Latest editorial
ON THE OUT? Reform UK MSP for Central Scotland Graham Simpson speaking at the MacDonald Inchyra Hotel & Spa
SCOTLAND has reached “peak Reform,” SNP Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan said yesterday, dismissing predictions that the far-right outfit would win a swathe of seats in May.
A string of recent polls have suggested that party could be on track for second place behind the SNP at the Holyrood election, replacing the Tories as official opposition and beating Labour into third place.
Ms McAllan said Reform lacks credibility on issues such as the future of public services, adding: “I think that people, if you talk to them about what they’re doing beyond immigration, they’re very quickly turned off by comments made on the NHS, charging for the NHS.
“So I think we probably have reached peak Reform — at least, I’ll be doing my best to make sure that’s the case.”
“This is about: what kind of country do you want to be in? We’ve tried to build a country that says ‘we look after everybody.’ Not one where we have folks like [Reform leader Nigel] Farage saying: ‘I’ll take 5p off your pint but reinstate the two-child cap to pay for that:’ that is ludicrous.”
As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR
By-election poll puts Starmer's future on a knife-edge
Every Starmer boast about removing asylum-seekers probably wins Reform another seat while Labour loses more voters to Lib Dems, Greens and nationalists than to the far right — the disaster facing Labour is the leadership’s fault, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
