NIGEL Farage has been told he will “go down like a bucket of cold sick” with Scots when he fronts Reform UK’s Holyrood election campaign.
We revealed how the Reform leader will go head-to-head with Scottish party leaders, including First Minister John Swinney, in TV debates leading up to the 2026 election.
SNP MSP Rona Mackay said: “Nigel Farage is a deeply unpopular figure in Scotland – he'll go down like a bucket of cold sick.”
Referring to Farage’s 2013 trip to Scotland, which saw him take refuge in the Canon's Gait pub in Edinburgh after he was hounded by anti-racist protesters, Mackay added: “The last time he was on Edinburgh's Royal Mile near our Parliament he had to hide in a pub.
“While Labour leave the door open to doing a deal with Reform, John Swinney will face down Nigel Farage's politics directly and decisively.”
SNP MP Chris Law (above) responded to the Sunday National story on Twitter/X: “Excellent. Given all the other parties are running scared of Reform or cosying up to them, it’s time to call them out and give Scotland a choice.”
It comes amid growing concern in the Labour Party over rising levels of support for Reform.
This week will see a blitz of announcements on the UK Government’s measures to bring down immigration, reportedly set to include videos of deportations intended to hammer the message that Whitehall is working to remove people from the country.
The Home Office is also said to be publishing red-top tabloid-style leaflets hailing the number of deportations which have been carried out since Labour came to power seven months ago.
Deportations have hit levels not seen since 2017, with 16,400 illegal immigrants, foreign criminals and people whose asylum claims have been rejected removed from the country since July last year.
The SNP also sense weakness in Scottish Labour on the issue, with Swinney’s party arguing for greater levels of immigration to Scotland.
Anas Sarwar (above) meanwhile has said he believes that immigration policy should be sensitive to the needs of different parts of the country, while avoiding confrontation with his UK bosses over their crackdown south of the Border.
It comes as MPs prepare to debate Labour’s new immigration bill on Monday. It seeks to deliver on Keir Starmer’s election pledge to “smash” the criminal organisations behind some illegal migration – but campaigners warn it denies vital rights to migrants, including modern slavery protections.
Reform UK were approached for comment.
