Swinney: Reform voters prefer FM to Sarwar because some are 'racist' and some are 'angry'

On the campaign trail, the First Minister has said Scottish Labour would do a “grubby backroom deal” with Reform to propel Anas Sarwar into Bute House.

However, earlier this week new polling showed four in 10 Reform voters would back Mr Swinney over Mr Sarwar to take on running Scotland.

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Asked why he thought Nigel Farage’s supporters would prefer him to his Labour rival, the First Minister said he put Reform votes in “two categories”.

He said: “There are some people who support Reform, who are racists and who propagate the kind of intolerance that I talk about in Reform.”

The second group, he added, are “angry and frustrated” and a “lot of that anger and frustration is about the performance of the Labour government, because people feel desperately disappointed that a Labour government was elected on the promise of change in 2024.”

Mr Swinney went on to say:”I therefore think it's really unlikely that those people would then be likely to prefer the Labour party if they weren't voting for Reform.

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“The best explanation I can give about what I think is fuelling that, because people are really, really angry.”

A survey by Survation for Diffley Partnership found the SNP leader outperforms his main rivals for the top job.

It found 80 per cent of Labour voters would pick Mr Swinney over Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform in Scotland.

Mr Swinney added: “What is crystal clear is that I will have absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with Reform.

“I am totally and utterly and completely at odds with Reform, and I think they're spreading poison in our politics.”

The First Minister spoke on a visit to Calderbank, in North Lanarkshire, where he announced plans to introduce new “one stop shops" in community pharmacies offering lung and heart health MOTs for people aged 35 and over.

The idea echoes Japan’s model of health MOTS with Mr Swinney telling The Scotsman he would look overseas as well as closer to home for ideas to improve Scotland’s health service.

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Meanwhile, he added that he had been in discussions with the Scottish government resilience team to ensure steady supplies of pharmaceuticals in the wake of the Iran crisis.

Mr Swinney said he is to have discussions on Thursday with the UK government on a four nations basis to consider medicine supplies.

Neil Gray, the health secretary, who joined Mr Swinney in Calderbank, said he was “content” for now that supplies remain at a safe level.

He said: “We’ve seen the spike in fuel prices and we want to make sure that we’re continuing to deliver the best cost-of-living package for people in Scotland compared to anywhere else in the UK, and that’s what we were focusing on last night.

“But, from a medical perspective, we’re happy with where things are and we’re in dialogue with the UK Government.”

A Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government continues to engage with the devolved governments as we protect families from global shocks caused by the Iran conflict – with wages rising, energy bills falling, fuel duty frozen and prescription prices capped – while working with allies to de‑escalate tensions and bring prices down for the long term.

“There are no shortages of medicines, and we are working closely with industry to monitor risks, maintain buffer stocks and ensure continuity of supply.”