Nigel Farage's Reform UK could become 'handmaidens' to another SNP Government, the leader of the Scottish Tories has warned as he urged Scots to stop the 'folly' of an independence referendum.
Findlay's warning at Holyrood election campaign
In his final event of the Holyrood election campaign, Russell Findlay warned that votes for Reform could help John Swinney remain in power and even secure the majority that the SNP leader claims would be a mandate for another vote on Scotland's place in the UK.
He is pushing for voters to back his party in key target constituency and for voters across Scotland to back the Tories on the peach regional list ballot.
At a rally on Edinburgh's Calton Hill, Mr Findlay said: 'John Swinney for the past year has been talking up Reform, ever since the beginning when he staged a taxpayer-funded summit which was basically free PR for Nigel Farage and Reform.
'Right through, all he wants to do is talk up Reform and that is a gift to the SNP.
'Every single Scot who thinks Reform is the answer is only going to help the SNP.
'Nigel Farage and Lord Offord are handmaidens, potentially, to another SNP government, so pro-UK voters across Scotland need to be alert to that reality.
'This is absolutely critical. Forget all the complacency, forget all the people that tell you voting is futile. You can make a critical difference by casting your peach-coloured ballot paper across Scotland for the Scottish Conservatives.'
Campaign backdrop and key messages
The Scottish Tories held their final photocall of the campaign in front of the National Monument of Scotland, which is referred to as 'Scotland's folly' and 'Edinburgh's disgrace' because it was left unfinished.
Mr Findlay said: 'At the very beginning of this campaign, John Swinney stood here at Scotland's folly and anyone who knows anything about the pride we take in being part of the Union, the economic benefit of being part of the Union, knows that breaking up the country would be the ultimate folly, the greatest folly in history.
'John Swinney stood here at the start of the campaign talking about independence because that is all cares about.
'The millionaire actor who was with him (Succession star Brian Cox) has since returned to his multi-million pound home in New York.
'Whereas the Scottish Conservatives are here today to say no to John Swinney, no to another referendum, yes to a parliament that could deliver for the people of Scotland if it wasn't fixated on breaking up the country.'
Mr Findlay has been touring key target constituencies in the final days of the campaign, including across the north east, the south of Scotland, as well as in Perthshire and Eastwood.
He insisted voters still have the chance to defy current polling and deliver a shock defeat to the SNP. He said: 'People shouldn't be fooled by John Swinney into thinking that the process of voting is a fair accompli. Far from it.
'This next 24 hours is absolutely critical and I think there could be a few surprises, and I think John Swinney could be sent homewards to think again.
He insisted the election was 'on a knife edge' and said it would be a 'huge mistake' for people not to vote because 'it makes an SNP majority more likely', and added: 'The thought of wakening up to an SNP government, and most certainly an SNP majority, makes me feel sick to my stomach.'
Findlay's own electoral prospects
Mr Findlay is only standing on the regional list, where he is his party's number one candidate in the west of Scotland.
Some pollsters predict that a victory for former Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw in Eastwood could mean that the Tories get no MSPs on the west of Scotland regional list.
Asked if he is worried about not being elected, Mr Findlay said: 'No. I've been out campaigning with Jackson because I'm confident he can and should win that seat and that I can also be returned.
'I wouldn't be doing that if I was in any way fearful.'
Reform UK response
A Reform UK spokesman said: 'The idea that voting for real change helps the SNP is desperate scaremongering from a dying party.
'The real handmaidens to the SNP are the establishment parties like Russell Findlay's clapped out Conservatives who've failed for decades. Reform UK are now the only party who can oust the SNP.'
