First minister of Scotland John Swinney has labelled Nigel Farage an “accomplice to the Russian agenda” and an “apologist” for the Kremlin.
The comments, which the Reform UK leader would refute, came in Swinney’s first Bute House press conference as first minister on Wednesday morning.
Less than 24 hours after Scottish government’s budget passed its final vote at Holyrood, Swinney emphasised the “need for unity and solidarity” in response to “those who are seeking to create division in society”.
Swinney’s Scottish National party (SNP) runs a minority government after his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, collapsed a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens. It has 62 MSPs, three short of a majority.
He told reporters: “At the start of the year, I warned that failure to pass the budget would send a signal that parliament and politics could not deliver. That failure would only serve the interests of an increasingly extreme and radical right and leave devolution dangerously exposed.
“These are pivotal moments for our country and for our future. If we are to restore trust in our politics, we must deliver public services that work better for the people we serve.”
Swinney also called for a summit of political leaders and civic society to tackle the surge in far right support.
He said: “This gathering, to be held at the end of April, one year before the next Scottish election is a chance to work together, for decency, democracy and respect.”
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In the press conference portion of the event, Swinney was asked about the SNP’s evolving stance on defence spending and his apparent characterisation of Reform UK as “far right”.
The SNP leader and FM responded: “I think there’s actually a link between the two points that you put to me… I think it’s inherent in the nature of the threat that we face to our security.
“There is a very live and active threat to our security from the progression of Russia, and I think Farage is an accomplice to the Russian agenda and an apologist for the Russian agenda.
“So to anybody who in this country who thinks that Farage represents a means of protecting this country from the external affairs that we face, I would say have a good close look at what Farage has been connected with and what his MPs are saying about the Russian threat and their trivialisation of the Russian threat.
“So that is why I come to the conclusions that I come to — that we face a very real threat, that if we don’t get it right by protecting Ukraine, by protecting the territorial integrity and dependence of freedom of Ukraine, then I think we will rue the day.
“So that’s why we have to take that position, and that’s one of the reasons I would say to people in Scotland who might be attracted by the simplicity of the Farage message that they should look very, very closely at the small print of what that involves.
“And the other thing I would say is that it is crystal clear — Farage has been for years leading the argument which has been hostile to migration. And I think that it’s based on a fundamentally racist view of the world. I reject that. I think migration is an advantage for Scotland.
“We have a reducing working age population. We need to attract more working age people to come to live and to work and to contribute in our country and that’s an economic necessity for us and the Faragists would essentially rail against that and undertake significant damage to our society, if they were able to prevail.”
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A number of polls have suggested Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party could pick up seats in the 2026 Holyrood election.
During the 2024 general election, Farage was criticised for suggesting the West “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding the European Union and Nato military alliance eastwards.
In an interview with the BBC, the Reform leader said that “of course” the war is president Vladimir Putin’s fault. But he added that the expansion of the EU and Nato gave him a “reason” to tell the Russian people “they’re coming for us again”.
Late last week, Farage rejected the view that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “dictator”, in a sign of disagreement with his close ally Us president Donald Trump.
The Reform leader has repeatedly denied being a supporter of Putin’s agenda. In a social media video responding to backlash to the aforementioned BBC interview, Farage said he was not an “apologist” for the Russian president.
He added: “What I did say to Nick Robinson on the BBC the other day was that 10 years ago, I predicted there would be a war in Ukraine because I thought that Putin — a bad man, clever, but a bad man — would use EU and NATO expansion as a reason to say to his people: ‘Look they’re coming for us, we’ve got to go the other way.”
Farage has also denied any connection to racist politics. During the 2024 general election campaign, the Reform leader said: “I took on the BNP just over a decade ago. I said to their voters, if this is a protest vote but you don’t support their racist agenda, don’t vote for them, vote for me, [it] destroyed them.”
The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, took the fight to Reform in the House of Commons on Tuesday, labelling the party “Putin’s poodles” for not contributing after the PM’s statement on defence spending.
Flynn said: “Aside from a few of Putin’s poodles who are not in their seats in this chamber here today, we are of course united in our support for the people of Ukraine and indeed in wishing the prime minister well in his discussions with the president of the United States later this week.”
Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield, went on to raise a point of order to protest Flynn’s remarks.
He told the chamber: “During the debate on defence and security, the leader of the SNP described Reform UK MPs as ‘Putin’s puppets’ and that they were missing from the debate. This is not true.
“I was present for the prime minister’s statement, left for a comfort break and returned for the rest of the debate; in fact I’ve been in this chamber nearly four hours today.
“Funnily enough when I returned to the chamber the leader of the SNP or none of his MPs were actually present.
“The leader of the SNP has misled the House and should apologise if you can find him.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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