Reform UK's Malcolm Offord prods Scottish Greens' Ross Greer

The Scottish Parliament election has not surprisingly dominated the headlines as attention focuses on what will transpire at the polls on Thursday.

Among the more dramatic exchanges was one between Malcolm Offord, leader of Reform UK in Scotland, and Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, in the final televised election debate last Tuesday night.

Lord Offord chose to highlight his personal wealth, something which he had indicated reluctance to talk about when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage appointed him head of the party in Scotland in January.

And he did so while questioning Mr Greer on the Scottish Greens’ plans for a wealth tax.

For those looking for a juicy tidbit, Lord Offord provided this with his declaration that he owned “six houses, five cars and six boats”.

It was certainly interesting that he decided to bring this up, particularly at a time when so many households and indeed businesses are struggling against a grim UK economic backdrop. The hard Brexit championed by Reform UK, it is worth observing, is playing no small part in these unappetising economic conditions.

And this declaration of wealth was particularly surprising given the previous reluctance to open up on this front by Lord Offord, who replied when he was asked to quantify his net worth in January: “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.”

Fast-forward to last Tuesday night and Lord Offord seemed content to wax lyrical on the topic during the STV debate.

The former Conservative, when questioning Mr Greer on the Scottish Greens’ plans to tax wealth, said he was born in a tenement and was able to go to university for free before moving to London “full of ambition”.

Nothing too dramatic there.

But then came the big moment.

Lord Offord 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.”

It did not end there.

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

It was quite the question.

The answer, when it came, was hardly a surprise, given the gulf between the political stances of Lord Offord and Mr Greer.

The Scottish Greens co-leader declared: "Fewer people like you.

“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.

“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.”

My column in The Herald, unpicking this exchange from a business and economic perspective, observed: “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.”

And, sure enough, much of the debate that ensued following the Offord-Greer exchange was around this issue, unsurprisingly polarised and including barbed remarks around perceptions of the attitude of the Scottish Greens, and/ or others in Scotland, to wealth creation.

My column in The Herald observed: “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.”

This seems like a very important distinction, given the particular politics of Lord Offord and Reform UK.

The column observed: “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.”

It is in a general sense worth emphasising the importance of economic growth in Scotland to funding crucial social policies such as tackling child poverty.

Scottish Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has been among those to highlight the importance of the Scottish child payment, while emphasising “economic growth is essential but not sufficient to deal with all of our aims and objectives”.

My column concluded: “It is indeed important that businesses are prospering. 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.”

And that is the crux of the matter when it comes to the hornets’ nest stirred up by Lord Offord when he elected to talk about his wealth and prod Mr Greer on this issue.