TV debate bombshell as Labour leader accuses Reform hopeful of wanting to deport his children – Battle for Holyrood explodes over race hate claim during live TV debate

Anas Sarwar claimed in a televised leader’s debate that the Reform UK candidate wanted to deport his children during explosive clashes.

The Scottish Labor leader launched a furious attack on Reform’s Scottish leader, Lord Malcolm Offord, during a Channel 4 debate over immigration.

Lord Offord responded by claiming Mr Sarwar had privately suggested working with his party to bring down the SNP; Mr Sarwar later said this was a lie.

Conflicts over immigration dominated the second live leader’s debate on the Holyrood election campaign, hosted by Channel 4 News in Glasgow.

Admitting the immigration system was ‘broken’ and needed to be fixed, Mr Sarwar said Lord Offord had expressed concerns about the issue in a divisive way and condemned John Swinney for claiming Labor would make a secret deal with Reform.

Speaking directly to Lord Offord, he said: ‘He says they are not a racist party. One of your candidates wants to deport my children. Where do you want them to go, Malcolm?

‘One of your candidates wants my children to be deported, where do you want us to go? How dare you use this as a cover for politics? ‘Where do you want my children to go?’

Lord Offord responded: ‘Anas, this is the third time you’ve called me a racist on national television.

Reformation’s Scottish leader Lord Malcolm Offord clashes with Sarwar over immigration

‘This is incompatible with you coming to me at the beginning of the campaign and saying we should work with Reform and Labor to eliminate the SNP.’

Mr Sarwar said: ‘Let’s remember those racist ads, let’s talk about you wanting to deport my children. Don’t try to jump into this and play politics. This is a morale issue. Where do you want my children to go, Malcolm, when one of your candidates says they should be deported?’

Lord Offord said: ‘There is no possibility of you, your family or your children being deported.’

Mr Sarwar’s comments were a reference to Reform’s Galloway and West Dumfries candidate, Senga Beresford, who replied “I” to the deputy leader of the British First Party who posted on social media: ‘Muslims in the UK are demanding the implementation of sharia law. I demand that many of them be deported. ‘Who’s with me?’

In the media room after the debate, Mr Sarwar said claims that Lord Offord wanted to make a deal with Reform were ‘complete nonsense’ and a ‘complete lie’.

Lord Offord alleges that the conversation in which Mr Sarwar proposed the deal took place backstage during a BBC Question Time program at Paisley Town Hall on December 11, days after he joined Reform.

He told reporters: ‘I walked into that green room and Anas, who was very friendly, came bounding up and said to me: ‘You guys are going to do very well in the elections, you’re going to win a lot of seats, we should talk about how we can work together to get rid of the Nats.’ I’m not making this up.’

Reform councilor Thomas Kerr also claimed there was a separate incident on Remembrance Sunday in which Mr Sarwar told him they needed to work together to get rid of the SNP. He said: ‘The real question for people here in Scotland is: Anas Sarwar means nothing but Anas Sarwar. This is an empty man who has no principles, who says everything in public and something else in private.

‘And I think people in Scotland really need to ask themselves: Do they have someone they trust as a First Minister?’

During yesterday’s debate, SNP leader John Swinney said he disagreed with Donald Trump saying yesterday that Britain should be doing ‘drilling, baby drilling’ in the North Sea.

The US President criticized the UK Government’s ‘absolutely insane’ policy on new drilling and said ‘Aberdeen needs to develop quickly’.

Asked if he agreed, Mr Swinney said: ‘I disagree with President Trump on ‘drill, baby drill’. ‘I think we have huge energy challenges, but Scotland is an energy-rich country that is developing terrific renewable energy sources.’

He added that Scotland does not see the economic benefit of its energy wealth and said he wants ‘Scotland’s energy in Scotland’s hands’.

Scottish Conservative Party leader Russell Findlay said: ‘John Swinney is putting a big lie at the center of his election campaign with the idea that independence will suddenly magically reduce the bills of hard-working Scots who have seen their bills rise, but he has failed to provide a shred of evidence to back this up.

‘What we support is a sensible energy mix, and that starts with drilling for the oil and gas we have in abundance in the North Sea.’

Mr Swinney said oil and gas would be used for 30-40 years and any development ‘must be aligned with our journey to net zero’.

But Mr Findlay said in the return room after the debate: ‘John Swinney spins wilder than an offshore windmill on a windy day. Oil and gas have more faces than town hall clocks.

‘He’s playing a really sneaky game. He is trying to tell oil and gas workers in north-east Scotland that he is on their side and can vaguely support new drilling; whereas it is clear that he still remains committed to Nicola Sturgeon’s opposition to new oil and gas.’

During last night’s debate, Lord Offord also asked Mr Swinney directly whether he thought Scotland would be safer and more secure if the UK broke up. He replied: ‘I think Scotland would be safer.’

Mr Findlay said: ‘There is a very good reason why the disgusting Iranian regime supports Scottish independence. ‘That’s because they know that if John Swinney gets his way, Scotland and the UK will be fundamentally weaker.’

During the conflict over independence, Lord Offord said he did not believe John Swinney was serious about a new independence referendum.