Reform field at least THREE independence supporting candidates in Holyrood elections... but they won't reveal who they are!
Three constituency candidates standing for Reform UK voted for independence, its Scottish leader has revealed – but he has refused to name them.
Lord Malcolm Offord confirmed on Wednesday that his candidates for the 73 Holyrood constituencies included a series of activists who backed the SNP’s bid to tear Scotland out of the UK.
Until now, only two of the candidates have spoken publicly about their support for separation – Kenneth Morton, who is standing in John Swinney’s constituency of Perthshire North, and David Kirkwood, in Dumfriesshire.
It led to fresh claims that Reform is ‘not a Unionist party’ and will not stand up for Scotland’s place in the UK.
The latest revelations came as Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, admitted that the party has encountered ‘potholes’ in its Holyrood election campaign but vowed to fix them during a campaign event in Aberdeen.
He was also forced to defend the leadership of Lord Offord following three weeks of chaos since the party unveiled its manifesto and candidates for next month’s election, and stepped up his demands for new oil and gas drilling by warning of the risk of blackouts under the Labour government’s approach.
Asked how many Reform candidates have supported independence and are relaxed about an independence referendum, Lord Offord said: ‘We have a very small number, we’ve got three people out of 73 who have had that tendency in the past. It doesn’t matter, they are on their journey.
‘What they want is Scotland to be the most successful part of the UK and they feel badly, badly let down by the SNP, who it turns out are not serious about anything other than staying in power for another five years.’
Deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tice has defended Malcolm Offord after several election campaign missteps
Asked to name the three pro-independence candidates, a senior Reform UK official said he wanted to check with Lord Offord first to make sure they are thinking of the same three.
Outside the event venue later, Lord Offord refused to say which three candidates he was referring to.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: ‘Lord Offord needs to stop playing games and come clean.
‘It matters hugely that Reform have independence-supporting candidates - and pro-UK voters have a right to know who they are.
‘It's becoming clearer every day that Reform are not a Unionist party. As well as fielding candidates who want to break up the UK, Lord Offord refuses to rule out another referendum and has even provided nationalists with a routemap to independence.
‘The Scottish Conservatives are the only party who will stand up for the Union and against the SNP's efforts to tear up our country. That's why pro-UK voters must back us on their peach ballot to stop an SNP majority.’
Reform UK has lost eight candidates since Mr Farage unveiled them on stage three weeks ago, and has also been beset by a series of controversies over past comments candidates have made.
Lord Offord was also embroiled in controversy over a past ‘homophobic’ joke, and faced questions over why he took part in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s regatta yacht race over the Easter weekend rather than campaigning with activists.
Malcolm Offord's 'disastrous' campaign has cast doubts on leadership
Asked about how long Lord Offord’s leadership will last following a ‘disastrous’ campaign, Mr Tice said: ‘Malcolm and the team are doing an incredible job. We've gone from nowhere in the polls, everybody 12-18 months ago said we won't get any MSPs, and under Malcolm's leadership and the whole incredible team here, I think remarkable things are going to happen.
‘The job of the press is to scrutinise us, and of course there are potholes in the road, potholes in council campaigns is a key thing and we drive through the potholes and we will fill them in.
'That's our objective across the UK and the councils that we will win, and we're pushing on and we're very proud of what everybody in Scotland is doing.’
He added: ‘The key thing about potholes is let’s fix them, and that’s the key thing.’
On the decision to take part in the yacht race, Lord Offord said: ‘God forbid a man has a hobby and takes a day off at Easter.’
Lord Offord also admitted to 'bumps in the road' but said he is 'proud that 80 per cent of our candidates have not been politicians before' and insisted there had comprehensive vetting of candidates.
During Wednesday's event, Mr Tice, Reform’s energy spokesman, also called for ‘all of the existing drilling consents’ in the North Sea to be approved, including Rosebank and Jackdaw.
In a ‘stunt’ at the event, the lights went out – and he was the UK ‘nearly had blackouts’ last year. He said: ‘To think that we are on an island of energy treasure of oil and gas and yet we could run out of electricity.’
