MALCOLM Offord has doubled down on his claim that the Scottish Labour leader said their parties should “work together” to “get rid of the SNP”.
Giving a fuller account of the alleged meeting between him and Anas Sarwar after an event in Paisley in December, the Reform UK Scotland leader said that the Scottish Labour leader had approached him “without his minders” when he made the offer.
Speaking on the campaign trail after an explosive TV debate on Tuesday night, Offord said: “I was just standing with Max [Bannerman, Offord's former aide] and just as people were leaving, Anas came, on his own without his minders, popped over just to say goodbye. I remember exactly what he said, he said, ‘Interesting move to Reform’.
“He said, ‘I always saw you as more of a Unionist than a Tory, Malcolm.’ I remember that line and he said, ‘Look, you know, you’re going to do well in the election, you’re going to win a lot of seats, at some point we need to get together and talk about how we work together, Reform and Labour, to get rid of the SNP.’ Turned on his heel and left and off he went and that was it.
NEW: Malcolm Offord absolutely sticking to his story that Anas Sarwar suggesting working together to get rid of the SNP.
Speaking to journalists today, he said Sarwar - who strongly denies this ever happened - is lying: pic.twitter.com/WlNMnyDC33— Alistair Grant (@alistairkgrant) April 15, 2026
“I remember just turning to Max and saying, ‘Whoa, that’s incredible, you can, that’s, you gotta learn this game fast, this is politics. You can be on national TV and absolutely lambasted and then bounce over as if nothing’s happened and friendly chat about working together.’”
Sarwar has strenuously denied making any approach to Offord, calling his story a “desperate lie from a desperate man”, adding in a statement on Tuesday night: “Let me be unequivocal: no stitch-ups, no deals, no backroom chats, no back-channel contact with Reform. I only want one deal, and that is with the people of Scotland.”
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Asked on LBC on Wednesday whether he had had “any conversation that may have been misconstrued or taken out of context” by Offord, Sarwar said: “It’s a total and utter lie.
“Yesterday I thought it was a smear, now I think it’s probably just a strategy that Reform are implying because their campaign is an utter shambles and sadly John Swinney is jumping upon it.”
Max Bannerman, the former aide referred to in Offord's story, was approached by LBC and told the broadcaster: "I was there and I witnessed it, and that is an accurate recollection of events, as it happened."
However, Labour are still facing questions over the matter as past reports of suggestions they could work with Reform resurfaced.
A Scotsman article from March showed that Scottish Labour insiders had made plans to use Reform MSPs’ votes to install Sarwar as first minister, if they had the numbers.
And The Telegraph reported in February how Sarwar had said he would be prepared to work with Reform on a case-by-case basis if he was successful at the election in May.
He said: “Let me just be really clear, and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s selected to Parliament.
“If somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless [of] where it comes from, because that is the essence and nature of devolution, the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed.”
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