Nigel Farage’s Reform party organiser in Scotland has been sacked after a Record probe into his family’s links to a Loyalist terror plot.
Craig Campbell was removed as Scottish organiser of the right-wing party after we revealed his late dad was a UVF commander who was jailed following the bombing of Catholic pubs in Glasgow. His cousin Jason Campbell was also caged after he murdered Celtic fan Mark Scott by cutting his throat in an evil attack that shocked the country.
Reform rising star Campbell, 52, also had images on his own Facebook which compared the SNP to the Nazis. After his family links were revealed, a Reform UK Scotland spokesman said: “Craig Campbell is no longer a Reform UK Scotland organiser. Reform UK Scotland will not tolerate discrimination of anyone in any form.”
Last night, there were calls for Reform to root out extremism within its ranks. Speaking before the sacking, Labour MSP Paul O’Kane said: “Scots will be deeply concerned that a man with family links to sectarian violence and murderous paramilitary gangs was at the heart of Reform UK’s electoral machine in Scotland.”
O’Kane added: “Mr Campbell must take this opportunity to publicly break with and condemn his family connection with terrorism. If Mr Campbell fails to do so, Reform UK must expel him.” Farage’s right-wing party is making huge progress in Scotland, with opinion polls showing them in line to return over 10 MSPs at the next Holyrood election.
Experts say Farage is eating into Labour and Tory support while Reform has also performed well in recent council by-elections.
It is not known if Campbell’s close family ties to Loyalist terror group the UVF were known to Farage or party bosses. His dad, William “Big Bill” Campbell, was the supreme commander of the UVF in Glasgow during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Bill and his brother Colin were two of nine UVF members jailed in 1979 after the bombing of the Clelland Bar and Old Barns pub in Glasgow.
All nine were found guilty of plotting to further the aims of the paramilitary group by criminal purposes, while four of the men in Bill Campbell’s cell were found guilty of the bombings. He died in 1997 and a Loyalist plaque celebrates him in Northern Ireland, with the slogan: “In proud memory of a true soldier. Lest we forget. No5 Platoon.”
In 1996, Craig Campbell’s cousin Jason was handed a life sentence after he brutally murdered a boy in broad daylight after a Celtic match. He ran up behind 16-year-old Mark Scott in the Bridgeton area before hurling sectarian abuse at him and slashing his throat.
The attack was witnessed by other fans, women out shopping with their children and people in cars and buses. The murder led to the creation of anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth. Craig Campbell, who was born in Northern Ireland, lives in Lanarkshire and until yesterday was a key player in Farage’s bid to boost Reform support in the country.
He has also spoken about politics on TV. Campbell commented on the war in Gaza as an audience member during a BBC Debate Night show in Motherwell. He said: “Put pressure on Egypt. Tell them to open their borders, take all the refugees and everybody that wants to leave Gaza. And let Israel do what they have got to do, which is wipe Hamas from the face of the earth.”
His Facebook page and the online description of Campbell as an organiser for Reform in Central Scotland were taken down yesterday. The party later confirmed it had removed him from the position. There were growing concerns yesterday, though, that Farage’s party may provide a platform for extremist figures.
Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: “Reform should ask itself why so many people with such extreme and repulsive views are so attracted to that party. All that it is offering is scapegoating, prejudice and bigotry.”
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