Does Scotland need more Malcolm Offords?

Reform UK's Scottish leader Malcolm Offord set the cat among the pigeons somewhat last night with his declaration during Scotland’s final televised election debate that he owns “six houses, five cars and six boats”.

This has certainly thrust into the spotlight the issue of the relevance or otherwise of the personal wealth of political leaders.

However, it also raises another very important point, from a business and economic perspective.

It is hardly surprising that many people do not appreciate the cut of Lord Offord’s jib given, to put it mildly, the nature of many of Reform UK’s policies.

Sticking to the business and economic aspects of these, Reform UK’s talk of cutting the minimum wage, with young people a particular target, is utterly lamentable.

As well as being hugely damaging from a societal perspective, it would take the money out of the pockets of those who would spend it, rather than squirrel it away, thus hampering aggregate demand and dragging on growth.

Meanwhile, we must remember that Reform UK is the same party, albeit under a different name these days, that was such a cheerleader for the UK’s hard Brexit folly, which has hammered the economy and weighed so heavily on living standards.

However, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer’s response to Lord Offord on the issue of his personal wealth last night, while maybe understandable to many, might be viewed by some as unfortunate in the context of the message it could send on the nation’s attitude to business success and wealth creation.

And, in this context, we should remember there are many wealthy business owners who have built fortunes here, created employment and boosted economic growth who would have no truck with Reform UK’s policies.

So it is important to consider the message sent to all of these people, regardless of their political hue, if they even have one.

Millionaire financier Lord Offord has refused repeatedly to say how wealthy he is during the campaign, promising only that, if elected, he would declare everything he was required to declare.

When he was appointed leader of Reform UK in Scotland by Nigel Farage in January, he was asked to quantify his net worth.

He replied: “I am not talking about my net worth. That is of no relevance to anyone. For a start, it is not something you can pluck out of the air, as assets are not something easily valued.

“I am not going to talk about it.”

However, when questioning Mr Greer on the Scottish Greens’ plans to tax wealth in the STV debate, the chief of Reform UK in Scotland did provide rather a lot of detail.

He did not provide a number for his net worth but he certainly painted a picture.

Lord Offord said he was born in a tenement and was able to go to university for free before moving to London “full of ambition”.

He declared: “I worked hard and I was successful. Today, I own six houses, five cars and six boats. And in a 40-year business career I employed thousands of people, and paid £45m in tax. I do not say that to boast.”

He asked if the Greens would want more or less people like him in Scotland.

Mr Greer replied: “Fewer people like you."

The Scottish Greens co-leader added: "I think it’s worth, at this point in the debate, pointing out that there are three times as many holiday homes and empty properties in this country as there are homeless children.

“You don’t need six homes, you don’t even need two homes, everybody just needs a home to live in.

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"Surely, if we’re to tackle the housing crisis, the super-rich, elite individuals like you should be giving up some of those homes so that people who desperately need a roof over their head actually had somewhere to live.”

Mr Greer’s point about the housing emergency is certainly well enough made.

However, the “fewer people like you” remark stands out as one that might be viewed by some as sending the wrong message to wealth creators in general.

It is the type of comment that could reinforce the impressions of a significant number of people that wealth creation is somehow frowned upon in Scotland, whether that is actually the case or not.

That said, it is not clear how specifically Mr Greer was meaning Lord Offord as an individual in the “like you” remark.

And there are obviously many wealth creators in Scotland, including families who have created major employment for generations, who would attract far less controversy than Lord Offord and his politics in this context.

Lorna Slater, when she was co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said in an interview with The Herald on Sunday in 2022 that economic growth was an area where her party had “a fundamentally different position to the Scottish Government”.

Scottish Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, when I asked her in an interview in June 2024 about Ms Slater’s comment on economic growth, told me: “Economic growth was an excluded area from the Bute House Agreement for the very reason that the SNP does believe in the importance of economic growth and economic growth is essential but not sufficient to deal with all of our aims and objectives so it cannot be ignored or dismissed but equally you can’t depend on it alone - that is where evidence-based government policy is also required, for example around the Scottish child payment, or whatever it is.”

Ms Forbes declared in that interview: “The way to deliver growth is of course if every business and enterprise and organisation is growing and creating success and households feel that they’re able to make ends meet through well-paid, secure jobs - then bringing those two together that’s essentially what economic growth is when you boil it all down.

“It’s the fact that individuals, households and businesses and third-sector organisations are all prospering, that’s what ultimately delivers national economic growth. And I don’t think anyone could disagree with the importance of households being able to make ends meet and businesses prospering.”

Ms Forbes makes a crucial point about the importance of economic growth to funding vital policies such as tackling child poverty.

It is indeed important that businesses are prospering.

And in a general sense it is crucial that Scotland - while it is perfectly reasonable to debate how much tax wealth creators should pay from a societal perspective - sends out the message that it welcomes such success.