FM defends excluding Reform UK from anti-far right summit

London: First Minister John Swinney has defended his decision not to invite Reform UK to a political summit to discuss the threat from the far right.

Reform, which denies being far right, claims the meeting is really an “anti-democratic” attempt to curb its growing electoral support.

Swinney said the summit, being held on Wednesday, would focus on shared values and Reform’s approach to immigration caused him “enormous concern”.

He told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that parties represented at Holyrood had been invited. The Scottish Conservatives have said they will not attend, describing the meeting as an unnecessary “talking shop”.

Swinney announced plans to hold the forum in February, saying parties had to unite to “lock out” the far right from Scottish politics.

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has not been invited despite its insistence that it opposes far right extremism.

The party won 7% of the vote in Scotland at the 2024 general election and recent polling suggests this could have risen as high as 17%, which would see it with a significant presence at Holyrood after next year’s election.

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Thomas Kerr, a Reform UK councillor and leading voice for the party in Scotland called the summit “anti-democratic”.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s The Sunday Show: “We are a right wing political party, John Swinney is a left wing politician that is absolutely fine, we are on two different sides of the political spectrum that’s why you debate each other.

“But to say that because you disagree with illegal immigration, you want to clamp down and make sure we secure our borders is racist I think is fundamentally wrong

“It is an argument to have in a policy debate, on a policy platform absolutely, but the key point of this summit is this is tax payers’ cash and a first minister that has over stepped his mark in an anti-democratic summit.”

Swinney said discussions on how to protect “democratic systems” in Scotland would be at “the heart of the gathering”, which will be attended by elected politicians, trade unions and civic leaders.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s The Sunday Show: “If we are passive about this we run the risk that those democratic systems will be eroded by the challenges that we face.

“The threat that is coming to our democratic system is coming from a range of pressures that seek to undermine some of the central values of our society.

“There are parts of the argument and rhetoric of Reform that contribute to that.”

Swinney added that Scotland had always been a “inclusive” and “welcoming” country.

The first minister said that all parliamentary parties had been invited to the meeting, which he said “is the right thing to do”.

He added: “I’m reaching out to people in Scotland to say that they shouldn’t be tempted by the simple solutions that are offered by the ideologies that are represented by Reform and others.”

With Reform UK currently on track to return its first MSPs at next year’s Holyrood election, Kerr said his party may abstain on any vote to select the next first minister.

The councillor, who defected to the Reform from the Scottish Conservatives, told BBC Scotland News that both John Swinney and Anas Sarwar were “totally incapable of taking this country forward”.

It comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told the Times last week there would be no deal with Labour at Holyrood.

But in November the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice said that “anything is preferable to the SNP” when asked about putting Labour into power at Holyrood.

Kerr refused to say whether his party would back the SNP or Labour, telling BBC Scotland News it was like “being asked to get punched in the face or punched in the gut.”

He clarified that this could mean that the party abstains on any vote for the next first minister after the 2026 Holyrood election.