Nigel Farage has been compared to a ‘clown in a circus’ ahead of his anticipated visit to Scotland as the Hamilton by-election draws closer.
The Reform UK leader is expected to call for net zero funding to be scrapped as he begins his visit north, before meeting residents in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency.
Voters go to the polls on June 5 following the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie.
The by-election is thought to be a close race between the SNP and Reform, with Labour trailing behind in third place.
Mr Farage has been adamant that his party is on course to win the Holyrood by-election on Thursday, while his opponents have been warning voters against backing Reform.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who has been embroiled in a row with Mr Farage over the last fortnight, spoke exclusively to The Herald before the Reform leader’s visit.
He said: “It’s going to be a circus, right? The clown is coming to the circus. I am sure people will want to see the show – whether they like it or dislike it is another question, but the clown is coming to the circus.
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“The clown will come, the clown will go but the problems that face this community will remain unless we can get fundamental change in circumstances on the ground.”
A Reform UK spokesman hit back at Mr Sarwar, stating: “The only circus in Scotland is Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party. It’s no wonder their supporters are turning to Reform after their government betrayed working people with tax hikes and presided over anaemic economic growth.
“A Labour government in Holyrood would make the country into a laughing stock, and the people of Scotland know it.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour’s by-election candidate Davy Russell told The Herald locals will reject Reform’s message.
“There are quite a number of people who are despondent here who are going to use Reform as a protest vote,” he said.
“However, the majority of people don’t like his politics, they don’t like the way that Reform is conducting the campaign.
“Most people here are decent, honest, working people who go about their normal business and they are not into racism or [Farage’s] quick fix politics.”
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Reform’s candidate Ross Lambie has recently defended his party in a race row after its advert used edited footage of Mr Sarwar from a 2022 speech in which he called for greater South Asian representation in politics.
The clip, viewed 800,000 times, included a caption claiming Mr Sarwar wanted to “prioritise the Pakistani community” – a phrase he did not use.
Both Labour and the SNP have described the video as racist.
Meanwhile, Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, warned Nigel Farage would destroy energy jobs in the North East.
Mr Farage has claimed abandoning climate-friendly policies – such as the North East Acorn project – would save taxpayers more than £40 billion per year – a figure disputed by experts.
The project at St Fergus would take greenhouse gas emissions and store it in depleted gas reservoirs in the North Sea.
Aberdeen South MSP Mr Flynn said: “Nigel Farage is just as dangerous to Scotland’s long-term energy and economic future as the activists who would shut down the oil and gas industry tomorrow.
“Those who work in the energy sector understand that there is an obvious path to follow that protects the oil and gas jobs of today whilst at the same time developing the net zero jobs of tomorrow – and by doing so you can secure skills and investment for generations to come.
“Farage’s ideological plans put that future at risk – his refusal to back the Acorn Project would starve our city and region of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds in investment, and that’s before we even begin to contemplate the impact of scrapping the various floating offshore wind projects that lie just off our coastline.
“It’s the sort of short-sighted stupidity you would expect from the man who delivered Brexit and we shouldn’t let him do to Aberdeen what he has done to the UK economy.”
However, a Reform spokesman accused the SNP of “holding Scotland back” with its “hostile” approach to oil and gas.
The spokesman added: "From standing idly by whilst the Grangemouth refinery closed, to opposing oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, the SNP have not only failed to realise the countless jobs that could be created in the sector, but also sacrificed hundreds of jobs on the altar of their Net Zero obsession."
