Nigel Farage addressed the biggest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, but declined to speak with the press corps afterwards. In his place, newly defected peer Malcolm Offord was left to responding to queries on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism surrounding Farage.
A High-Profile Defection
Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor during a packed event of about 700 supporters at a hotel conference centre near Falkirk. Offord, who served as a junior minister for Scotland in the previous administration and was until recently treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, stated his plan to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to become a candidate for the party in the upcoming Scottish parliament vote.
Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to welcome Offord to the party. He called the peer’s defection as “a brave and historic act”.
Dodging the Press
The Reform leader spoke to the crowd following a difficult period which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him regarding a report into claimed discriminatory and remarks from his teenage years. But, Farage dodged a planned media briefing post-rally.
Questioned why Farage did not make himself available to address growing claims about his past behaviour, the new recruit responded: “That is a question for him to answer.”
Pressed on if he thought an apology was necessary for his alleged remarks towards Jewish pupils, he stated: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”
Insisting on Fitness
The peer maintained that the leader is “ethically suitable” to be the country's leader and denied he was employing coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, Farage had doubled down on previous comments about pupils in Glasgow who are not native English speakers by asking the rally: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?”
Although the first minister, John Swinney condemned Farage’s original remarks as “discriminatory”, and the Labour leader labeled them “toxic and divisive”, Offord maintained that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that “voters are discussing”.
Growing Confidence
The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who each paid £6 to attend, highlights Reform's increasing self-assurance ahead of the Scottish vote.
Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, the party has gained significant ground in the past year, securing 26% of the vote in a recent parliamentary by-election. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, polling up to 22%.
Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had increased fourfold in the past year to a running total of 12,000, the party chair, David Bull said he believed it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, putting the party in “a powerful situation” in the Scottish Parliament.
Fighting Talk
A Reform councillor, a local representative for the party, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we take on the political establishment”, cautioning that “the next five months will be tough”.
Although the party has yet to produce a distinct policy platform for Scotland, representatives pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.
The leader personally expressed his pleasure at Reform's rise as a significant player in the political scene in Scotland in the last year, admitting to the audience that he was once told he “couldn't fill a small venue”.
Protests Nearby
Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters assembled for what have become regular weekly confrontations outside a local hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.
A group coordinating protests stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. Speaking previously, First Minister John Swinney cautioned that “what the far right do is to assign responsibility … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the root of the poison”.
He also made a clear distinction between those who hold far-right views and people with “legitimate points” about strain on public services or community safety.
