Anas Sarwar has dismissed as “a desperate lie from a desperate man” a claim by Reform UK’s Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, that he offered to do a deal with the right-wing party to keep the Scottish National party out of power.
Offord made the allegation during Tuesday evening’s Channel 4 Scottish leaders’ debate, claiming the Scottish Labour leader approached him at an event in December last year and suggested they “work together to remove the SNP”. A Reform UK candidate in Glasgow, Thomas Kerr, later said Sarwar had made similar overtures to him months earlier.
The SNP immediately seized on the exchange, posting it on social media as evidence of Scottish Labour seeking “a grubby deal”. First Minister John Swinney has alleged that, if his party wins the Holyrood election on 7 May but falls short of an overall majority, Scottish Labour would seek Reform UK support. With Reform expected to win up to 10 seats, Offord could potentially hold the balance of power, though senior Labour and Liberal Democrat sources insist they would never court Reform votes.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Sarwar said there had been “no stitch-ups, no deals, no backroom chats, no back-channel contact with Reform”. He also pointed to racist abuse he has faced, including a Reform candidate who wanted to deport all Muslims, which would include his own children, and said the claim was “desperation from a party whose campaign has completely flunked”.
Offord has stood by his account, describing a meeting in Paisley town hall at the start of the campaign. He said Sarwar approached him without staff present and told him: “Interesting move to Reform. I always thought you was more of a unionist than a Tory, Malcolm.” He said Sarwar added that they needed to get together to talk about how Reform and Labour could work together “to get rid of the SNP”.
Reform has had a faltering start to its Holyrood campaign, with five candidates having stepped down or been suspended. Offord has dismissed questions about historical offensive tweets by candidates, saying it was a “slippery slope” to delve into accounts from 10 years ago.
