Reform UK have been accused of ‘racist scaremongering’ after they unveiled new campaign adverts in Scotland which featured a picture of a small boat with migrants on board.
The campaign ads featured on the side of vans and were revealed this week by Reform’s Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, ahead of the Scottish parliament elections at the start of May.
The adverts feature the words ‘Scotland is at breaking point’, superimposed over a picture of a migrants making a small boat crossing.
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However, it wasn’t long before it was pointed out how misleading the advert was, given that there has been no known small boat landing in Scotland.
This was pointed out by LBC’s Scotland reporter Rebecca Brady in a post on X.
Others highlighted that Scotland was also one of the least densely populated places in Europe, and labelled the advert “utterly absurd.”
There’s also the fact that immigration is not an issue for the devolved government of Scotland, and is decided by Westminster. So could win every seat in the Scottish Parliament and they would still have no control or power over immigration policy in the country.
Opposition parties have called out the adverts, with Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie writing in a post on Bluesky that it was “racist scaremongering.”
He wrote: “”Last night, Offord was booed at a hustings for his anti-immigrant rhetoric. The audience applauded when I made a defence of Glasgow as the city of Kenmure Street.
“Today’s he’s back to the racist scaremongering.
“Greens will always stand up for the values that make Glasgow a place to be proud of.”