Reform UK’s Scottish leader insisted there has been no backlash to comments he made over how many cars, houses and boats he owned – despite SNP leader John Swinney branding him “out of touch”.
The Scottish First Minister hit out at Lord Malcolm Offord after the former Tory minister told a TV election debate he owns six houses, five cars and six boats.
But with some Scots struggling in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Swinney claimed those remarks were “tone deaf”.
The SNP leader added: “I thought the setting of an individual’s personal wealth, at a time when people are really facing acute hardship … was an example of how completely and utterly out of touch Reform are with the reality of people’s lives.”
Speaking on Thursday as he campaigned in Castlemilk, Glasgow, Lord Offord however told reporters: “I haven’t had any backlash, that’s news to me.”
Instead he claimed: “Every single person that I am talking to in every single area I go to says: ‘Good on you big man, because I want to be like you, I want to work hard.’
“What they say to me is, especially young people, is: ‘We’re not getting as well educated as you were, how come you got it better than we did?’
“So the reason why I am here and the reason why I am talking about it is because we have to fix this. Scots are the most creative, innovative people in the world.”
With Mr Swinney insisting on Thursday that a vote for the SNP could halt Reform and “stop Nigel Farage at the border”, Lord Offord insisted: “I don’t think that is in any way temperate language.”
He added: “The reality is that Reform UK is a good thing for Scotland.”
However he said that at present the country is “underperforming”, especially in areas such as Castlemilk.
The Reform UK Scottish leader insisted: “Some of the cleverest people you will meet are in these communities and we need to help them get out and achieve. That’s why I said what I said.”
With his comments on his personal success coming in a debate clash with Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer, Lord Offord added this illustrated the decision voters face in next week’s Holyrood election about the kind of country they want to live in.
But he warned that another power-sharing deal between the SNP – who once again seem likely to be the largest party at Holyrood – and the Scottish Greens, could see the country “go broke”.
Lord Offord said: “The question I am challenging Scots with is: ‘What sort of Scotland do you want to be in?’
“Do you want to be in a Scotland where people make money or not? Simple as that.
“Do you want Reform, or do you want the Greens? Simple question, because if the SNP and the Greens get back into power it is going to be everything for free and your taxes go up and the country is going to go broke.”
He spoke out with a week to go until voters across the Scotland elect a new batch of MSPs to the Scottish Parliament – with polls indicating Reform UK could come in second place to Mr Swinney’s SNP.
However, Lord Offord said that many of the people he is speaking to may not vote in the May 7 ballot, adding that people tell him they are not voting “because nothing changes, it’s the same old same old, whether it’s Labour, SNP or Tories”.
But he said that gave Reform an opportunity as a “new party” and a “challenger” to its more established rivals.
He added: “We have an opportunity as a new party, as a challenger, to say we are on the side of working people and we are going to fix it. We want to change Scotland for the better and give everybody opportunity.”
Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay said: “Lord Offord is wrong about many things, but he is right that Scotland faces a stark and simple choice between the Scottish Greens and Reform UK.
“It is a choice between hope and hate, and between a society where we look out for one another and one where we try to divide people and punch-down against minorities.
“Lord Offord doesn’t need his six homes, six boats or five cars, but the issue here is much bigger than his personal choices.
“What his party is offering is the same cuts and chaos as the Tories implemented while he was part of their government, and even more attacks on migrants and refugees.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain said: “Lord Offord is looking increasingly detached from ordinary Scots.
“It’s not just how many yachts he owns, it’s how he won’t criticise Nigel Farage for his appalling comments about Dunblane and gun control and how little his manifesto has to say about key areas like childcare and violence against women.
“It’s clear he just doesn’t really care.”
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