I won’t work with Reform but won’t turn down good ideas, says Sarwar

Scottish Labour will not work with Reform UK in the next parliament, the party’s leader has said, but he added they will not turn their back on “good ideas”.

The Nigel Farage-led party has been surging in the polls in recent months ahead of next year’s Holyrood election, with a survey on Sunday suggesting it could send multiple MSPs to the Scottish Parliament.

But Reform could struggle to find bedfellows in Holyrood, with First Minister John Swinney saying he would never include the party in a Scottish budget and Labour leader Anas Sarwar telling journalists he would not work with them on an official basis.

But Mr Sarwar went on to say he would not turn his back on good ideas from anyone, regardless of party – including joking that one such good idea would be to elect him as First Minister.

“We will not work with a political party like Reform,” he said.

“But let me just be really clear, and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s selected to Parliament.

“If somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of Parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless where it comes from, because that is the the essence and nature of devolution, the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed.”

While adding that he would work “flat out” to win next year and be the next First Minister, when it was put to him one such “good idea” would be for Reform MSPs to back his push for Bute House, the Labour leader joked: “I will certainly be arguing with the country that being First Minister and electing a Scottish Labour government is definitely a good idea.”

Pushed on whether he would take Reform votes to secure power, Mr Sarwar said he would not “get into the mathematics” of next year’s vote.

Despite repeated pressing by journalists at an event in Edinburgh on Tuesday on what he meant by not pledging to work with Reform, the Scottish Labour leader said only that he would rule out coalitions and agreements with other parties.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said last year the party would back Mr Sarwar to be First Minister rather than John Swinney.

Mr Sarwar said that both the SNP and Reform represent the “politics of hopelessness”, as he expressed his confidence of winning as the election draws closer.

“We are 15 months out from the election, I think people are thinking about their current circumstances,” he said.

“We all think about politics every single day, the reality is most people don’t think about politics every day.”

The Scottish Labour leader said he was “confident” his party could win back voters if he is able to “demonstrate the alternative” they offer.

Before last year’s general election, Labour were flying high in the polls, surging past the SNP which had been dogged by a police investigation into its finances and on its third leader in just over a year.

But early decisions in the life of the UK Labour Government, including the cut to the winter fuel payment and the decision not to compensate Waspi women, has seen support for the party “implode” north of the border, according to polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice.

Asked if he thought Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had been a success in the role, Mr Sarwar said: “Yes.”

He added: “Sometimes an incoming government has to deal with a collapse in the public finances, sometimes they’ve had to deal with the collapse of our public services and sometimes they’ve had to come in when there’s a flatlining economy.

“The reality is (Chancellor) Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer were elected with all three happening at the exact same time.”

A spokesman for Reform UK said: “Anas Sarwar’s comments today reflect the reality the Holyrood bubble is facing ahead of 2026.

“Reform UK will have MSPs elected next year and the public will have sent them there with a clear mandate – to implement fundamental change.

“Any political party who decides to ignore Reform MSPs are anti-democratic and going against the clear will of the Scottish public.

“We want to see the back of this rotten SNP Government as much as anyone but, for any deals to happen, Sarwar must be ready to cut taxes for working families, support the oil and gas sector, abandon woke policies and back business to create jobs and opportunities in Scotland.”

While SNP MSP Stuart McMillan said: “People across Scotland will rightly be alarmed that Anas Sarwar is so desperate for power that he’s willing to leave the door open to Nigel Farage.

“This is another own-goal by an increasingly desperate Anas Sarwar.

“Farage’s values are a threat to our economy and most vulnerable in our society, and it’s crucial we fight their toxic agenda rather than accepting it.

“Mr Sarwar should now tell us what ‘good ideas’ he thinks Nigel Farage has for Scotland.”