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Nigel Farage spoke to the biggest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, but declined to speak with the press corps afterwards. In his place, newly defected member of the House of Lords the former Conservative donor was left to field questions on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism surrounding Farage.

Welcoming a New Recruit

Farage introduced the former Conservative peer and wealthy businessman during a sold-out rally of roughly seven hundred supporters at a hotel conference centre near Falkirk. Offord, who served as a junior minister for Scotland under the last government and was until recently treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, announced his intention to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to stand for Reform UK in the upcoming Scottish parliament vote.

Farage said he was “delighted” to greet the new member. He described the switch as “a brave and historic act”.

Avoiding Media Scrutiny

The Reform leader spoke to the crowd after a turbulent week which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him about an investigation into claimed discriminatory and antisemitic behaviour as a youth. However, Farage dodged a planned media briefing post-rally.

When asked why Farage was not available to address growing claims about his past behaviour, the new recruit responded: “You’ll need to ask him that question.”

Pressed on if he thought Farage should apologise for his alleged remarks about Jewish students, Offord said: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.”

Defending the Leader

Offord insisted that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, Farage had doubled down on his remarks about pupils in Glasgow who speak English as a second language by asking the rally: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?”

While Scotland's First Minister criticised the initial comments as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “toxic and divisive”, the defector argued that Farage was “drawing attention to a real concern” that people are talking about on the doorstep”.

Growing Confidence

The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, showcases Reform's increasing self-assurance before next May’s elections.

Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, Reform UK has gained significant ground recently, achieving a quarter of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.

Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had quadrupled in the past year to 12,000 members, the party chair, David Bull stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, which would place Reform in “a very strong position” in the Scottish Parliament.

Campaign Rhetoric

A Reform councillor, a local representative for the party, prompted a roar of approval as he described Farage as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “man the barricades as we take on the political establishment”, cautioning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.

Despite not yet publishing a distinct policy platform for Scotland, representatives pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

The leader personally underlined his delight at the party’s emergence as a force in Scottish politics in the last year, admitting to the audience that in previous years he had been warned he “couldn't fill a small venue”.

Protests Nearby

As the event was taking place, not far away in the heart of Falkirk, demonstrators with opposing views assembled for a now-regular weekly standoff outside a local hotel where asylum seekers are now housed.

A group coordinating protests stated they were motivated by a criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney warned that the tactic of the far-right is to assign responsibility … to new arrivals and I think that is the source of a harmful narrative”.

However, he differentiated between those who hold far-right views and people with “legitimate points” about strain on public services or community safety.