Latest news with #ScottishPolitics
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Row between Farage and Sarwar rages on as Reform UK leader visits Scotland
A furious row between Nigel Farage and Anas Sarwar stepped up, with the Reform chief using a rare visit to Scotland to accuse his Labour rival of 'sectarian politics'. Mr Farage doubled down on his attacks against the Scottish Labour leader, which come in the wake of a Reform UK online ad that has already been branded 'racist' by opponents. Mr Sarwar meanwhile insisted Mr Farage was the 'chief clown', adding that having 'finally found his way to Scotland' the Reform leader had shown 'just how totally out of touch with our country he is'. The pair clashed after Mr Farage gave a press conference in Aberdeen, insisting his party has made 'remarkable strides in Scotland over the past year'. Councillor Duncan Massey, who had previously been a Tory member of Aberdeen City Council, was unveiled as a latest defector to Reform, along with former Labour councillor Jamie McGuire. Speaking as noisy protesters gathered outside the press conference, the Reform UK leader said if the polls are to be believed 'we are beginning to eclipse Labour to be the second most popular party in Scottish politics'. Mr Farage meanwhile predicted his party would come at least third in Thursday's Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, adding that if it wins it would be the 'biggest earthquake Scottish politics has ever seen'. Much of the campaign for that Holyrood by-election has been dominated by a row over an online Reform advert, which claims that Mr Sarwar will 'prioritise' the Pakistani community in Scotland. Speaking on Monday, Mr Farage alleged that the Scottish Labour leader has a 'record of obsession' on the issue of race – citing a speech he gave in Holyrood in 2020 as evidence of this. Meanwhile, he insisted Reform UK 'don't talk about race at all'. Mr Farage pointed out his party's chairman, Zia Yusuf, was someone who 'is Scottish-born, but comes from parents who come from the Indian subcontinent'. The Reform leader continued: 'We think everybody should be treated equally. We object, very strongly, to the segmentation of people into different types.' Adding that the Scottish Labour leader has a 'record of obsession on this issue', he referenced a speech Mr Sarwar gave in 2020 where he noted that key figures across Scotland, from the judiciary, to council chief executives to head teachers, were all white. Mr Farage said: 'I think that speech he gave was sectarian in its very nature – 'we are the south Asian community, we are going to take over the country and take over the world'. 'We believe what he said was a form of sectarian politics and we don't like it one little bit.' Mr Sarwar hit back, saying: 'Today, the chief clown Nigel Farage finally found his way to Scotland and showed just how totally out of touch with our country he is. 'Nigel Farage turned up, admitted he can't win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, and pledged to cut funding for Scotland's NHS and public services. 'Nigel Farage is a dangerous clown and the people of Scotland see right through him.' Mr Farage also hit out at First Minister John Swinney, telling the Scottish Sun that the SNP leader – who has made a number of attacks against Reform – was 'anti-English'. With the First Minister having branded Mr Farage and his party 'poisonous', the Reform leader said such 'deeply provocative' comments showed a 'sort of quite unpleasant anti-Englishness'. Mr Swinney however told the PA news agency: 'I've always taken forward my politics on the basis of inclusion, of welcoming people, of working with others – that's what I'm about. 'Nigel Farage is the opposite of that. 'Nigel Farage stokes division, he seeks to put people against each other and we're bringing people together in Scotland to create the best future for our country.' The row continued as Mr Farage also used his press conference to again speak out against the 'madness' of the net zero policies being pursued by the governments at Holyrood and Westminster. He told reporters these had left the oil and gas industry, which is centred in Aberdeen, 'in serious decline'. He insisted: 'Even the most ardent proponent of net zero has to accept the world will still be using oil and gas up until 2050 and beyond. 'And yet we have decided to sacrifice this industry as a consensus around net zero has emerged.' As a result of this, he said parts of Scotland, England and Wales were 'literally deindustrialising before our very eyes'. Mr Farage said: 'The madness of this is almost completely and utterly beyond belief.'
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Hamilton by-election campaign heats up as Farage visits Scotland
Scotland's main political parties have rounded on Nigel Farage as the Reform UK leader came north to campaign in a crucial visited Scotland for the first time in the campaign where he said his party is a "fresh positive voice" between the Labour and SNP "seesaw" in Labour, the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives hit out at Farage and the Reform campaign, urging voters not to back the party in Thursday's vote in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.A by-election is being held in the constituency following the death of the SNP MSP Christina McKelvie. Farage attended a press conference in Aberdeen, before visiting Hamilton and said Reform had made "remarkable strides" in Scotland over the last year and was "beginning to eclipse Labour".He announced two more councillors have defected to join Reform, and said this was because the party was "attracting some very, very good fresh talent".Councillor Duncan Massey, who had previously been a Conservative member of Aberdeen City Council, was unveiled as a latest defector alongside Jamie McGuire, who had sat for Labour on Renfrewshire Council. Farage also refused to apologise for comments about the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which some of his political opponents had described as said his party "don't talk about race at all" and "think everyone should be treated equally".He pointed to speech from Sarwar in 2022 at an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence, which featured in a recent Reform its video, Reform added text claiming that Sarwar wanted to "prioritise the Pakistani community" - despite the Glasgow MSP not saying that in any of the Labour and First Minister John Swinney have described the online video as "blatantly racist".Farage claimed Sarwar's speech was "sectarian in its very nature" and said it suggested that the South Asian community wanted to "take over the country and take over the world".Later, Farage did not attend a planned media event in Hamilton, after a number of demonstrators showed up at the Reform UK office in the town. Farage's visit became a talking point for the other parties out on the campaign urged voters to "reject the poison of Reform and tell the SNP they have failed Scotland and start that pathway to a change of government here in Scotland".He added: "The Reform circus is going to come into town with Nigel Farage as the chief clown and then the Reform circus is going to move away. "But it's not going to improve people's lives here in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. "This is a man who doesn't care about Scotland, who doesn't understand Scotland, but wants to divide us - so we're going to utterly reject him and his politics."He said that people in Scotland felt like the economy, public services and the NHS did not work for them, adding: "We need a government that actually serves and improves the lives of people here in Scotland."Sarwar joined candidate Davy Russell as they unveiled a campaign van in Larkhall. First Minister John Swinney joined candidate Katy Loudon at a soft play area in Hamilton, where he told BBC Scotland News Farage "represents the opposite of almost everything I believe to be important in society today". He added: "Nigel Farage gave us Brexit which has made us all poorer, he now wants to privatise the NHS and he wants to undermine the Scottish Parliament. "So at this by-election on Thursday, people in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse have got to realise that if they want to stop Farage, they've got to vote for the SNP who are the only alternative to Farage that can win."Scottish Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden called Aberdeenshire councillor Massey's defection "really disappointing".However, he admitted it would be "difficult" for the Conservatives to win in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, adding: "But we're still out trying to talk to as many voters as possible to get as many votes as possible and get that positive message across."The Scottish Conservative leader, Russell Findlay, said Reform UK's plans to rethink the Barnett formula would be like taking a "wrecking ball to Scotland's public services". 'Trumpian' behaviour The Scottish Green party hit out at Reform's plan to grant new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, support fracking, and open new coal mines if in power. The party's Patrick Harvie accused Reform of "courting donations" from oil and gas companies. "It's no surprise that Farage and his cronies are desperate to do everything they can to shore up the astronomical profits of global corporate interests by promising a carte blanche to fossil fuel giants in the North Sea and across Scotland," he Scottish Liberal Democrats accused Farage of "Trumpian" attempts to control the comments came after he accused journalists from The Herald of working with demonstrators to derail a press conference in Aberdeen, a claim the newspapers Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP, said: "This attack on the media represents a descent into properly Trumpian behaviour from the Reform leader."Before you know it, he'll be banging on about building a wall and chanting "lock her up" to cover for his complete lack of actual solutions," she said."There are 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." Who is standing in the by-election? There are a total of 10 candidates contesting this by-election on Thursday 5 are:Collette Bradley - Scottish Socialist PartyAndy Brady - Scottish Family PartyRoss Lambie - Reform UKKaty Loudon - SNPJanice Mackay - UK Independence PartyAnn McGuinness - Scottish Green PartyAisha Mir - Scottish Liberal DemocratsRichard Nelson - Scottish ConservativeDavy Russell - Scottish LabourMarc Wilkinson - Independent
Sky News
13 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News
Will Scotland ride the 'Farage tsunami' at the Hamilton by-election like England has with Reform?
Nigel Farage has a track record of noisy, messy campaign visits to Scotland. After being famously hounded out of an Edinburgh pub in 2013, on Monday came the Aberdeen media conference in a fish restaurant to the soundtrack of "Farage is a racist" chants outside from the small, but vocal crowd. "We've not had this (protests) for a long time," Mr Farage tells me while the cameras are setting up for our Sky News interview. Mr Farage came to northeast Scotland with a spring in his step as Reform UK surges in the Scottish polls. One even suggests his party could become the official opposition to the SNP in Holyrood in 2026. A humiliating prospect for Labour and the Conservatives. The Reform leader has notably pivoted his attacks on the "Scottish establishment" in recent weeks as a by-election looms in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. SNP chief John Swinney is churning out almost daily press releases about Mr Farage claiming he "doesn't care about Scotland", meanwhile Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar branded the Reform boss a "pathetic little man". This week's by-election will be a barometer of where Reform support potentially sits more nationally. The SNP and Labour are privately nervous. But Scotland, it seems, is not riding the same "Farage tsunami" as England. He alleges he is capitalising on the disenfranchisement in Scottish politics at the moment, yet the polls suggest the SNP could still storm to power again next year and enter their third decade in power. Mr Sarwar and Mr Farage have been at loggerheads in a bitter war of words over an old speech the Scottish Labour leader gave, where he talked about minority communities. There is no doubt that Reform has taken that footage out of context as part of a political game. 10:53 Mr Farage is playing down Reform's chances, saying his party is a "teenager that hasn't reached maturity yet". Is that code for dodging scrutiny on policy detail? Sir Keir Starmer would be humiliated by defeat from a "teenager" this week in Scotland. It would have been inconceivable Mr Farage would have been taking up so much political bandwidth even a year ago in Scotland given the country notoriously rejected his politics for more than a decade. It is a remarkable charge in narrative, but Reform is yet to win any major seat north of the border.
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Farage claims Scottish Labour councillor has defected to Reform
Nigel Farage has claimed a Scottish Labour councillor has defected to Reform UK on the eve of a pivotal Holyrood byelection, as he defended a controversial advert attacking Anas Sarwar that has prompted accusations of racism. The Reform leader said he would disclose the councillor's identity when he campaigned in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection later on Monday, with opinion polls suggesting Reform and Labour are neck-and-neck in Scotland, albeit behind the Scottish National party. Farage did not name the councillor but Scottish Labour sources were sceptical, and speculated whether it could be someone who had already quit the party to sit as an independent. Speaking as he unveiled another Scottish Conservative defector to Reform in Aberdeen – a local councillor called Duncan Massey – Farage played down the prospects of Reform delivering a shock win in Hamilton, despite its surge in England. 'We just don't know,' he said, at a press conference at the Silver Darling fish restaurant overlooking the mouth to Aberdeen harbour. 'Are we confident of coming third? Yes. Are we confident of coming second? Well, I don't know. If we do, it'll be a very nice surprise. 'Do I realistically think we can win? Well, if we do, then that will be the biggest earthquake Scottish politics has probably ever seen. You never know. On a low turnout election with a disenchanted electorate, I guess it's not impossible, but I think it's improbable.' Farage said he was buoyant about Reform's chances in Scotland. The latest opinion poll, by Norstat for the Sunday Times, has put his party one percentage point behind Scottish Labour in a Holyrood vote, at 18% and 19% respectively. Massey is the 13th councillor in Scotland, out of a total of 1,226, to have defected to Reform. The party has yet to win a single council or parliamentary seat in Scotland, but did come second ahead of Labour in a recent council byelection. Farage said he was justified in calling Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, 'sectarian' after Reform circulated a video of Sarwar praising the successes of Pakistanis in public life. With anti-Reform protesters loudly chanting outside, Farage claimed Sarwar meant south Asians wanted to 'take over the world', but admitted under questioning that Sarwar's speech was to commemorate Pakistan independence day. Sarwar, who was campaigning in Hamilton on Monday morning, said Farage's remarks were 'pathetic, poisonous and obviously deliberate misinformation'. Farage's focus on race was doing a disservice to voters he said, who 'should be hearing a debate about how they get investment in their town centres, how we improve their NHS facilities, how we give skills and opportunities to young people'. Farage was with his deputy leader, Richard Tice, to call for Westminster to drop the windfall levies and steeply cut taxes on North Sea oil and gas, and to drop the levies on household energy bills. Tice claimed that with the UK's North Sea reserves contributing only 1% of global emissions, limiting drilling and heavily taxing the sector was the 'greatest act of financial self-harm ever imposed on this nation'. Farage said the concept of net zero was misleading, since growing imports into the UK meant the country was off-shoring its carbon emissions. Instead, the UK ought to be mining Cumbrian coal to keep steel mills open, rather than importing it. He was asked three times by the Guardian whether it was Reform policy that all the world's oil, gas and coal reserves should be exploited, given he believed all the UK's fossil fuels should be burned, but refused to give a direct answer. 'You know, mankind this year is going to burn 8bn tonnes of coal,' he said. 'I share with you reservations about what this is doing to the atmosphere … But does it make sense to commit economic hara-kiri in this country, whilst this is happening across the rest of the world? No, better to refine in this country. Better to produce chemicals in this country. Better to manufacture cement.' Pressed by the BBC on whether extracting all the UK's North Sea oil and gas reserves would cut energy prices, he acknowledged they were traded globally. It would increase jobs and wealth for those firms involved, he said.
The Independent
17 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Farage ‘doesn't care about Scotland', Swinney says in by-election race
Nigel Farage 'doesn't care about Scotland', Scotland's first minister John Swinney has said, as the Reform UK leader heads north of the border in the final days of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election campaign. The SNP and Labour are considered frontrunners in the by-election, triggered by Christina McKelvie's departure, but Reform has entered the mix ahead of the vote. SNP First Minister John Swinney has accused Nigel Farage of not caring about Scotland and bringing "racism and hatred" to the South Lanarkshire race, warning of the threat posed by Reform UK to Scottish values. Swinney promoted his government's achievements, such as free prescriptions and tuition, while criticising Labour and highlighting the SNP's commitment to Scotland's future. Stephen Flynn, SNP Westminster leader, said Farage is a danger to Scotland's energy and economic future, while Reform UK defended its pro-oil extraction stance, criticising the SNP's net-zero policies for hindering Scotland's economic potential.
