Anas Sarwar challenges Nigel Farage to one-on-one debate amid row over ‘racist' attack advert
Mr Sarwar said he would take Mr Farage on 'any time, any place'
ROW RAMPS UP Anas Sarwar challenges Nigel Farage to one-on-one debate amid row over 'racist' attack advert
ANAS Sarwar challenged Nigel Farage to debate him - and branded the Reform UK leader 'pathetic'.
The Scottish Labour supremo threw down the gauntlet in the wake of a Reform attack advert against him that has been described as 'blatantly racist'.
Advertisement
2
Mr Sarwar said he would take Mr Farage on 'any time, any place'
Credit: Les Gallagher
2
Mr Farage posted another attack on X focusing on a speech by Sarwar in 2020
Credit: Alamy
Campaigning in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, Mr Sarwar said he would take Mr Farage on 'any time, any place' there.
And after throwing 'stones' at an indoor curling photoshoot, he hit out: 'This is Nigel Farage, a pathetic, poisonous little man who wants to use divisive rhetoric to spread fear and division for his own political gain.
'This is a man who has got no place in Scottish politics and the people of Scotland, by a vast majority, will utterly reject his politics right across the political spectrum.
'The big difference is, I want to change Scotland, he wants to divide it.'
Advertisement
It comes after a paid-for Reform post on Facebook shows a video of Mr Sarwar urging more people from Pakistani and South Asian backgrounds to get involved in politics.
The clip states: 'Anas Sarwar has said he will prioritise the Pakistani community. Only Reform UK will prioritise the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.'
Mr Farage posted another attack on X focusing on a speech by Sarwar in 2020 highlighting the lack of diversity in senior roles in Scotland.
He says in it: 'Anas Sarwar is the one obsessed about race.'
Advertisement
Campaign group Scotland in Union also blasted Mr Farage and urged voters to back Labour at the ballot box on June 5.
Its chair Alastair Cameron said: 'Nigel Farage can't be trusted to stand against Scottish nationalism.
Farage goads 'terrified' Starmer & says Tories are 'finished'
'We need politicians who will work in Scotland's interests. Farage's latest statements suggest that the only interests he prioritises are his own.'
Mr Farage is expected to visit the constituency on Monday before travelling to Aberdeen in his first campaigning visit to Scotland for a decade.
Advertisement
A spokesman for Mr Sarwar said: 'Anas Sarwar challenged Nigel Farage to go head to head — we have heard nothing since. While Nigel Farage hides making desperate videos in his basement, Anas is taking his message of hope and unity to the country.'
Reform were contacted for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
KEMI BADENOCH: This country deserves a leader who doesn't treat economics like showbiz
Labour promised voters 'change' – but still don't know how they'll pay for it. Now Nigel Farage is trying the same trick. In their first ten months, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have hiked taxes on jobs, farms and family businesses, and snatched winter fuel support from vulnerable pensioners. All this despite promising not to raise taxes on working people. And guess what? It's not working. Every Labour government has left unemployment higher than when it took office. Sure enough, unemployment is up 10 per cent since last July and inflation is steadily rising. Starmer made big promises that he couldn't deliver, now we're all paying the price. This week, Reform's leader is pledging tax breaks and welfare giveaways like it's Christmas, but his sums aren't adding up. Jeremy Corbyn 's 'magic money tree' is back, and this time it has a Reform UK sticker on it. It's easy in opposition to promise voters everything they want, and provide only vague ideas as to how to pay for it. Keir Starmer did it and is getting found out. Now Nigel Farage is doing it. I won't. I won't make empty promises to chase popularity. Our most successful leader – Lady Thatcher – once said: 'The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.' After years of economic shocks – Covid, war, inflation – Britain can't afford the fantasy economics of Starmer and Farage. We need a proper plan for economic growth, underpinned by our principles. A plan built around robust private enterprise – because Conservatives understand that it's not government that creates growth, it's business. Conservatives believe in lower taxes – not just as a slogan, but as a moral choice. We get that your money belongs to you, and every penny the Government takes should be justified. We believe that a smaller, smarter state allows individuals and communities to flourish. Working families have been hit hard by the cost of living. We risk making the current environment of low-pay and precarious work permanent, unless we find a sustainable way to allow private enterprise and jobs to flourish. People who have put in the hard graft to support their families should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Working from January to June just to pay the Government is not an acceptable situation. Conservatives reject the mindset that taking money from a population and giving it back to them is generous, while letting them keep it in the first place is selfish. With an ageing population, the tax burden is just going to keep increasing. Only by taking some difficult decisions, while making the case for why lower taxes and less spending are necessary, can we hope to live in a Britain where society is bigger, and government smaller. I saw how previous Conservative governments lost sight of these principles and learned a hard lesson about trying to have our cake and eat it. It's why I am also clear that under my leadership, if the Conservatives are to keep taxes low, we must cut waste and end the inherent unfairness where some work ever harder for smaller rewards – to pay for others' benefits. We're now the only major political party prepared to take a serious look at the welfare state. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, and welfare as a safety net rather than as a way of life. This week we have seen Labour and Reform in a race to the bottom to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Apparently, Starmer and Farage now believe in getting taxpayers – many of whom are struggling to raise their own children or choosing not to have them in the first place – to fund unlimited child support for others. That's not fair, it's not sustainable and it's not even compassionate. Welfare traps people, builds dependency and it drives up costs for everyone. While Labour and Reform are content to make promises they can't keep, I won't. The Conservatives are going to be the party of sound money and fiscal responsibility once again. Keir Starmer can't tell you what he stands for. Nigel Farage can't tell you how he'll pay for anything. I can tell you this: I believe in lower taxes, personal responsibility – and a leaner, better-run state. Britain deserves party leaders who don't treat economics like a branch of showbiz, an announcement for a nice headline and forget about the deficit. The Conservatives are now the only party of sound money. It's not an easy position to hold in the age of instant gratification, but it's the right one if we want our children to inherit anything except our debts.
ITV News
5 hours ago
- ITV News
Millionaires should not get subsidy for energy bills, says Treasury minister
'Millionaires' should not get 'subsidy for their energy bills from the Government', a Treasury minister has suggested. Darren Jones has said that winter fuel payments will 'still be targeted to those that need it the most'. Sir Keir said at Prime Minister's questions last week that he wants to restore the payments to more pensioners, following pressure from campaigners, signalling a partial U-turn on one of Labour's first announcements in Government. He claimed that the UK's improving economic prospects could allow for the move at the next fiscal event. The partial U-turn came as ministers are continuing to face calls to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Speaking to Sky News on Thursday evening, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Mr Jones was asked about Reform UK's commitments on both the winter fuel and benefit cap policies. 'All of those things cost money,' Mr Jones said. 'It's right that we set out the detail and how we're going to pay for those in a proper and orderly way.' He added: 'We're sticking to the principle that millionaires shouldn't be getting subsidy for their energy bills from the government, so winter fuel payments will still be targeted to those that need it the most.' Mr Jones also touched on the Government's approach to child poverty, telling the same programme that 'we're a Labour government we want child poverty to be falling in this country, not rising'. 'Of course, we want to help families lift themselves out of poverty.' Last summer, Rachel Reeves announced that the previously universal winter fuel payment would be means-tested. The policy was blamed for the party's collapse in support since last year's general election, and campaigners were challenged about it on the doorsteps during May's local elections. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage confirmed earlier this week that his party would support scrapping the two-child benefit cap and also reverse the winter fuel payment cuts. Sir Keir said he is looking at 'all options' to drive down child poverty when asked if he would like to get rid of the two-child benefit cap on Thursday. Speaking on a visit to the North West, the Prime Minister said: 'There isn't a single bullet, but I'm absolutely determined that we will drive this down, and that's why we'll look at all options, always, of driving down child poverty.' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour and Reform leaders of asking people to fund 'unlimited child support for others' by scrapping the two-child cap.
Powys County Times
5 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Reform now accepting donations in Bitcoin, says Farage
Reform UK are now accepting donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Nigel Farage has announced. The Reform UK leader also said that his party had drawn up a Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill, which they would put into effect if they won the next general election. Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, Mr Farage said: 'As of now, provided you are an eligible UK donor (…) we are the first political party in Britain that can accept donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.' 'Once again, we're being innovative,' he added. On the Reform UK website on Thursday evening, it was possible to make a donation using cryptocurrency. There was also a disclaimer stating that all donations are subject to Electoral Commission rules and that anonymous donations are not permissible. Mr Farage said: 'My message to the British public, my message particularly to young people, is help us to help you bring our country properly into the 21st century. 'Let's recognise that crypto, Bitcoin, digital assets, are here to stay.' Speaking at the American event, Mr Farage pledged that his party would 'launch in Britain a crypto revolution' and make London 'one of the major trading centres of the world'. Announcing the crypto legislation that his party have drawn up, he also said 'we're going to have a Bitcoin digital reserve in the Bank of England'. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have increased in popularity in recent years, with research suggesting around 12% of adults in the UK own or have owned cryptoassets, up from 4% in 2021. Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to regulate cryptoassets in a bid to make the UK a 'world leader'.
