John Swinney has accused Anas Sarwar of “opening the door” for Nigel Farage in a “desperate” bid to become First Minister.
The Scottish Labour leader has ruled out “coalitions or agreements” with Reform UK after the next Holyrood election. But the First Minister said he feared Sarwar would “give in” to Farage and urged him to rule out any cooperation with the right wing party:
“If people vote for Labour, they are opening the door for Farage to influence Scottish politics. I don’t think we should open that door. I think we should close that door very firmly.”
Opinion polls have found Scottish Labour’s vote share plummet since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister. But some polls show a narrow majority of pro-UK MSPs could be returned, despite the SNP being in line to remain as the largest party.
Sarwar could become FM if the anti-immigration Reform UK wins seats and backs him in the vote to be First Minister. Sarwar this week ruled out working with Reform, defined as “coalitions or agreements”, but critics fear this wording does not preclude a backroom deal in the vote to become FM.
In an interview with the Record, Swinney said: “I can’t fathom why Anas Sawar is leaving the door open to Farage. I think it provides a route for Farage to undermine some of the really important values in society that I don’t want to see undermined.”
“From my point of view, there is absolutely no way that I will leave the door in any way ajar for Farage. I have said that I will not cosy up to him. I will confront him.”
He said Sarwar’s position on Reform was a “visibly desperate attempt to become First Minister at any cost”. He added: “I fear that Anas Sarwar is now in a much weaker position and because he is in a much weaker position he might give in to Farage. And that will be really damaging for Scottish politics.”
Swinney explained what a vote for the SNP at the next election would mean: “There will be no cooperation with Reform with the SNP. None whatsoever.
“What I can guarantee is that should there be any Farage supporters in the Scottish Parliament after the 2026 election, in terms of my conduct and my approach, there will be no common ground sought with Farage.”
Asked if Sarwar should match this guarantee, he said: “Yes, I think he should do.” He also said: “I will not in any way, shape or form, court or countenance any support from Farage for me to become First Minister. I couldn’t live with that. I think the door has to be firmly shut on that.”
Swinney was asked about the impact on society if Farage ends up selecting the next First Minister: “That would be really damaging to the cohesion of Scottish society because I don’t think the politics of Nigel Farage are in any way welcome within Scotland.”
Swinney said he agreed Reform UK fan the flames of racial tension, adding: “They are populists with damaging ideas.” He continued: “Farage is somebody that divides and I won’t have anything to do with it.”
Swinney said the first twenty five years of devolution had been inclusive but he had been troubled by an “odious” Tory position recently opposing free bus passes for asylum seekers. He said he feared some people are now prepared to “dabble” in Reform-esque politics: “Anas Sarwar should be part of turning his back on that now.”
The First Minister also said his fears are growing that Farage could be the next Prime Minister due to the early troubles of the Labour Government: “They have performed really poorly in government since the election. They haven’t fundamentally addressed issues that legitimately cause people concern about the cost of living.
“They promised to reduce energy prices and energy prices have gone up and that’s before we get onto winter fuel payment betrayals.
“That helps to fuel Farage because he will prey on that and he will make the most of it.”
Sarwar said this week: “We will not work with a political party like Reform.
“But let me just be really clear, and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s selected to Parliament.
“If somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of Parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless where it comes from, because that is the the essence and nature of devolution, the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed.”
Pushed on whether he would take Reform votes to secure power, Sarwar said he would not “get into the mathematics” of next year’s vote. Farage’s deputy Richard Tice has said Reform MSPs would vote for Sarwar to become First Minister if it was a choice between him and Swinney.
Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “Almost 18 years of SNP mismanagement has left every institution in Scotland weaker. John Swinney is resorting to desperate political gameplaying because he has no vision and no ideas for the future of our country.
“Both the SNP and Reform thrive on division and misinformation – but Scottish Labour can deliver a new direction for Scotland.”
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