🔗 Share this article Reform UK Leader Addresses Movement's Biggest Gathering in Scotland Amid Controversy and Defection The Reform UK figurehead spoke to the largest the party's rally so far in Scotland, but avoided engaging with the press corps afterwards. In his place, newly defected peer the former Conservative donor was left to responding to queries on claims of discriminatory behaviour and anti-Jewish sentiment surrounding Farage. A High-Profile Defection The leader presented the former Conservative peer and wealthy businessman at a sold-out rally of about 700 attendees in a hotel venue near Falkirk. The businessman, who worked as a Scotland Office minister under the last government and most recently served as treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, announced his intention to give up his peerage in order to become a candidate for the party in the upcoming Scottish parliament vote. Farage said he was “delighted” to welcome the new member. He called the peer’s defection as “a courageous and significant move”. Avoiding Media Scrutiny The Reform leader spoke to the crowd following a difficult period which saw him launch a tirade against the BBC after they quizzed him regarding a report into alleged racist and remarks as a youth. But, the leader avoided the expected press huddle post-rally. Questioned why Farage did not make himself available to answer mounting allegations concerning his history, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.” Challenged about whether he believed an apology was necessary for his alleged remarks about Jewish students, he stated: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.” Defending the Leader Offord insisted that Farage was “morally fit” to be the country's leader and denied he was employing dog-whistle politics. During his speech, the leader had reiterated on his remarks about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who are not native English speakers by asking the rally: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?” While Scotland's First Minister condemned the initial comments as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer called them “harmful and polarising”, Offord maintained that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that people are talking about on the doorstep”. A Party on the Rise The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who each paid £6 to attend, highlights the party’s growing confidence before next May’s elections. Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, Reform UK has made substantial progress in the past year, achieving a quarter of the vote in a recent parliamentary by-election. Following Scottish Labour's decline, the party has often relegated it to third in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth. Declaring that party membership north of the border had increased fourfold in the past year to a running total of 12,000, a senior party official stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, putting the party in “a very strong position” in the Scottish Parliament. Fighting Talk Thomas Kerr, one of Reform’s 19 Scottish councillors, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “Britain’s next prime minister”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we take on the political establishment”, warning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”. Although the party has yet to produce any Scotland-specific policies, representatives pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”. Farage himself expressed his pleasure at Reform's rise as a significant player in the political scene in Scotland in the last year, confessing to supporters that in previous years he had been warned he “couldn't fill a small venue”. Protests Nearby Meanwhile, not far away in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters were gathering for a now-regular weekly standoff outside a local hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers. The organisers of the demonstrations stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney cautioned that “what the far right do is to apportion the blame … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the root of the poison”. However, he differentiated between those who hold far-right views and people with “valid concerns” about strain on public services or community safety.