MALCOLM Offord has launched a bizarre defence of Nigel Farage, claiming that major parties refusing to contest the by-election he triggered to deflect from scrutiny of his finances is an “establishment stitch up”.
The Reform Scotland leader faced a 20-minute grilling on BBC Radio Scotland on Wednesday morning where he was left repeatedly on the back foot.
On Tuesday, Farage announced he was resigning as an MP and would fight a by-election in Clacton, framing it as “people versus the establishment”.
But the problem for the Reform leader is that neither Labour, the Tories, LibDems, Greens or even Rupert Lowe’s hard-right Restore are willing to contest it.
Instead his main opponent appears to be Count Binface (though actor Laurence Fox and the Monster Raving Looney Party also say they will stand in the seat).
But in Scotland, it was Offord who faced a grilling over his boss’s ducking of scrutiny. While the parliamentary standards probe into his £5 million gift from billionaire tycoon Christopher Harborne may be temporarily paused, there are plenty of questions that remain, not least the cash and security he took from his criminal pal “Posh George” Cottrell.
Offord repeatedly tried to push the same narrative that Farage has: that he is the anti-establishment candidate and the press have been hounding him unnecessarily.
Interesting coming from the multi-millionaire Lord Offord who served as a minister in the previous Tory government. You can’t get much more establishment than that.
But Offord insisted that Farage had “done nothing wrong”, until he was repeatedly pressed by journalist Martin Geissler on whether he would have declared such a large financial gift.
The yacht-owning MSP almost choked on his words, before responding: “Well, whatever line I've been in, you've seen me operate politics. I've been very transparent. Some people might say I've been too transparent.”
He then tried to claim that in the UK anyone who makes money is seen as a “bad person”, before Geissler pointed out that Farage didn’t make the money, he was given it.
Asked again if he would declare a £5m gift, Offord said he would declare what he was “required” to, after taking advice.
“I am not privy to the personal and full circumstances of that gift to Nigel Farage,” he backtracked.
“That's his personal decision. I know what I would do is I will always stay within the rules, and I think transparency is a good thing, but what we're witnessing here is a massive pile on, and the guy has actually got his neck on the line again. It's a pretty, pretty bold response.”
Offord would later accept that abiding by parliamentary rules and facing robust scrutiny are the pillars of democracy, after being confronted about it, before arguing that in Farage’s case the press had crossed a line by approaching his daughter. This is the same argument the Reform UK leader used during his statement on Tuesday.
Asked if different rules should apply to Farage, Offord then claimed it was an “extreme situation” and that Farage lives an “extreme lifestyle” that requires protection, and that his family members should be kept out of it.
He also agreed that there should be parliamentary inquiries into these issues, before then claiming the process is governed by Farage’s opponents who “want to do him down”.
“How fair is that at the end of the day is the question?” he added.
Offord was also caught out claiming that Reform are open to speaking to the press at all times, before Geissler noted that he had been asked to come on the programme on Monday and refused.
It seems that the Reform Scotland leader, much like his boss, struggles to pick a line and stick with it.
The whole interview exposed Reform’s playbook when it comes to the media; dismiss hard questions as biased, use the language of grievance, and paint Farage as a martyr at the hands of the establishment.
The problem is, and as Offord’s interview showed, that can only work for so long. Eventually, the contradictions will speak for themselves.
