The Reform UK figurehead addressed the largest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however declined to speak with the press corps following the event. Instead, newly defected member of the House of Lords the former Conservative donor took on the task of responding to queries on allegations of racism and antisemitism surrounding the party leader.
Welcoming a New Recruit
Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor at a packed event of about 700 attendees in a hotel venue in central Scotland. Offord, who served as a Scotland Office minister in the previous administration and was until recently treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, announced his intention to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to stand for Reform UK in the upcoming Scottish parliament vote.
The leader stated he was “delighted” to greet the new member. He described the switch as “a courageous and significant move”.
Dodging the Press
Farage addressed the rally following a difficult period which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him about an investigation into claimed discriminatory and antisemitic behaviour from his teenage years. But, Farage dodged a planned media briefing after Saturday’s event.
Questioned why Farage did not make himself available to answer mounting allegations concerning his history, Offord said: “You’ll need to ask him that question.”
Challenged about whether he believed an apology was necessary for his alleged remarks about Jewish students, Offord said: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”
Defending the Leader
The peer maintained that the leader is “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, the leader had reiterated on previous comments about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who are not native English speakers by asking the rally: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?”
While Scotland's First Minister criticised Farage’s original remarks as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer called them “harmful and polarising”, the defector argued that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that “voters are discussing”.
A Party on the Rise
The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, showcases the party’s growing confidence before next May’s elections.
Although the Scottish National Party remains ahead, the party has gained significant ground recently, securing 26% of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, the party has often relegated it to third in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.
Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had increased fourfold in the past year to a running total of 12,000, a senior party official said he believed it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, putting the party in “a powerful situation” in the Scottish Parliament.
Fighting Talk
A Reform councillor, one of Reform’s 19 Scottish councillors, prompted a roar of approval as he referred to the leader as “Britain’s next prime minister”. He instructed the crowd to “prepare for a fight” as we “challenge the ruling class”, warning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.
Although the party has yet to produce a distinct policy platform for Scotland, speakers from the north-east pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.
Farage himself underlined his delight at the party’s emergence as a force in the political scene in Scotland over the past 12 months, admitting to the audience that in previous years he had been warned he “wouldn’t get 20 people in a room”.
Protests Nearby
Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters were gathering for what have become regular weekly confrontations outside a local hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.
A group coordinating protests said it was galvanised by a criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney warned that the tactic of the far-right is to apportion the blame … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the source of a harmful narrative”.
He also made a clear distinction extremist opinions and people with “valid concerns” about strain on public services or community safety.
