Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, has accused Reform UK of disseminating “racist” political “disinformation” through a Facebook advertisement targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Speaking during a campaign stop in Hamilton, Swinney urged Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to remove the advert, which he claims “deceives and distorts” voters.
The Reform UK advert alleges that Sarwar will “prioritise” the Pakistani community in Scotland. It features clips of Sarwar advocating for increased political representation for individuals of South Asian descent.
Swinney condemned the advert’s framing of Sarwar’s comments, arguing it misrepresents his calls for broader inclusivity.
Mr Swinney said the advert, which Reform has spent thousands of pounds on ahead of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on June 5, is an “unacceptable” attempt to use Mr Sarwar’s race against him.
He told the PA news agency: “What’s important here is that the advert that’s been put up clearly distorts and presents an impression which is not borne out by the contents of the material that is in the film.
“So it’s clearly trying to deceive and distort the message.
“As a political rival of Anas Sarwar, I think that’s unacceptable, because it’s trying to use race in this campaign against one of my political rivals.
“I don’t think that’s acceptable, and the social media companies have got to act to address that circumstance.”
He added that it meant the removal of the ad.
He told broadcasters earlier that the ad amounted to a “racist attack” on Mr Sarwar.
Speaking to reporters as SNP activists gathered at Hamilton Central Station, Mr Swinney said disinformation was “debasing” politics in Scotland.
He said: “It serves none of us and this is what I’ve been concerned about for some time.
“It’s why I took the steps I’ve taken in confronting this whole disinformation agenda.
“One of the themes of the discussions we had at the gathering we had in Glasgow a few weeks ago was all about misinformation and distortion, and it’s debasing our politics.
“People can’t make informed judgments because they’re having disinformation.”
The First Minister said the race to win the South Lanarkshire seat is a “very tight”, “three-way contest” between the SNP, Labour and Reform UK.
In his pitch to voters, he said the best way to stop Mr Farage getting a “foothold” in Scotland would be to vote for his party.
Asked if he would speak to the Reform UK leader to challenge his views, having previously described his party as far-right, the First Minister said he had made “no secret” of his views on the politician.
“I’m certainly not going to go around the streets wandering around after Nigel Farage.
“Nigel Farage has got to explain himself and the politics that he represents, and I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am entirely opposed to his politics.”
Reform UK spokesman and Glasgow councillor Thomas Kerr said: “John Swinney and Anas Sarwar are desperately trying to deflect attention away from the facts.”
“This advert uses Mr Sarwar’s own words – if he doesn’t like them, he shouldn’t use them.”
“The SNP and Labour have both broken Scotland, it’s no surprise they’re now forming some sort of pathetic and panicky anti-Reform coalition.”
“The more Reform grows, the more desperate their lies and smears will get but we’re ready for it, unlike them we aren’t fighting for our careers, we’re fighting for our country.”
A spokesperson for Labour said the Reform ad was a “blatantly racist” attempt to question Mr Sarwar’s “identity, loyalty and belonging”.
Jackie Baillie, the party’s deputy leader, added: “It suits the SNP to pretend they are running against Reform but the truth is this by-election is a straight fight between Scottish Labour and the SNP.
“Under the SNP, too many people feel like our politics, our economy and our public services don’t work.
“The political conmen leading Reform have nothing to offer the people of Scotland except more division and decline.
“We will only address political polarisation by tackling its root causes and turning the page on SNP failure, and only Scottish Labour can do that.
“In this by-election, only Davy Russell can beat the SNP and offer a new direction for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.”
