REFORM UK leader Nigel Farage was called out by members of the Scottish press on Monday after claiming that a newspaper had colluded with anti-racism activists to organise a protest against him.
Farage, speaking to a Reform UK press conference organised in Aberdeen, said he would be taking a question from our sister paper The Herald last due to unfounded allegations that they had revealed the event’s location to Stand Up To Racism campaigners.
NEW: Nigel Farage’s visit to Scotland has been met by a group of protesters brandishing banners and chanting 'refugees are welcome here' pic.twitter.com/RlenIEqQmt
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Around 20 demonstrators had turned up to protest the Reform UK leader, holding banners with messages including “Farage not welcome in Scotland” and chanting slogans such as “Farage, Farage we know you, you’re a racist through and through”.
The chants were audible throughout Farage's press conference, which saw him announce the defection of Scottish Tory councillor Duncan Massey to Reform UK.
Taking the final question at the press conference, Farage said: “Now, The Herald. It seems that you’re involved with this group of protesters outside.”
Responding to a flat denial, Farage went on: “Well, it’s funny isn’t it? That you come, and your newspaper also manages to have another one of your correspondents as a protest correspondent. So you knew more about this than we did.”
Andrew Learmonth, The Herald’s political editor, said: “That’s not true at all Nigel, sorry.”
As Farage expressed disbelief, Learmonth went on: “Absolutely not. We have two reporters in Aberdeen. Come on.”
The Reform UK leader continued to express disbelief, adding: “You must have so many staff and so much money it must be remarkable.”
The BBC’s James Cook then interrupted, saying that “to be clear” The Herald were not the only outlet with more than one reporter on site.
Farage then said: “Fair enough, if you say that, I believe you.”
Learmonth responded: “I don’t know if you do believe me, but I didn’t.”
Responding to another member of the media saying the allegations were “not on”, Farage said: “Well this location was only sent to you guys.
“It wasn’t put out on the public wires, we didn’t put it out to our membership, and yet they knew. So it came from one of you.”
Fraser Adams, a spokesperson for the Stand Up To Racism campaigners, said Farage’s suggestion that they had been tipped off by the media was “absolute nonsense”.
Adams went on: “We are a committed nationwide group of anti-racists. We have our own methods of organising, we have our own system of information. We've got this information on our own.
“We knew they've been coming to Aberdeen for weeks. We didn't find out where they were meeting until this morning. You can't get this many people to Aberdeen without somebody noticing.
“Aberdeen's an anti-racist city. There are people who are passionate in making sure that Farage does not come to Scotland un-countered, unprotested. We don't need any tips.”
Catherine Salmond, editor of The Herald, said: “The responsibility of a trusted news brand is to act with integrity. The idea that The Herald was involved with protests in Aberdeen against Nigel Farage and Reform UK is ridiculous.
"Our job is to report on the truth and to hold those who do not tell the truth to account.
“Attacking the media has become commonplace under Donald Trump in the US and today we have seen it here in Scotland, by Reform UK, against The Herald. A low tactic and one we should all stand against.”
Elsewhere at the Reform UK press conference, Farage refused to apologise for a "blatantly racist" advert aimed at Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which his party has spent between £15,000-£20,000 promoting on social media.
The advert falsely claims that Sarwar has said he will "prioritise" the Pakistani community.
Asked about it, Farage insisted Reform UK “don’t talk about race at all”.
He pointed out Reform's party’s chairman, Zia Yusuf, is someone who “is Scottish born, but comes from parents who come from the Indian subcontinent”.
Farage continued: “We think everybody should be treated equally. We object, very strongly, to the segmentation of people into different types.”
Adding that the Scottish Labour leader has a “record of obsession on this issue”, he went on to reference a speech Sarwar gave in 2020 where he noted that key figures across Scotland, from the judiciary, to council chief executives to head teachers, were all white.
Farage said: “I think that speech he gave was sectarian in its very nature – 'we are the south Asian community, we are going to take over the country and take over the world'.
“We believe what he said was a form of sectarian politics and we don’t like it one little bit.”
