Malcolm Offord claims backroom chat with Anas Sarwar to 'work together to get rid of the SNP'
Reform UK’s leader in Scotland has claimed Anas Sarwar approached him about working together to remove the SNP from power
Anas Sarwar has angrily denied claims by Reform that he approached Nigel Farage’s man in Scotland to “work together to get rid of the Nats” as he accused Malcolm Offord of seeking to deport his children.
The Scottish Labour leader branded the allegation by Mr Offord, made in a heated Channel 4 election debate in Glasgow, an “absolute lie” amid claims, first reported by The Scotsman, that Mr Sarwar hopes Reform will lend him support to oust the SNP from power.
The debate also forced Mr Offord to deny that Mr Sarwar’s children could be deported after a Reform candidate vying for Holyrood previously called for British Muslims to be removed from the UK.
Speaking during the debate, Mr Offord, after being branded a racist by Mr Sarwar, claimed that the Scottish Labour leader’s attack “does not square with you coming bouncing up to me at the start of this campaign and basically saying we need to work together - Reform and Labour - to remove the SNP”.
Asked by The Scotsman about his apparent exchange with Mr Sarwar about any deal, Mr Offord insisted: “I’m not making it up.”
He added: “He’s called me a racist now on TV three times. I’m not going to let it go the third time. I joined Reform on December 6 and I went on Question Time on December 11 at Paisley Town hall.
“I walked into that green room and Anas, very friendly, came bouncing over and said to me, you guys are going to do very well in the election, you are going to win lots of seats. We need to talk about how we work together to get rid of the Nats.”
Mr Offord argued that “we are the new kids on the block, we are the challenger party here”.
He said: “We are winning the arguments. In all the manifestos, they are just copying our rhetoric.
“We certainly can’t work with somebody who says one thing behind your back and another thing on national TV.”
Reform candidate Thomas Kerr also claimed Mr Sarwar had spoken to him last November about how the two parties could “work together to get rid of the SNP”.
Mr Sarwar told The Scotsman that Mr Offord’s claims of a backroom conversation were “utter nonsense” and “an absolute lie”.
He added: “This is desperation from a party whose campaign has completely flunked.
“The idea that there’s any kind of backchannel chat or deals is for the birds.
“I want Reform to get absolutely smashed in this election. I want them to be sent packing.”
SNP leader John Swinney told The Scotsman that the apparent conversation between Mr Offord and Mr Sarwar was proof that Labour and Reform would tie up a deal to oust him from power.
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Mr Swinney warned that there was “a massive question to be answered by the Labour leader about what on earth has been going on”.
He added: “This is central to the warnings I’ve been giving that there is a pathway which is being talked about by the Labour party, which would allow Reform into government or to influence government.
“I’m making it clear the only way to lock them out is to vote SNP.”
During the Channel 4 debate, the Scottish Labour leader told Mr Offord that one of his party’s candidates wants to deport his children.
He said: “Malcolm, one of your candidates wants my children deported. Where do you want us to go?”
Mr Sarwar was referring to Reform’s candidate for Galloway and West Dumfries, Senga Beresford, who posted online messages calling for the deportation of British Muslims.
In a post in August 2024, she said: “In the UK Muslims are demanding that sharia law is implemented. I demand that we deport the lot of them.”
In response, Mr Offord was forced to stress that “there is no prospect of your children and family being deported”.
Speaking after the debate, Mr Sarwar said: “If you look at what Senga Beresford has said, she is saying she wants all Muslims deported. My children were born in this country, they are Muslim. That is who she is talking about.
“That’s the seriousness of who these people are and what they’re advocating.”
Earlier, on the campaign trail, Mr Swinney denied accusations of “crankery” after claiming the UK government blocked a £1.5 billion wind turbine factory in the Scottish Highlands for political reasons.
Ministers announced the move just hours after MSPs had completed their final day at Holyrood ahead of the May 7 election, citing security concerns over the Chinese firm behind the bid, Ming Yang.
The First Minister previously called the decision “anti-Scottish” and suggested the project would not have been blocked if it was in England.
The SNP is running Facebook adverts which refer to the move and accuse the Labour government of “sabotaging Scotland”.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar dismissed these claims, and accused Mr Swinney of peddling a “pretty strange conspiracy theory”.
“I can give you a cast-iron guarantee, I will not do crankery or conspiracy theory as first minister,” he said.
“I will always accept national security advice, because our first duty as a government would be to protect the great citizens of this country.”
Asked if it was strange that Chinese investment was allowed in other UK projects, Mr Sarwar said: “All these projects will have national security briefings.
“A national security briefing was received that said there was a national security risk for investment.
“Are we honestly saying that a first minister would reject national security advice? I can tell you quite categorically, if a national security briefing comes to me, I will not ignore it, because I will put the national interest before political interest.”
He went on to say suggestions the security services may have taken a “deliberate do Scotland down approach” was the “height of conspiracy theory”.
Speaking to journalists at a campaign visit in West Calder, West Lothian, on Tuesday, Mr Swinney said: “The extent of my knowledge about the decision of the UK government to block the Ming Yang development is that they’ve said it is on national security grounds.
“I have no more detailed information than that. I’ve not had a national security briefing that gives me any more [information].”
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