Anas Sarwar blasts 'toxic little man' Nigel Farage and says Reform cannot win Hamilton by-election
EXCLUSIVE: The Scottish Labour leader accused Nigel Farage of being a "poisonous, pathetic and toxic little man", as well as a 'coward' and 'charlatan'.
Anas Sarwar has blasted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as a 'toxic little man' as he backed Labour to win a bitter Holyrood by-election.
The Scottish Labour leader rejected claims Reform can win Thursday's crunch vote and laid into Farage as a 'coward' and 'charlatan'.
Voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse will elect their new MSP on June 5th after one of the ugliest by-elections in decades.
The SNP and Labour were believed to be locked in a two horse race early on, but anti-immigration Reform are also in the hunt.
Farage 's party was accused of taking the contest into the gutter over an online advert which claimed Sarwar would prioritise Pakistani communities.
SNP leader John Swinney then said the by-election is now a 'straight contest' between his party and Reform.
He made the claim after Labour by-election Davy Russell was accused of hiding from the media.
In an open letter to voters, Sarwar dismissed the First Minister's framing and rubbished the idea Reform UK are contenders:
'Don't believe the spin and the nonsense of John Swinney - this by-election is a two horse race between Scottish Labour and the SNP. Reform can't win here.
'Throughout this by-election campaign, Reform have tried every dirty trick in the book to drive a wedge to divide this community - but I know you will see right through it.
'They know they can't win - they don't care about beating the SNP, all they care about is getting attention .
' Nigel Farage is a poisonous, pathetic and toxic little man that doesn't understand this community or our country."
On the Reform advert, which Labour and the SNP say is racist, he wrote:
'He and his cronies in Reform have spent thousands of pounds spreading bile, misinformation and racial slurs. Scotland is my home. I was born here. I am raising my children here. And I was proud to work in Scotland's NHS, serving one of our most deprived communities.
'While I am seeking to unite and change our country after 18 years of SNP failure, Nigel Farage wants to divide us. He left the Tories because they weren't Right Wing enough for him - but now that former president of the Margaret Thatcher Appreciation Society claims to be the great champion of working people in Scotland.
'Like every other plastic hard man he shrank from the challenge. He is a charlatan and a coward who knows nothing and cares less about this community.'
In his open letter, Sarwar said the by-election is between Labour and the SNP, not Reform and Swinney's party: 'The truth is Reform can't win in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and they can't win in Scotland. They can't beat the SNP and they have already admitted that they are aiming for third place.'
He concluded: 'The SNP has failed you. Reform can't win in Scotland. And only Scottish Labour's Davy Russell can beat the SNP.'
Swinney claimed the by-election is a two horse race between Reform and the SNP in an open letter of his own to Labour voters this week.
When the Record broke the story over the 'racist' advert earlier in the campaign, Reform had spent around £8,000 on it.
According to Meta, which owns Facebook, the total spend is now between £15,000 and £20,000.
An SNP source said: "This is desperate spin from a Scottish Labour Leader who knows his party's campaign has been dreadful.
"This by-election is a two horse race between the SNP and Reform. On 5th June, only a vote for the SNP will put Scotland first and stop Farage."
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