Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has insisted claims from Reform UK that he tried to strike a deal with them to “remove the SNP” are “absolute nonsense” and a “desperate lie”.
Mr Sarwar hit out after Lord Malcolm Offord – the leader of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in Scotland – used the second TV debate of the Holyrood election campaign to try to claim Labour wanted to work with them to oust the SNP from power.
The clash came as Lord Offord came under fire on the Channel 4 News debate over his party’s billboard adverts, which showed a small boat with asylum seekers under the slogan “Scotland is at breaking point”.
Defending the poster – which First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney said had “incited tension and division” – Lord Offord said: “The idea of that billboard was to say illegal asylum seekers, they come into England, but they come to Scotland, they come to Glasgow.”
He added: “What Reform is doing is honestly reflecting the views of local Scottish people, especially in our working class communities who feel they are being pushed to the back of the queue.”
But Mr Sarwar said that Reform had previously spent “thousands of pounds of adverts questioning my loyalty to my country”.
Hitting out at Lord Offord, the Scottish Labour leader said: “One of his candidates wants to deport my children.
“Where do you want them to go, Malcolm?”
The Reform Scottish leader said that Mr Sarwar’s remarks did “not square with you coming up to me at the start of this campaign, bouncing up to me in Paisley Town Hall and saying we need to work together, Reform and Labour, to remove the SNP”.
Mr Sarwar dismissed those claims as “nonsense”.
Speaking after the debate, the Scottish Labour leader said: “Claims of any backroom deal are absolute nonsense, it is a desperate lie from a desperate man.
“It is desperation from a party whose campaign has completely flunked.”
Mr Sarwar added: “Let me be unequivocal: no stitch-ups, no deals, no backroom chats, no back-channel contact with Reform.
“I only want one deal, and that is with the people of Scotland.”
The clash came after Lord Offord sided with US President Donald Trump in a debate over energy policy.
Mr Trump has again urged the UK to “drill, baby, drill” and extract more oil and gas from the North Sea.
Referring to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the former Tory donor said: “I would agree with Donald Trump on this – drill, Mili, drill is what I would say.”
He added: “In terms of energy, we account for less than 1% of global emissions, right now it is more of a priority we have safe and affordable energy.”
Mr Swinney however told the debate that he did “not agree with President Trump about drill, baby, drill”.
The SNP leader said: “I think we have got enormous challenges about energy, but Scotland is an energy-rich country which is developing formidable renewable energy resources.”
Mr Swinney’s comments come after a recent softening of his party’s stance on whether new oil and gas fields should go ahead in the North Sea – with the SNP leader saying that energy security should now be considered along with the impact on the climate.
Noting that the UK could be using oil and gas “for the next 30, 40 years”, Mr Swinney however stressed on Tuesday: “What we have got to make sure is any developments are compatible with our journey to net zero, which I am wholly committed to.”
He also said that the “key issue” for Scotland was to build up renewable capability.
His comments came as Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay attacked the SNP’s switch in stance.
“It is absolutely critical the United Kingdom harnesses the oil and gas at its disposal,” the Tory said.
“Whether you like oil and gas or not – and I’m not sure which way John Swinney is facing today on that subject – whether you like it or not, our country is going to need it for decades to come.”
Mr Findlay said there should be a “sensible energy mix”, adding that “that starts with drilling for the oil and gas we have in abundance in the North Sea”.
But he also backed the use of nuclear power – something the SNP is strongly opposed to.
Mr Sarwar too supports the use of nuclear power, and also backed drilling in Rosebank and Jackdaw – two fields opposed by environmentalists that the UK Labour Government is considering.
With the previous Tory government at Westminster however having approved the developments, Mr Sarwar said: “A commitment was made to respect the licences granted by the last government, we should stick to that commitment, for example for Rosebank and Jackdaw.”
Speaking about the UK Government, he added: “They’re considering those two applications and I hope they will stick to that commitment.”
Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay was however insistent that no more drilling should take place.
“It is very clear that any new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea is not compatible with the climate crisis and actually won’t bring anyone’s bills down,” she said.
“What actually we need to see is a move to renewables.”
Meanwhile Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole Hamilton branded the US president a “gangster”, saying “we need leadership that will stand up to him in the same way the Liberal prime minister in Canada Mark Carney did”.