Nigel Farage set to arrive in Scotland as John Swinney brands Reform leader 'political con man'
EXCLUSIVE: The First Minister claimed the Clacton MP "hates the very idea of Scotland having its own Parliament".
Nigel Farage will visit Scotland today as a poll shows the prospect of him becoming the next prime minister is boosting support for independence.
The Reform UK leader will visit Aberdeen before making a campaign stop in South Lanarkshire ahead of this week's crunch Hamilton by-election.
It comes as John Swinney today warns the Clacton MP "hates the very idea of Scotland having its own Parliament".
The impact of Farage's divisive brand of politics among Scots has already been laid bare by new polling showing 58 per cent would back independence if he replaced Keir Starmer in Downing Street.
A survey by Norstat found support for ending the Union has already risen to 54 per cent - an increase of four points since January - amid a collapse in support for Labour, with just one in five Scots planning to vote for the party.
Farage's short tour of Scotland is the first time he has campaigned north of the Border since 2019.
It comes as the SNP steps up its attacks on Reform, with the First Minister today claiming Farage "does not care about ordinary people".
Writing in his regular column for the Daily Record, Swinney once again insisted only his party could halt the advance of the populist right-wing party.
And he blasted Farage as a political "con man".
in his column, the SNP leader said: "People trusted Labour to sort out the mess the Tories left behind and they have been badly let down.
"That has opened the door for Nigel Farage to step in and try and portray himself as the defender of ordinary people. But let's be clear – Nigel Farage does not care about ordinary people. He does not care about you, or your family or your community.
"Nigel Farage is a multimillionaire and only cares about himself and making his rich pals even richer. And he is trying to exploit people's anger to get them to vote against their own interests.
"We all know that Farage wants to turn people against each other. But let's look at what else he actually believes.
"He would like to see Scotland's budget cut – complaining that too much money is 'going over Hadrian's wall' to pay for free tuition and free prescriptions.
"He hates the very idea of Scotland having its own Parliament. He votes against basic tenets of workers rights – including things we all take for granted, like sick pay.
"And he wants to charge you for using the NHS by moving to an 'insurance-based system' just like America.
"That is not the record of a man of the people – that is the record of a conman. He is after all responsible for Brexit which has made everyone poorer."
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dems leader, said Farage's party had "no actual plan" to improve people's lives.
"Nigel Farage is trying to con Scots," he said. "If you live in Kirkcudbright, Milngavie, Penicuik or Garioch, Nigel Farage has absolutely nothing to offer you. He probably wouldn't even be able pronounce your town.
"He'll breeze in promising the world but with no actual plan for how to make people's lives better.
"I understand that a lot of people are frustrated that they have been let down by the SNP, Conservatives and Labour but it's the Liberal Democrats who are offering real change, not Reform."
A Reform spokesman said: "The SNP's hostile environment to oil and gas has been holding Scotland back for decades.
"From standing idly by whilst the Grangemouth refinery closed, to opposing oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, the SNP have not only failed to realise the countless jobs that could be created in the sector, but also sacrificed hundreds of jobs on the altar of their Net Zero obsession."
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