Swinney to call ‘line in the sand’ summit to counter rise of Reform
The First Minister has said he will invite political leaders to talks at the end of April.
Scotland’s First Minister has called a summit of political leaders and civic society to draw a “line in the sand” to counter the rise of Reform UK.
The Nigel Farage-led party is surging in the polls in Scotland with multiple surveys suggesting it could pick up seats at next year’s Holyrood election.
Speaking at a press conference at Bute House in Edinburgh on Wednesday, John Swinney said Mr Farage’s views on immigration are “based on a fundamentally racist view of the world”, also describing him as an “accomplice” and “apologist” for Russian actions in Ukraine.
Mr Swinney used the event to announce he will hold the “gathering” at the end of April.
“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,” he said.
“That failure would only serve the interests of an increasingly extreme and far right, and leave devolution dangerously exposed.
“But the Budget has passed, and a different story can be told.
“Our politics – our Parliament – have demonstrated that they work.
“Storm clouds are gathering – we can all see them.
“The threat from the far-right is real, but that leaves me all the more convinced that working together is not only the right choice but the only choice.”
The First Minister added: “It is time to come together to draw a line in the sand. To set out who we are and what we believe in, because a politics of fear is a politics of despair.
“It is a politics that will divide us and destroy so much that we hold dear.
“I want us to be ready for whatever this age of uncertainty throws at us, for us to be united in the face of the undoubted challenges that lie ahead.
“It was a mobilisation of mainstream Scotland that delivered our Parliament a quarter of a century ago.
“I have no doubt it is only by mobilising mainstream Scotland that we can protect those things we care most about, those things that are most important to us today.”
The First Minister also criticised Mr Farage personally, saying: “There is a very alive and active threat to our security from the aggression of Russia and I think Farage is an accomplice to the Russian agenda and an apologist for the Russian agenda.
“Farage has been for years leading the argument which has been hostile to migration and I think that is based on a fundamentally racist view of the world – I reject that.”
On Tuesday, the Scottish Government’s Budget passed its final stage at Holyrood, with support from the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the sole Alba MSP, while Scottish Labour abstained in the vote.
Mr Swinney added: “Yesterday’s work demonstrated that partnership and collaboration are possible and that is something precious, something vitally important in itself.”
