland's NHS while Nigel Farage was on the gravy train in Brussels, and now I am trying to change our country while he tries to divide it.
'Nigel Farage is a poisonous man who doesn't understand Scotland, doesn't care about Scotland, and that's why Scotland will reject him.'