Offord is a ‘chancer’, says Greer in first televised debate of Scottish election

Reform UK’s leader in Scotland is a “chancer”, Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer said in the first televised debate of the Scottish election.

The leaders of Scotland’s main political parties took part in their first TV election debate of the campaign on Sunday.

Leaders of the Scottish National Party, Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Liberal Democrats and Reform UK Scotland were all featured on Debate Night on the BBC.

In a clash over immigration – which the Scottish Parliament does not control – Mr Greer said that Reform Scotland’s leader Malcolm Offord is “an absolute chancer”.

He added: “This is a failed Tory minister who gave the Tory Party £200,000 and then they gave him a seat in the House of Lords and ministerial office – I’m sure that was totally coincidental.

“He was part of that failed Tory government, the former leader of Reform in Wales is currently doing a 10-year jail sentence for taking Russian bribes, they are not the answer to any of the challenges in Scotland.”

Malcolm Offord said he was in favour of immigration for those coming to work, but he did not support those who are “jumping the queues” of public services “to the detriment of local people in our own communities”.

Lord Offord said there is a “basic Scottish principle” of waiting for services, adding: “What they’re seeing right now is people just arriving from nowhere who paid a lot of money to come here illegally with people smugglers, arriving and getting to the front of the queue and putting real pressure on public services.

“I am afraid that is not Scottish and it’s not fair. It’s certainly not racist, but it’s not fair.”

The Scottish Green leader added that “we don’t have enough immigration”.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also criticised Mr Offord, and said he has spent tens of thousands of pounds “questioning my loyalty to my country”.

Mr Sarwar was referencing an ad campaign posted online ahead of a by-election in Hamilton, which said: “Anas Sarwar has said he will prioritise the Pakistani community.”

Mr Sarwar said: “Let’s not fall for the trap that Malcolm Offord wants you to fall into. He wants to use migration not to make our country better, but to play a dog whistle and divide our country.”

He continued: “And let him also own the fact that he spent tens of thousands of pounds questioning my loyalty to my country, Scotland. And when he did that, yes, he attacked me, but he attacked anyone from a migrant background in this country.

“My family came to this country in the 1940s. Scotland has seen his type before and rejected them, and I’ve got no doubt they’ll do the same again.”

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said he was in support of people coming to Scotland who “can contribute to society”.

He added: “If you look at what’s happened for many years now, far too many people have been coming here illegally and the numbers are out of control.”

First Minister John Swinney hit out at both Mr Findlay and Lord Offord, saying: “I think the rhetoric is inflammatory and I disassociate myself from all of it.”

He added: “We’re a country that does not have a big enough working age population, we need to welcome people to come into our workforce – unemployment is very, very low in Scotland at the present moment.”

Speaking after the debate, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander accused the First Minister of “arrogance” after he told Mr Sarwar he would “be here for a lot longer, Anas, when I defeat you on May 7”.

“We saw in John Swinney a complacent and edgy and arrogant performance,” he said.

“There was one politician who was head and shoulders above the others this evening and that was Anas Sarwar.

“Truthfully, we needed a win this evening and we got a win this evening.”

But SNP campaign manager Angus Robertson rejected assertions the First Minister was taking voters for granted.

“We go into every election campaign asking for the support of the public and, as we know now because of repeated polling, the SNP is in a very strong position,” he said.

“But we’re trying to win a majority in this election campaign, so we still have work to do.”

Labour’s attacks, he said, were a reflection of the desperation of the Labour Party.